Yellow Ribbon
1973 · ABC 11357 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- Johnny Carver
- Title
- Yellow Ribbon
- Release
- Yellow Ribbon / Since My Baby Left Me
- Year
- 1973
- Label
- ABC # 11357
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Songwriter
- I. Levine, L.R. Brown
- Genre
- Rock · Pop Rock
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
A yellow ribbon has been used as a sign of remembrance for those away from home in the military or in prison. In John Ford's 1949 film She Wore a Yellow Ribbon starring John Wayne, a woman wearing a yellow ribbon showed her devotion to her husband, away with the US cavalry. The theme song of the film was based on a military cadence: "around her neck she wore a yellow ribbon...and when I asked her why...she said it's for my lover who is in the cavalry". (1) The theme developed into a sign of remembrance in the early 1970s for the US P.O.W.s in Vietnam, hostages held in Iran (1979), and later during the Gulf War in the 1990s. (2) In January 1973 Tony Orlando & Dawn, a New York pop group, featuring Tony Orlando, Telma Hopkins, and Joyce Vincent Wilson, released the song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" (Bell Records # 45,318) about a man released from prison after a three year sentence, just as the US P.O.W.s returned to the US under "Operation Homecoming". (3) Orlando said in an interview with Billboard on 19 May 1973: "we were really surprised by the depth of feelings 'Yellow Ribbon' aroused...everywhere we tour, people come up and tell us how the song touched them. At…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Carver born in Jackson, Mississippi, USA