Single:
It Ain’t Necessarily So entered the Australian singles chart* on 15 May 1965 and peaked at #5. The song was #34 on the Top 100 of 1965.
Album:
The song is on It Ain’t Necessarily So, But It Is Normie Rowe which entered the Australian albums chart* on 7 August 1965 and peaked at #2.
Composers:
George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
Producer:
Pat Aulton
Record label of Australian release:
Sunshine
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Wikipedia:
Rowe’s first single, released in April 1965, was a brooding ‘beat’ arrangement of Gershwin’s It Ain’t Necessarily So (from Porgy & Bess), a choice suggested by popular Melbourne radio DJ Stan Rofe (3UZ). It was a #1 hit in Melbourne and a Top Ten hit in most other capitals cities (#6 in Sydney, #5 in Adelaide, #3 in Brisbane), even though Sydney pop station 2SM (then owned by the Catholic Church) banned it because of its supposedly sacrilegious lyrics. The inspiration for Rowe’s version was apparently a 1963 version by the United Kingdom band Ian and the Zodiacs.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normie_Rowe
Pop Archives:
Melbourne singer Normie Rowe became Australia’s top teen idol of the late 60s and the star of Ivan Dayman’s Sunshine label. He had a string of hits in Australia from 1965, recorded four singles in London, toured Britain and America, and even inspired a tribute song, Norman-Normie. After he was conscripted to serve in Vietnam, he re-established himself as a respected performer, especially on stage, starring in such productions as Les Miserables and Annie.
Read more: www.poparchives.com.au/189/normie-rowe/its-not-easy
Lyrics:
It ain′t necessarily so
It ain’t necessarily so
The things that you′re liable to read in the Bible
Ain’t necessarily so
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 60s
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