Escape (The Parenthetical Country Song Title Countdown #7): A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)

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All of these parentheses (everywhere I look), including in song titles! Thanks to @teamfreak16 I'm looking at my ten favorite songs that have a parenthetical title in both rock and country. For today's country song, it's a country classic that made a huge crossover splash. #7: A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation) I was a lonely teenage broncking buck With a pink carnation and a pick-up truck But I knew I was out of luck The day the music died (From "American Pie" by Don McLean) Okay, so if it's mentioned in "American Pie" it's gotta be a classic! Actually, this is a classic without the Don McLean reference. This is one of the signature songs in the long and legendary career of Marty Robbins. Robbins had a brilliant knack for staying country while shifting gears subtly in order to blend with the times. In some ways, he was helped along in that by pop singers who covered his songs. His "Singing the Blues" was covered by Guy Mitchell, and it became Mitchell's biggest hit (sitting at #1 on the pop charts for ten weeks in 1956). According to Picky Wedia, the fact that Mitchell's version blew Marty's rendition out of the water in terms of pop chart success irritated Robbins. So, for this song (which he wrote after seeing kids standing outside a high school, dressed up for their prom), he turned to Columbia Records arranger Ray Conniff for the vocal arrangement and Mitch Miller for the production. It worked: Robbins' version was a #2 pop hit, while a cover by Johnny Desmond didn't even make the pop top 40. The song was covered by a number of orther artists, including a British version by the King Brothers. And then there's Jimmy Buffett, who paid tribute to the song by naming his 1973 album A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean. And for your trivia: Marty Robbins was a professional NASCAR driver in addition to his career. He usually had the last spot on the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday night because his Saturday evenings were spent at the Nashville race track, competing. (I used to consider it a great week if I could stay awake, as a 10-year-old, until Marty Robbins' segment on the Opry, which was about 12:30 AM my time.) Robbins, who had a history of heart problems, died in 1982, shortly after being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. His legacy is still shining brightly with classic songs such as this one. A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation) Written by Marty Robbins Recorded by Marty Robbins Released as a single, 1957 I'm in a blue, blue mood: