June Moon Top Ten: Why Ask for the Moon (#9)

Tweet

Wow, the things you discover in doing countdowns. We had the 45 of this song when I was little. I loved it (which is why it’s in the top ten). Apparently I was the only one! It’s “Linda? NO!” time yet again with today’s moon song. #9: Why Ask for the Moon - Red Foley This poor guy, Red Foley. Pat Boone’s father-in-law, and Debby Boone’s grandfather. PLUS, he wrote “Old Shep.” (By the way, that was based on a true story of a dog Foley had as a child that a neighbor poisoned. ) That’s enough negativity in anyone’s life, isn’t it??? Not that he didn’t earn it. His second wife (Debby’s grandmother) had just turned 16 (he was 23) and was pregnant when they married in 1933. She died by suicide in 1951. The contents of her suicide note weren’t made public, but the “common knowledge” was that Foley’s philandering was the reason. I’d prefer to remember him for his music. He was certainly not the only “jerk” in Nashville (I think I told you about a table mate at the country music conference who said he couldn’t read Faron Young’s biography…not because it wasn’t well-written but because Young was such a son-of-a-bleep that he didn’t merit the time spent reading). This was from an era where most of the “sins” of the stars were kept a secret unless it was impossible to avoid because of media coverage (like the time Ira Louvin’s wife shot him six times ), but suffice it to say that Foley was an old man when he died of a heart attack at 58. He was on tour with Hank Williams Jr. in Fort Wayne, Indiana when he was stricken. (Hank Jr. later did a song about it, “I Was With Red Foley [The Night He Passed Away].” ) Now, this song clocks in at 1:47, and you’ve spent longer reading this. As for the shocking discovery, when I looked this song up I discovered that it never charted as a single (nor the other side, “Sweet Innocence”). So how we ended up with such a deep-in-the-weeds 45 as this one is a mystery to me. I’m just glad we did. Why Ask for the Moon Written by Walter Myers and Lennie Martin Recorded by Red Foley Released as a single, 1957 I am yours alone: