Endsley wrote "Singing the Blues" in 1954. The following year, he took the song to
Nashville's
Grand Ole Opry to pitch it backstage. In 1956, Marty Robbins recorded the song, which is credited with boosting Robbins' career. Endsley's writing talents were in high demand after Robbins's success with "Singing the Blues". The song became a number-one record for Marty Robbins,
Guy Mitchell, and
Tommy Steele on various music genre charts. In October 1956, Guy Mitchell released "Singing the Blues", after which it spent nine weeks at number one on the U.S.
Billboard chart from December 8, 1956, to February 2, 1957. Mitchell's version was also number one in the U.K. for three (non-consecutive) weeks in early 1957. In late 1956 and early 1957, Marty Robbins' version made it to number one on the
Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for 13 weeks, peaking at number 17 on the U.S. pop charts. Additional memorable versions of "Singing the Blues" include
Bill Haley & His Comets' 1960 recording, a 1963 version by
Dean Martin, a 1971 version by
Black Oak Arkansas, and a 1981 version by
Dave Edmunds. The song also made an appearance on an episode of
I Love Lucy, when it was sung by
Vivian Vance and
William Frawley for a Ford Motor Company television commercial promoting the
Edsel. In 1991, the song was performed live by
Paul McCartney on the MTV show
Unplugged and included on the soundtrack,
Unplugged (The Official Bootleg). Endsley had further success with the song "Love Me to Pieces", which was recorded by
Jill Corey,
Janis Martin, and Janet Eden in 1957. Robbins and Guy Mitchell had hits with "
Knee Deep in the Blues" in 1957 and 1991.
Andy Williams recorded "
I Like Your Kind of Love" in 1957, while
The Browns covered "I'd Just Be Fool Enough" in 1966. Endsley himself had recorded "I Like Your Kind of Love" and "I'd Just Be Fool Enough" while he was under contract with RCA in 1957–58. When his contract with RCA ended, he signed with MGM for a year, followed by a two-year stint with Hickory from 1960 to 1961. He also recorded occasionally on his own record label, Mel-Ark. His last major hit was with "
Why I'm Walkin'", recorded by
Stonewall Jackson in 1960. Over the course of Endsley's career, he wrote over 400 songs. == Personal life ==