"The End of the World" was written by Arthur Kent and Sylvia Dee; the latter drew on her sorrow from her father's death.
Davis recorded her version on June 8, 1962, at the RCA Studios in Nashville, produced by Chet Atkins, and featuring Floyd Cramer. Released by RCA Records in December 1962, "The End of the World" peaked in March 1963 at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 2 on the Billboard country singles, No. 1 on Billboard's easy listening, and No. 4 on Billboard's rhythm and blues. It is the first, and, to date, only time that a song cracked the Top 10 on all four Billboard charts. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 3 song of 1963.
Similar Artists
Patsy ClineThe Everly Brothers
The Shirelles
Connie Francis
Skeeter Davis's recording of "The End of the World" was played at Atkins's funeral in an instrumental by Marty Stuart, and at Davis's own funeral at the Ryman Auditorium. Her version has been featured in several TV shows, video games and films including Girl, Interrupted, Riding in Cars with Boys, Daltry Calhoun, An American Affair, The Boat That Rocked, Mad Men, Under the Dome and Fallout 4 in addition to the TV spot for Wayward Pines season 2, and opening credits of the BYU TV series Granite Flats.
ReplyDelete