Paul & Paula – Hey Paula

Sung For The American Cancer Society By College Kids Who Weren’t Dating

Released in late 1962, “Hey Paula” entered the Billboard Hot 100 on December 23 and climbed steadily through the winter. On February 9, 1963, it reached number one, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks. The single spent 15 weeks on the chart with nine of those in the top ten, selling over two million copies and earning a gold record. It also topped the Hot R&B Singles chart for two weeks and reached number one in Canada for three weeks. Ray Hildebrand and Jill Jackson had recorded the song for a local cancer benefit, never imagining it would become Valentine’s Day’s number one song or that they’d be told to pretend they were sweethearts to help sell records.

The track dominated both the pop and R&B charts simultaneously, a rare achievement for what started as a college radio performance in Brownwood, Texas. The song launched Paul and Paula into instant celebrity status, with appearances on American Bandstand, To Tell the Truth, and the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars. Their follow-up single “Young Lovers” reached number six later in 1963, followed by “First Quarrel” at number 27, “Something Old, Something New” at number 77, and “First Day Back at School” at number 60, all charting within the same year. The duo released three albums in a compressed eight-month period during 1963, including their debut Paul & Paula Sing for Young Lovers, We Go Together, and the Christmas album Holiday for Teens. None of these albums were officially issued on CD in the United States, making them cult favorites among collectors.

In the fall of 1962, Howard Payne College students Jill Jackson and Ray Hildebrand were making names for themselves in Brownwood. Jackson had her own fifteen-minute Sunday afternoon radio show on KEAN, while Hildebrand sang with a group called the Prisoners. They met on campus, and by coincidence, Hildebrand was boarding with her aunt. When local disc jockey Riney Jordan asked listeners to come sing for the American Cancer Society, Hildebrand and Jackson showed up to perform a song he’d written. Hildebrand had titled it “Paul and Paula” after being inspired by Annette Funicello’s hit “Tall Paul”, though the lyrics were based on his friend Russell Berry whose fiancée was named Paula. Jordan encouraged them to record it professionally after the overwhelming local response.

They drove to a studio in Fort Worth and by pure chance found producer Major Bill Smith, who had studio time and musicians booked but was waiting for singer Amos Milburn Jr., who failed to show up. Someone mentioned that a couple of kids were hanging around the office, and the Major granted them an interview on the spot. Musicians on the recording included Marvin Montgomery on guitar, Guy Parnell on bass, Hargus Robbins on organ, Little Caesar on piano, and Ronnie Dawson on drums. When the session finished, Major Bill asked what they called themselves. Jill and Ray came the answer, and that’s what appeared on the original LeCam Records release. Smith pushed the record hard for two or three months before it started breaking out in Atlanta. When Mercury Records acquired the rights through its Philips subsidiary, label executive Shelby Singleton reasoned that a pair named Ray and Jill singing about hey Paula and hey Paul didn’t make sense, so he renamed them Paul and Paula.

“Hey Paula” appeared on the duo’s debut album Paul & Paula Sing for Young Lovers, released in 1963 and showcasing their innocent harmonies and undeniable chemistry. The success of the single was credited with inspiring other famous male-female pairings, mostly from record companies that had originally turned the duo down in 1962. Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe” followed the formula in 1965, as did Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s Motown collaborations. The Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour became their life throughout 1963, traveling by bus with other popular young singers. Ray was homesick and pined for his former girlfriend Judy Hendricks. In June 1963, he left the tour midway through, and Dick Clark had to fill in for him for the remainder of the run. The pressure of sudden fame, the demands to become a nightclub act, and confusion about RCA Records wanting to pull them away from Major Bill Smith had overwhelmed the twenty-two-year-old college student.

The song has been covered across genres and decades, most notably by Australian television personalities Ernie Sigley and Denise Drysdale, whose 1974 version reached number two in Australia and was certified gold in October 1974. It became the 28th biggest-selling single in Australia that year and introduced the song to a new generation. The track appeared in the 1978 comedy Animal House when Boon and Katy smoke pot at their professor’s house and sing it to each other. Paul and Paula returned to Howard Payne College in 2002 as homecoming guests of honor and Grand Marshalls. In 2012, the duo reunited at their former college, now called Howard Payne University, to hold hands and sing their hit together fifty years after recording it. Ray appeared on Ray Stevens’ cable show in 2021 to perform the song with three female vocalists, never shying away from discussing the hit that established him.

“Hey Paula” remains the defining moment for Paul and Paula and a perfect snapshot of early 1960s innocence before the British Invasion changed everything. In 1965, Hildebrand left the act to complete his college education, deciding that show business wasn’t for him. He married Judy Hendricks in February 1964 and eventually moved to the Kansas City area, where he pioneered contemporary Christian music in the 1980s as half of the duo Land and Hildebrand. Jackson continued as a solo artist after moving to California and marrying Marvin Landon. In 2013, Hildebrand released his autobiography The Hey Paula Story, and he continued speaking and singing at churches, prisons, and prayer breakfasts until his death on August 18, 2023, at age 82. At a 2005 oldies gig in Fort Worth, a woman waited until the autograph line emptied, then told them through tears what their little song meant to her in 1963. She came from a broken home with not much love, her life ripped apart except when she was alone in her room and “Hey Paula” came on the radio. It was a song about love, staying together, planning together and wishing together. They all cried and hugged and thanked God, reminding Hildebrand that sometimes the songs you write for cancer benefits become the soundtrack to other people’s survival.