Producer: Andy Wiswell
Track listing: The Ballad of the Green Berets / Letter from Vietnam I’m a Lucky One / Garet Trooper The Soldier Has Come Home / Salute to the Nurses / I’m Watching Raindrops Fall / Badge of Courage / Trooper’s Lament / Bamiba / Saigon / Lullaby
March 12, 1966
5 weeks
EIvis Presley was the first artist to top the chart with a military-themed album when G.I. Blues hit Number One in 1960. It was mere coincidence that the other military-inspired album to top the chart, SSgt Barry Sadler’s Ballads of the Green Berets, was also on RCA Records. The two performers had substantially different stories. Elvis was a huge pop star who was drafted into the military. Upon his return to civilian life, he starred in the light-hearted musical G.I. Blues, which spawned the hit soundtrack album. Sadler, on the other hand, was a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces. Following his leave from the military, after falling victim to a booby trap in Vietnam, the soldier began pursuing a music career.
It was Robin Moore, author of The Green Berets, who brought the musical talents of the New Mexico-born soldier to the attention of executives at RCA Records. “A very rough tape was brought to me of Barry singing ‘The Ballad of the Green Berets.’ We signed Barry for the project and hooked him up with producer Andy Wiswell,” says Don Burkhimer, then manager of artists and repertoire for RCA Records. The album was recorded relatively quickly, but the label ran into a snag when readying the album for release.
“The package was about to be printed when we found out that it was against Army regulations to use a photograph of a military man in uniform on an album cover without permission from the U.S. government,” says Burkhimer. RCA decided to send the record executive to the Pentagon to seek approval. “I got there early in the morning and started out with a sergeant and worked up through the chain of command,” he says. “I went from a lieutenant to majors to colonels. I ended up with a general and I finally convinced him on the steps of the Pentagon that night that it was in the best interest of the Army and the Green Berets that they approve the use of the photo of Barry Sadler in uniform for the package, because there was a feeling of patriotism in uniform.”
From a train station near the Pentagon, Burkhimer called the printer and the head of RCA to tell them to print the album covers. It turned out to be well worth the trouble, as Sadler became an overnight sensation. “The Ballad of the Green Berets,” which was co-written by Moore, hit the top of the Hot 100 on March 5, 1966. A week later, with the single holding in the pole position, Sadler’s album also hit the top.
Sadler’s success can best be attributed to timing; as Burkhimer admits, “he wasn’t the best singer in the world.” In 1966, the majority of the public was still in favor of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Says Burkhimer, “It was the correct message at the correct time.”
THE TOP FIVE
Week of March 12, 1966
1. Ballads of the Green Berets, SSgt Barry Sadler
2. Whipped Cream and Other Delights, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
3. Going Places, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
4. Rubber Soul, The Beatles
5. The Sound of Music, Soundtrack