Bouquet of Roses (song)
"Bouquet of Roses" is a 1948 song written by Steve Nelson (music) and Bob Hilliard (lyrics). It was originally recorded by Eddy Arnold and his Tennessee Plow Boys and his Guitar in Chicago on May 18, 1947. It was released by RCA Victor as catalogue number 20-2806 (in USA) and by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalogue numbers BD 1234 and IM 1399. "Bouquet of Roses" was Eddy Arnold's third number one in a row on the Juke Box Folk Record chart and spent 19 weeks on the Best Selling  Folk Records chart. In 1949, when RCA Victor introduced its new 45 RPM single format this record was among seven initial releases (Catalog #48-0001) and the first in the Country and Western category. Arnold would re-record "Bouquet of Roses" several times during his career. The song spent 54 weeks on the country music charts, accounting for the longest amount of time spent on that chart. The record held until September 2010, when it was broken by Lee Brice's "Love Like Crazy."