Song did better with same singer, different name
Several history and trivia books state that Ferlin Husky’s 1957 hit “Gone” was the first recording of the song but according to Ferlin, that is not true.
Ferlin said, “I first recorded that song in 1952 under the name Terry Preston.”
It was released on Four Star Records and went virtually unnoticed.
Ferlin decided to re-record the song in 1956 but wanted an entirely different sound. He wanted to use background voices to achieve what he called “a kind of achy feeling.”
The Jordanaires were hired as the background voices but his record producer Ken Nelson suggested adding a female voice to the group and the Jordanaires suggested Millie Kirkham.
Just before the session, recording engineer Mort Thomason built a makeshift echo chamber underneath a cement staircase in Owen Bradley’s 16th Avenue studio. It contained a microphone and a speaker and reverbed it by a cable back into the studio’s mixing board.
The Jordanaires Neal Matthews wrote the arrangement – working on the idea of a “large choir sound” and using the echo chamber and Millie Kirkham – it worked!
This second recording of “Gone” began getting airplay as soon as radio stations received it and suddenly re-set the standard for using echo and co-ed backup groups on recordings.
Ferlin commented, “Yeah – we sort of set a new trend with using echo and background groups. But it wasn’t long before people began overdoing it – using too much echo and just to many background singers.”
Ferlin Husky’s Capitol single “Gone” was recorded Nov. 7, 1956 and came on the charts Feb. 23, 1957. It made it to No. 1 and stuck there for 10 weeks. The single was on the charts for 27 weeks and also scored in the top five on the pop charts.
It was his 6th charted song and his second No 1.
Ferlin Husky placed 49 songs on the country music charts between 1953 and 1975, including three No. 1s. Six of his 49 country chart songs also scored on the pop charts.
Ferlin joined The Grand Old Opry in 1957 and was inducted into The Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2010.
Ferlin Husky died in 2011.