Wand'rin' Star

"Wand'rin' Star was a UK number one single for Lee Marvin for three weeks in March 1970.

It was originally written by Alan J. Lerner (lyrics) and Frederick Loewe (music) for the stage musical "Paint Your Wagon" in 1951. When the film of the musical was made in 1969 Lee Marvin took the role of prospector Ben Rumson. Not a natural singer Marvin nevertheless sang all of his songs in the film, rejecting the idea of miming to another singer's voice. Despite the film being a box office flop, the soundtrack became a success. Orchestrated and arranged by Nelson Riddle, Marvin's version of the song "Wand'rin Star" becoming an unlikely number one single in the UK for him, famously keeping The Beatles at number two with their single Let It Be. Marvin never released a follow up single so is classed as a one hit wonder.

The song was played at Joe Strummer's funeral.

A sound-alike cover appeared on the 1970 album Top of the Pops, Volume 10, with one reviewer using terms like "laryngitic croak" and "gargling gargoyles" to describe how he felt about the cover. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kpfoxqqaldje]

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