Comments: 10

• Steve from BoiseMickey Baker on guitar
• Ed from NashvilleAll this talk about a soldier in Vietnam…. Not the least bit plausible, since the song came out in 1962…….
• Rick from CtShelden, this song came out in 1962. The first American troops went into Vietnam in 1965 and they were Marines.
• Shelden from TexasThere is a backstory to this song. It was not intended originally to be a romantic song. It was written by my Grandmother about my Dad while he served in the Army and was in Vietnam at the time. She sent the song in to the record company, and they wanted her to pay to have it published. She had no money to do this at the time so they took the song, change a couple of words, and the rest is history. It broke my heart that she never got the credit she deserved for her creativity. It seems this happened a lot back then.
• Brian from Ontario, CanadaAnyone know who played guitar on Soldier Boy. Sounds similar to Duane Eddy.
• Bubblesk from Memphis, TnWhat a sentimental song. A far cry from some of the crazier songs on the 1962 charts. I still love to hear it on the oldies stations, but ya don't hear it that often--- even then. I always loved most of The Shirelles' hits. I heard back in the Sixties that their producer Luther Dixon practically abandoned them, as well as Scepter Records, and their careers both suffered. Wrong move, Luther. Anyway, I caught The Shirelles touring again on the oldies circuit and they were fantastic performers. And they're involved in some of the PBS-TV documentaries on the oldies vocal groups of the Sizzling Sixties!
• Ekristheh from Halath, United StatesI can't remember where I heard this, but someone told me that the backstory to this song is that the boy has already died overseas (perhaps in Vietnam? -- some U.S. troops were there in '62) and she's saying she considers him her one and only and will never marry. Has Florence Greenberg ever said anything about this, or is it just hearsay?
• Ray from Santa Rosa, CaThis song came out just about the time I completed Boot Camp. My Girlfriend used to cry when ever she heard it. Problem was, I was not a solder, I was a brand new mented U.S. Marine!
• Jay from Brooklyn, NyThe song isn't about a boy going off to war, just going off to the Army. There was a peacetime draft in 1962 and virtually all young men served in the military. There was no war for the "Soldier Boy."
• Lisa Parade from Los Angeles, CaFlorence Greenberg was the president of Tiara and later Scepter records...She built the record company from the ground up partnering up (in more ways than one) Luther Dixon who was the head of AandR

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