Slim Whitman recorded this as did 'Somethin' Smith and
The Redheads'
It's a sin to tell a lie
Be sure it's true when you say I love you
It's a sin to tell a lie
Millions of hearts have been broken
Just because these words were spoken
I love you, yes I do, I love you
If you break my heart I'll die
So be sure it's true when you say I love you
It's a sin to tell a lie
'Cross my heart and I hope to die,
I'll never,
never, never tell another white lie
'Took a little doll out on a date last night,
Next to her Gravel Gerdy woulda looked allright
I'm between the devil and the deep blue sea
'Cause I said 'Baby you look good to me'
I told her I loved her, but oh how I lied
Now she's getting set to be my blushing bride
If she leads me to the alter then I'm sunk
Cause I can't tell the preacher I was drunk
Lord have mercy on a no-account sinner
Give me one more chance to
let another guy win her
Cross my heart and I hope to die
I'll never, never, never tell another white lie.
"It's a Sin to Tell a Lie" is a song broadcast on Radio New Vegas, Mojave Music Radio, and Black Mountain Radio in Fallout: New Vegas. It was written by Billy Mayhew in 1936. Various incarnations of the Ink Spots have made multiple recordings of the song, but the version used in the game was released in 1979.
Background
Note: After the Ink Spots broke up, many impostor groups started recording under the Ink Spots name even with little to no connection to the original group. For the sake of clarity and brevity, only recordings by Ink Spots groups with confirmed original members are listed.
Decca Records - 1941
The Ink Spots first recorded "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie" on November 17, 1941 issued as a 78 rpm shellac single on Decca Records.[1]
Hoppy Jones, the talking bass, would pass away in October 1944 from a cerebral hemorrhage. Deek Watson and Charlie Fuqua would leave to form their own singing groups. By 1954, lead singer Bill Kenny was the only original member of the Ink Spots singing since 1941's "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" and would subsequently disband the group.
Recording description: The opening has slow guitar strumming with faint piano. The ending has the lead vocal, the backing harmony chorus, and the piano ending at the same time.
Mercury Records - 1962
After the Ink Spots disbanded, lead singer Bill Kenny essayed a solo career. He recorded "It's Sin to Tell a Lie" for the Mercury Records on the 1962 album Bill Kenny Sings the Golden Hits of the Ink Spots conducted and arranged by Howards Roberts.[2]The liner notes describes the re-recordings: "Hoppy Jones died in 1944, the Ink Spots went their ways, regrouped and changed personnel many times - but the memory lingers on. Bill, gone his own way, here recalls the hits that made the Ink Spots famous."
Recording description: The opening has prominent piano with soft guitar and soft symbols. Instead of sustained notes, the backing harmony tends to warble. The ending "it's a sin to a lie" has the lead vocal ending on a much higher note. The soft cymbals beat out a rhythm with the backing harmony following.
CBS Records - 1979
Former lead singer Bill Kenny had married Audrey McBurney in 1949. They stayed in her hometown of Vancouver in Canada until his death in 1978. The album If I Didn't Care was posthumously released in 1979 which includes a re-recording of "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie".[3][4]
The original album liner notes claims to consist of "Previously Released Material". An additional byline on the tape releases, omitted on the LP release, also says "Consists of Re-Recorded Material". The album also features a re-recording of "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" which was used in a 1982 commercial for Chanel No. 5 perfume, directed by Ridley Scott.[5] The recording and the album opened a court case between the estate of Bill Kenny by his widow, Audrey Kenny and the Chanel company where she states that the recording was used without her permission.
The album is described in a 1982 Vancouver Sun article about the case: "The original recording of I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire was one of several million-sellers the Ink Spots released between 1932 and 1954, but the track on the Chanel Commercial is a new one Kenny recorded in Nashville a few months before he died."[6]
Recording description: This is the version used in Fallout: New Vegas. The opening has a more complex guitar strumming with piano making clear accents. The ending has the lead vocal and the harmonizing chorus ending while the piano continues for a short while.
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Be sure it's true when you say, "I love you"
It's a sin to tell a lie
Millions of hearts have been broken
Just because these words were spoken
[Chorus]
I love you, yes I do, I love you
If you break my heart I'll die
So be sure it's true
When you say I love you
It's a sin to tell a
lie
[Verse 2]
(spoken interlude)
Be sure it's true when you say I love ya, honey.
Because you got sense enough to know it's a sin to tell a lie.
A whole lotta folks' hearts have done been broken
Just over a whole lotta foolish words that were spoken.
[Chorus]
I love you, yes I do, I love you
If you break my heart I'll die
So be sure it's true
When you say I love you
It's a sin to tell a lie
Notes
This song is one of four that appear on all three major radio stations, with the other three being "Big Iron", "Heartaches by the Number", and "Johnny Guitar".
Video
External links
- Song page on Wikipedia
References
- ↑ Decca Records Discography 4000-4600
- ↑ Bill Kenny – Sings The Golden Hits Of The Ink Spots - Discogs entry
- ↑ Ink Spots LP Recordings
- ↑ If I Didn't Care - Ink Spots - Discogs entry
- ↑ L'Invitation au Rêve - Le Jardin - CHANEL N°5 Official YouTube channel of Chanel. Other versions with dialogue also exist.
- ↑ Vancouver Sun - Thursday December 2, 1982 - Page A3