| A Rose and a Baby Ruth | |
| Cover: | A_Rose_and_a_Baby_Ruth_-_George_Hamilton_IV.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | George Hamilton IV |
| B-Side: | If You Don't Know |
| Released: | October 1956 |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Length: | 2:02 |
| Label: | ABC-Paramount |
| Next Title: | High School Romance |
| Next Year: | 1957 |
"A Rose and a Baby Ruth" is a song written by John D. Loudermilk under his "Johnny Dee" pseudonym. The song, which partially refers to the Baby Ruth candy bar, was published in 1956. The best-known version was recorded by George Hamilton IV. The song reached number 6 on the Billboard magazine pop chart and spent 20 weeks on the chart.[1]
"A Rose and a Baby Ruth" showed regional appeal in country music, foreshadowing Hamilton's highly successful career, in the 1960s.
| Chart (1956–57) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard Top 100 [2] | 6 |
| Billboard Best Sellers in Stores | 7 |
| Billboard Most Played by Jockeys | 7 |
| Billboard Most Played in Juke Boxes | 8 |
On the same date Billboard reviewed George Hamilton IV´s original version, in October 1956, they reviewed a competing cover sung by Eddie Fontaine and released by Decca. Billboard predicted it would be a close race between the two recordings, but the Decca release did not make even the lower part of Billboards Top 100.
Johnny Maestro & The Crests did a version in 1960 for their first album, The Crests Sing All Biggies - (Coed LP 901).
Al Kooper covered it on his 1970 Columbia release Easy Does It.
The song was covered by Marilyn Manson as a bonus studio track on the limited-edition version of The Last Tour On Earth live album in 1999.