"Graduation Day" is a song composed by Joe Sherman with lyrics by his brother Noel Sherman, and was originally a 1956 hit song by the Four Freshmen.
Contents
Four Freshman version
Background
The song is about nostalgia and was an important influence in the early rock era.
Chart performance
In the US, the Four Freshmen recording reached number 27 on the Best Sellers in Stores chart.
The Rover Boys version
in 1956. The version by the Canadian vocal group The Rover Boys (named after the popular college-themed literary characters) recorded a version of "Graduation Day".
Chart performance
The Rover Boys' version reached number 16 on the U.S. charts.
Other versions
Bobby Pickett released his own version of the song in 1963. The A side "The Humpty Dumpty" was a Billboard Pop Spotlight for the week of 25 May. The reviewer wrote that the B side ("Graduation Day") was a serious rendition of a ballad hit of some time back. "Graduation Day" eventually made it to No. 88 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of 29 June.
The song was a concert staple of the Beach Boys, who were deeply influenced by the Four Freshmen. A recording of it was featured on the live Capitol Records album Beach Boys Concert (1964), and a studio version was included as a bonus track on the 1990 Today! & Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) compilation CD.
In 1967, The Arbors recorded their version and included on their The Arbors Sing Valley of the Dolls LP.