Over the Mountain Vinyl Memories

Over the Mountain Vinyl Memories was originally a #8 hit in 1957 for "Johnnie & Joe," an American R&B vocal duo from The Bronx. The song was written by Rex Garvin.

The song was actually titled Over the Mountain, Across the Sea and reached #3 on the R&B charts that same year. Bobby Vinton recorded the song in 1963 and the cover made it to #21 on Billboard Hot 100 and #8 on the Adult Contemporary charts.

Bobby Vinton has had an incredibly successful career, not only as a recording artist but as a cultural icon. After enjoying No. 1 hits in 1963 with "Roses Are Red (My Love)" and "Blue Velvet," Vinton had his biggest hit in 1964 with "Mr. Lonely," which he wrote while he was in the Army, about a soldier who missed his family.  Vinton was on the top ten charts continually throughout the 1960s. I remember hearing "Mr. Lonely" (about a young man in the military far away from home) when I was in fact a young military man a long, long way from home in 1964 when the song was #1 on the charts.

Bobby Vinton's Career of Cover Songs.

"Mr Lonely" would be Bobby Vinton's last #1 song but he would continue to have Top 40 hits all the way through the mid seventies.

Vinton made quite a career out of extremely well done cover songs and in so doing he was immensely successful. Following his cover of "Over the Mountain (Across the Sea)" Vinton released Blue Velvet the same year, his first #1 Cover Song.

A couple of interesting sidenotes...The song was written by Rex Garvin, who also sang harmony vocals on the original song and was credited as bandleader.

Skip & Flip released a version of the song as the B-side to their 1962 single "One More Drink for Julie"

Over The Mountain Vinyl Memories...The Story Begins.

After listening to the song, Over The Mountain, Across The Sea, the dream always began the same way for Danny.

He stood at the base of a snow-capped mountain, its peak disappearing into clouds. He didn't know how he'd arrived there, only that he needed to climb, because over the mountain, and across the sea beyond, there was a girl waiting for him. He couldn't remember her name, he'd never seen her face clearly. But he knew with absolute certainty that she was there, and that she was waiting.

The climb took hours—or perhaps minutes. Time moved strangely in dreams. His hands found holds in the rock without searching. His feet knew where to step. And when he finally crested the summit, breathless and exhilarated, he saw it: an endless expanse of turquoise water stretching to the horizon.

A small boat waited at the shore below, as it always did.

Danny descended and pushed off from the rocky beach. The oars moved through the water with rhythmic splashes, carrying him forward. The sea was calm tonight, welcoming. Sometimes it was stormy, and he'd wake before reaching the other side. But tonight felt different. Tonight felt possible.

As the distant shore grew closer, he could make out a figure standing on the sand. His heart raced. She was there. She was really there. The boat scraped against the beach, and Danny leaped out, his feet sinking into the warm sand. He ran toward her, and she toward him, her dark hair flowing behind her as she got closer...Twenty feet. Ten feet. Five...

He could almost see her eyes—and then!

The alarm clock shattered everything.

Danny jolted upright in bed, his hand instinctively reaching out to silence the insistent beeping. His bedroom materialized around him: the cluttered desk, the half-open closet, the morning light filtering through cheap blinds. The mountain was gone. The sea was gone.

She was gone.

He sat there for a long moment, feeling the familiar ache of disappointment settle in his chest. His heart was still racing from the run across the beach, from the nearness of finally meeting her. But his hands grasped only empty air and tangled sheets.

"Just a dream," he whispered to himself, as he did every morning.

Danny shuffled through his day in a fog. His coworkers asked if he was okay. He smiled and said he was just tired. How could he explain that he was mourning someone who didn't exist? That he was homesick for a place that wasn't real? But as the day wore on, a familiar anticipation began to build. With each hour that passed, he drew closer to the night. Closer to sleep. Closer to her.

By evening, Danny found himself rushing through dinner, through his usual routines. He climbed into bed earlier than usual, turning off the light with a sense of purpose. As he closed his eyes, a small smile crossed his face.

Tomorrow he'd wake up disappointed again. Tomorrow, he'd face another ordinary day. But tonight—tonight he would climb the mountain. Tonight, he would cross the sea. Tonight, he would run across that beach toward the girl who waited for him. And maybe, just maybe, this time he'd finally see her face.

The dream always began the same way. Danny stood at the base of a snow-capped mountain, and his heart was already soaring.

Because over that mountain, across the sea, a girl was waiting for him.

And he was on his way.

Over the Mountain Vinyl Memories
Written by Rex Garvin
Original recording - 1957 by Johnnie & Joe
Covered in 1963 by Bobby Vinton

Over the mountain...Across the sea
There's a girl...she's waiting for me

Cross over the river, beyond every cloud
She's passed the wind that's blowing loud
Over the mountain, a girl waits for me

Tell all the sands and every blade of grass
Please tell the wind to let my love pass
Over the mountain, a girl waits for me

Tell the moon up in the sky
Tell the birds that fly by
That over and over and over the mountain
My love waits for me

Into each dark and starry night
Oh, what a mystery that's sealed so tight
Over the mountain, a girl waits for me

Golden Oldies - Follow These Links For A Fun Trip Down Memory Lane.

Fifties Doo-Wop page -  More Links To Your Classic Street Corner Symphonies.

Check Out Our Favorite Remakes Of Original Songs. 

How About those Cars of Dreams We Grew Up With.

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