The Wayward Wind


"The Wayward Wind" is a country song written by Stanley Lebowsky and Herb Newman.
The song is about a sad tale of a lover of the opposite sex who became the next of kin to the restless wandering wayward wind. The other lover lived in a shack by the railroad track in their younger days; however, the lover hoped to settle down with the other, but, resumed to keep on wandering, leaving the lover alone with a broken heart.
In 1956, versions were recorded by Gogi Grant, Tex Ritter, and Jimmy Young, of which Grant's was the biggest seller in the United States and Ritter's in the United Kingdom. The song reached No. 1 on the Cash Box chart, which combined all recorded versions, while Grant's version reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart on its own. Billboard ranked it as the No. 5 song for 1956. It became a Gold record. Ritter used the song to open his stage shows.
Grant's recording featured a female chorus, heard in the intro and outro of the song, sliding up and down, impersonating the sound of the wayward wind.
In 1961, Grant's recording was reissued and reached Billboard No. 50 and Cash Box No. 78. That same year, Patsy Cline made a recording, which did not chart. In 1963, a new recording was made by Frank Ifield, which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks duration.
The song made the Billboard country chart in a version by Irish flautist James Galway with American country singer Sylvia on vocals. Produced in Nashville by Bill Pursell, the single was released in 1982 and it rose to No. 57 in 1983.
Members of the Western Writers of America chose the song as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

Notable cover versions

Anne Murray

Year-end charts