70-Year-Old Songs: Let Me Go, Lover!

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Along with songs from 1984, I’m celebrating my birthday this month (I’m somewhere between 40 and 70 ) with songs from 1954. That was a special year for music, because things changed so much. Today’s 70-year-old song, however, is a little more “traditional” (and a complete 180 from that Van Halen song ). Let Me Go, Lover! - Teresa Brewer When you listen to her, you have to remember that Teresa Brewer was all of 17 when she made her first record. Her biggest hit, “Music! Music! Music!,” was recorded when she was 19. That voice belongs in a much older person. She was a whopping old lady of 23 here. DANG, what a voice she had. “Let Me Go, Lover!” started life as a song about escaping the ravages of alcoholism, titled “Let Me Go, Devil.” Jenny Lou Carson (a great country songwriter) wrote it, inspired by Hank Williams’ life (Hank, if you didn’t know, was fired from the Grand Ole Opry because of his drinking). It was reworked into a “more upbeat” (ha ha) “Let Me Go, Lover” and became a massive hit for both Teresa Brewer in pop and Hank Snow in country. We had both versions (Snow’s and Brewer’s) in the house when I was a kid. I love Hank Snow, and even had my photo taken with him, but Teresa wins this battle, hands down. Let Me Go, Lover! Written by Jenny Lou Carson and Fred Wise Recorded by Teresa Brewer Released as a single, 1954 You don’t want me, but you want me: