Samples of Rod Lauren’s recordings.

If I Had A Girl/No Wonder

US Release: RCA Victor 47-7645 (Circa December 1959)
For international release information, see Rod Lauren Discography.

RCA Victor chose to release “If I Had A Girl” as Rod’s debut single, backed with “No Wonder,” late in 1959. The A side topped out at #31 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for February 1, 1960, marking his first and only appearance in the Top 40 during his career.

The exact recording date is not known, nor is the exact release date, but both sides were recorded at RCA Victor’s venerable Hollywood studio – a/k/a “The Music Center of the World” – at 1510 North Vine Street, near Sunset Boulevard,¹Rod’s small West Hollywood apartment on Miller Drive was about a ten-minute straight shot (by car or bus) down Sunset to reach the studio. probably in late October or early November of 1959, and were released before the year ended.²The U.S. version of the disc itself was “pressed” and packaged at RCA’s plant in the aptly named Borough of Rockaway, N.J.

“If I Had A Girl” on the A side was written by Sid Tepper and Roy Bennett, who had their first success with the now-classic “Red Roses For A Blue Lady” in 1948; they would go on to compose more than 300 songs during their 25-year partnership, including more than forty specifically for Elvis Presley.

“No Wonder,” which appeared on the B side and features a magnificent trumpet accompaniment by Shorty Rogers (who also arranged and conducted the orchestra and chorus for both sides of the recording), was written by Aaron Schroeder in collaboration with Martin Kalmanoff – both of whom were also regular contributors to Elvis’ catalog. Schroeder himself wrote or co-wrote seventeen songs for The King, including the number one hits “A Big Hunk o’ Love,” “Good Luck Charm,” “Stuck On You” and “It’s Now or Never.”

The producer for both sides of Rod Lauren’s debut disc was the man who discovered him in Fresno, the RCA Victor stalwart Dick Peirce.³Yes, “Peirce” is the correct spelling. The record was also released by RCA Victor and its subsidiaries in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Japan, Brazil, South Africa⁴The record was released commercially in each country as a standard seven-inch 45 RPM disc – except in Brazil and South Africa, where it was distributed as a ten-inch 78 RPM shellac disc. and Italy⁵In Italy, the songs were subtitled “Se Avessi Una Ragazza” and “Nessuna Meraviglia.”

Footnotes

• 1
  Rod’s small West Hollywood apartment on Miller Drive was about a ten-minute straight shot (by car or bus) down Sunset to reach the studio.
• 2
  The U.S. version of the disc itself was “pressed” and packaged at RCA’s plant in the aptly named Borough of Rockaway, N.J.
• 3
  Yes, “Peirce” is the correct spelling.
• 4
  The record was released commercially in each country as a standard seven-inch 45 RPM disc – except in Brazil and South Africa, where it was distributed as a ten-inch 78 RPM shellac disc.
• 5
  In Italy, the songs were subtitled “Se Avessi Una Ragazza” and “Nessuna Meraviglia.”