Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago

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Peggy Lee joins The Fontane Sisters (Bea, Geri and Marge Rosse) for a rendition of the folk classic “On Top of Old Smokey” on TV’s Top Tunes, originally broadcast in 1951.

In the early 1950s Peggy Lee and Mel Tormé co-hosted “TV’s Top Tunes,” a thrice-weekly program featuring a variety of musical performances.

Lyrics
On top of Old Smokey,
all covered with snow
I lost my true lover
for courting so slow

For courting’s a pleasure,
but parting is grief
And a false-hearted lover
is worse than a thief

A thief will just rob you
and take what you have
But a false-hearted lover
will lead you to your grave.

The grave will decay you
and turn you to dust
Not one boy in a hundred
a poor girl can trust

They’ll hug you and kiss you
and tell you more lies
Than cross ties on a railroad
or stars in the sky

So come you young maidens
and listen to me
Never place your affection
in a green willow tree

For the leaves, they will wither
the roots, they will die
And you’ll be forsaken
and never know why

On top of Old Smokey,
all covered with snow
I lost my true lover
for courting so slow

#PeggyLee #FontaneSisters #VintageTV #RareFootage #FolkMusic #TVsTopTunes #ClassicTV