Mitch Miller, who was in charge of talent at Columbia Records, noted Cernik in 1950, and he joined Columbia and got his new stage name at Miller's urging: Miller is supposed to have said, "my name is 'Mitchell' and you seem a nice 'guy', so we'll call you Guy Mitchell."
His first hit "My Heart Cries for You" was in 1951. In the 1950s and 1960s he acted in movies as well as singing. He did movies with Teresa Brewer and Rosemary Clooney. In 1957 he had his own television show.
Though he is considered an average pop singer, many of his songs have a decided rock beat to them, including "Knee Deep in the Blues", "Heartaches By the Number", "Rock-a-Billy", "The Same Old Me" and his biggest hit, "Singing the Blues", which was number one for 10 weeks in 1956.
2007 would have been Guy's 80th birthday year and to commemorate this anniversary SONYBMG(UK) are to release a new CD "The Essential Collection". A tribute site has also been launched: http://www.agreatguy.net detailing his life and career as a recording artiste.
Pretty Little Black Eyed Susie
Guy Mitchell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Love my biscuits soaked in gravy
But pretty little black eyed Susie
But pretty little black eyed Susie
Cross my heart I love ya best of all
I love the hills, I love the prairie
I love Jane, and I love Mary
But pretty little black eyed Susie
Cross my heart I love ya best of all
I′m as happy as a king
Got the world upon a string
Can't ask for more
I′m right at heaven's door
Ooooh! I used to do a lot of teasin'
Changed my gals with ev′ry season
But pretty little black eyed Susie
But pretty little black eyed Susie
Pretty little black eyed Susie I love you
(Orchestral Interlude)
I love my pipe, I love tomaters
I love candied sweet pertaters
But pretty little black eyed Susie
But pretty little black eyed Susie
Cross my heart I love ya best of all
Oh! I love the trees, I love the flowers
Love to walk through April showers
But pretty little black eyed Susie
But pretty little black eyed Susie
Cross my heart I love ya best of all
Used to say I′d never wed
Those were foolish words I said
'Cos now I see
That you were meant for me
Ooooh! I used to be a guy who gambled
I had wand′rin' shoes that rambled
But pretty little black eyed Susie
But pretty little black eyed Susie
Cross my heart my rambl′in' days are through
Pretty little black eyed Susie I love you
My pretty little black eyed Susie I love you
The song "Pretty Little Black Eyed Susie" by Guy Mitchell describes the singer’s love for a woman named Susie. The lyrics are a series of declarations of love, each stanza reaffirming his devotion to her. The first two stanzas list several things that the singer loves but then admits that Susan is the object of his greatest affection.
The song highlights the singer's change in character due to his love for Susie. The lyrics reveal that he used to be a man who changed girlfriends every season, would gamble and had no intention of settling down. However, now he is utterly devoted to Susie, and his rambling days are over.
Overall, the song is a sentimental ballad that expresses the depth of the singer's love for Susie. It emphasizes true romantic love and its power to transform a person's life.
Line by Line Meaning
I love the sea, I love the navy
I have a strong affection for the sea and the navy
Love my biscuits soaked in gravy
I have a fondness for biscuits that are soaked in gravy
But pretty little black eyed Susie
However, I must emphasize that I have strong feelings for black eyed Susie
Cross my heart I love ya best of all
I promise that I love you more than anything else
I love the hills, I love the prairie
I have a strong affection for the hills and the prairie
I love Jane, and I love Mary
I have a fondness for women named Jane and Mary
I'm as happy as a king
I am incredibly happy
Got the world upon a string
I feel like I can control the world
Can't ask for more
I couldn't imagine wanting anything else
I'm right at heaven's door
I feel like I'm on the brink of paradise
Ooooh! I used to do a lot of teasin'
I used to enjoy teasing others
Changed my gals with ev'ry season
I used to change my girlfriend with every season
Pretty little black eyed Susie I love you
But pretty little black eyed Susie, I must emphasize that I have strong feelings for you
(Orchestral Interlude)
I am taking a pause in the music to emphasize the importance of the previous line
I love my pipe, I love tomaters
I have an appreciation for my smoking pipe and tomatoes
I love candied sweet pertaters
I have a fondness for candied sweet potatoes
Oh! I love the trees, I love the flowers
I have a strong affection for trees and flowers
Love to walk through April showers
I enjoy walking in the rain during the month of April
Used to say I'd never wed
I used to claim that I would never get married
Those were foolish words I said
But now I realize that those words were foolish
'Cos now I see
Because now I understand
That you were meant for me
That you were always meant to be with me
Ooooh! I used to be a guy who gambled
I used to enjoy gambling
I had wand'rin' shoes that rambled
I used to wander and travel a lot
Cross my heart my ramblin' days are through
But I promise that my wandering days are over
Pretty little black eyed Susie I love you
Because pretty little black eyed Susie, I must emphasize that I have strong feelings for you
My pretty little black eyed Susie I love you
My love for pretty little black eyed Susie is unwavering
Writer(s): Benjamin Weisman, Kay Twomey, Fred Wise
Contributed by Carson Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Sophie Grove
I'm a Teen in 2020, bored in quarantine, and listening to 1950's music. It cant get much better than this.
clarence fender
Frankie Laine and Guy Mitchell have always been my favorite singers.
bdodkin
Musically, wonderfully naive, innocent times!
clarence fender
My two favorite singers were more popular in the U.K than here in the U.S. Frankie Laine and Guy Mitchell.
Walter Gray
I[m sixteen again, listening to this ! Great post.
Thank you for sharing.
steve quinney
Don't forget the great Barry Alldis on the Luxembourg Top 20 show. I also used to listen to it under the sheets! I also used to write down the top 20 in a notebook every week. Wish I'd kept it!
Denis Clarke
This time in music was great never hardly use TV nowadays
Robert Hughes
Absolutely brilliant.
thegeezerdan
Don't make classics like this anymore.
Graham Francis
used to listen to all this music on luxembourg on 'under the bedclothes club' programme