Song of the Day 5/18: Harold Dorman, “Mountain of Love”

Harold Dorman, a white guy from the Mississippi Delta, had only one hit record in his career, this classic from 1960. What I find interesting is his choice of metaphor. The Delta is so flat you can see car headlights coming at you for 10 minutes before you see the car. No wonder he’s dreaming of being high on a mountain of love. This is the version he recorded in 1959, which became a regional hit.

This was the age of gussied-up country music, so producers overdubbed strings and the song went national. The finished product reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, Dorman’s only song to reach the charts.

The song was further popularized in 1964, when Johnny Rivers sped it up a little and added harmonica and more up-to-date backing vocals, giving the song a jauntier feel. His version reached No. 9, but it was overshadowed by the British Invasion.

When Bruce Springsteen started covering the song in concert during the early years of the E Street Band, he turned it into a rollicking roadhouse number — not very true to the intent of the original, but a big hit with live audiences, like the one at Springsteen’s February 1975 gig at the Main Point.