The Heartbeats - A Thousand Miles Away (1957)

Originally known as The Hearts, this doo wop group is most closely related to their hit song heard below. Formed in Jamaica, Queens, New York in the mid-‘50s, they had to change their name, The Hearts, to something else when they discovered in 1955 that an all-female group of the same name had had a minor hit on the Billboard music charts. Choosing the name seen above, they also soon recruited James “Shep” Sheppard to join. After one hit song and being signed to multiple labels, the group finally split up in 1959. Shep went on to form Shep and the Limelites in the early ‘60s, but died on January 24th, 1970 after being beaten and robbed in his car near the Long Island Expressway in New York.

Written by Shep and William H. Miller, this song reached number fifty-two on the US Hot 100 and number five on the R&B Singles charts. The song’s inspiration came about after Shep’s ex-girlfriend moved from New York to Texas. It was released on Roulette Records and featured the B-Side, “Oh Baby Don’t”. And, finally, as with many other doo wop songs, this song was mentioned in Frank Zappa and The Penguins' 1963 song, "Memories of El Monte," which A Bit Like You And Me previously featured.



The Heartbeats - A Thousand Miles Away (1957)

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Lyrics:

You're a thousand miles away
But, I still have your love to remember you by
Oh my darling, dry your eyes
Daddy's coming home soon

On my knees every day
All I do is pray, baby, just for you
Hope you always want me, too
Daddy's coming home soon

It may be on a Sunday morning
It may be on a Tuesday afternoon
But no matter what the day is
I'm going to make it my business to get home soon

You're (a thousand miles away)
But, I still have your love to remember you by
Oh my darling, dry your eyes
Daddy's coming home soon