Stairway To Heaven

Album

Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits

Label

RCA Victor

Genre

Dance-pop

Composer(s)

Neil Sedaka;Howard Greenfield

Entered Chart

Mar 28, 1960

Peak Date

May 9, 1960

Released

Unknown

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

RCA Victor 47-7709

B-Side

Forty Winks Away

Ask any rock fan who first recorded "Stairway To Heaven," and the chances are the reply will be Led Zeppelin. Not even close! Although a piece of music with this title was published in the 1940s, the first song called "Stairway To Heaven" appears to have been penned by none other than Neil Sedaka. In his 1983 autobiography Laughter in the Rain, Sedaka related how he came to write it. When he and lyricist Howard Greefield sat down to write a follow up to "Oh! Carol" - a truly massive hit - "panic and fear gripped me." Finally, he came up with a melody that incorporated a two-voice section where he would sing two different lines, and: 'Howie married the lyrics to the song with ease. We called it "Stairway to Heaven."' Sedaka said the song was easy to record. The studios in those days had only three tracks; voice and piano were almost always in the middle track. Although not as big a hit as "Oh! Carol," it reached the Top 10 in both America and Europe. Something the Led Zeppelin song never did. Sedaka's "Stairway To Heaven" was recorded with Stan Applebaum and his Orchestra, on the RCA Victor label. It was his sixth single, and in the UK was released in March 1960 backed by "Forty Winks Away." For some reason, the song's title was also given in Italian: "Scala Al Paradiso," which one translation website gives as "It climbs to the Paradise." >> Nobody ever played this song backwards trying to discern the hidden meaning in the lyrics. Sedaka wants to build a stairway to heaven because that's where the angels live, and this girl is surely among them. Neil Sedaka broke into the music business almost literally; Rich Podolsky's book Don Kirshner: The Man with the Golden Ear gives the story of how Sedaka and Howard Greenfield made their way to Atlantic Records' office in the Brill Building and pounded on the door until somebody answered. Asking if the Clovers were recording that day, they announced that they'd written a song for them and gained entry. There, they met legendary record producer Jerry Wexler, who at least listened to the kids' songs and expressed admiration for their talent, though noting that it was still raw. Atlantic ended up buying some of the boys' songs for production. And for a second connection: Neil Sedaka had gone to high school with Mort Shuman, another Brill Building legend who would later write "Save the Last Dance for Me."

Climb up, way up high
Climb up, way up high
Climb up, way up high

Well a, well a, well a, heavenly angel
I want you for my girl
When I kissed your sweet, sweet lips
I knew that you were out of this world

I'll build a stairway to heaven
I'll climb to the highest star
I'll build a stairway to heaven
Cause heaven is where you are

Well a, well a, well a, over the rainbow
That's where I'm gonna climb
Way up high where the bluebirds fly
I'm gonna love you all the time

I'll build a stairway to heaven
I'll climb to the highest star
I'll build a stairway to heaven
Cause heaven is where you are

I'll build a stairway to heaven
I'll climb to the highest star
I'll build a stairway to heaven
Cause heaven is where you are

Well a, well a, well a, I gotta be going
Gonna leave the world behind
Every day in a heavenly way
You're gonna drive me outta my mind

I'll build a stairway to heaven
I'll climb to the highest star
I'll build a stairway to heaven
Cause heaven is where you are

I'll build a stairway to heaven
Cause heaven is where you are

Clim up, way up high
Clim up, way up high
Clim up, way up high...