"Tragedy" is a song by Gerald H. Nelson and Fred B. Burch. A recording of the song by Thomas Wayne and the DeLons rose to #5 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1959. A 1961 cover version

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by The Fleetwoods

The Fleetwoods

The Fleetwoods were a singing trio from Olympia, Washington, United States; formed in the late 1950s. They were responsible for eleven hit songs, beginning with "Come Softly to Me"...

 rose to #10 on the charts. Brian Hyland

Brian Hyland

Brian Hyland is an American pop recording artist who was particularly successful during the early 1960s. He continued recording into the 1970s...

 also recorded it in 1969, but it only made it to #56.

Wayne's hit version was released on Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

-based Fernwood Records, which was owned by Ronald "Slim" Wallace (1957–1965). The single was made with a trio of girls recruited from the local high school. Wayne was a one hit wonder who cut around 20 songs including a remake of his hit for the reactivated Sun label which sounds similar to the original. Some of his other songs were hits for others such as "This Time" (Troy Shondell

Troy Shondell

Troy Shondell is an American vocalist, who achieved a modicum of fame and recognition in the early 1960s. He became a transatlantic one-hit wonder, by releasing a single that made the record charts in both the US and the UK...

) and "Girl Next Door Went a Walkin'" (Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

). Despite all of his recordings for 3 different labels before his death in a car crash on August 15, 1971, he never cut an album and there has never been any CD been issued of his songs.

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 and Wings

Wings (band)

Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....

 also recorded a version of the song for the planned 2 LP set Red Rose Speedway

Red Rose Speedway

-Additional tracks:-Original LP Recording:Originally planned as a double album, this is the tracklisting from the acetates of the early incarnation of the album dated 13 December 1972...

. The idea for the 2 LP set was later abandoned and instead they released a single LP with the same title, but without "Tragedy". The Wings' version has not yet been released on any official records.

Brenda Lee

Brenda Lee

Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...

recorded a version of the song on her 1961 album All the Way.