John Laurenz - Red Roses For A Blue Lady (The Original) 1948

Here is the first known recording of “Red Roses For A Blue Lady“ and the only one I’ve heard that includes the lead-in verses. John Laurenz was a singer and actor; he sounded like a cross between Bing Crosby and Dean Martin. This record was not a hit and got aced out by Vaughn Monroe’s big hit version by early 1949. Back in the mid-’60s when I was scouring all the record stores around the Twin Cities, I found some things in a store just outside Minneapolis. The owner was an old fellow who showed me the Laurenz record and insisted it was the ORIGINAL, though I had never heard of him. So I bought it. Very recently two “originals“ sites have agreed that Laurenz’s recording was indeed the first. This record was sampled at 45 RPM, sped up to 78 RPM in Sound Forge, and cleaned up in Izotope RX3. Enjoy! And start singing the lead-in verse!