Amapola (song)
| "Amapola (Pretty Little Poppy)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Jimmy Dorsey, Helen O'Connell, and Bob Eberly | ||||
| Recorded | 1941 | |||
| Genre | Traditional pop | |||
| Length | 4:49 | |||
| Writer(s) | Joseph Lacalle, Albert Gamse (Eng. lyrics) | |||
| Jimmy Dorsey, Helen O'Connell, and Bob Eberly singles chronology | ||||
|
||||
"Amapola" is a 1920 song by Cádiz-born composer José María Lacalle García (later Joseph Lacalle), with Spanish lyrics. After the composer died in 1937, English language lyrics were written by Albert Gamse. In the 1930s, the song became a standard of the rhumba repertoire, later crossing-over into pop music charts.
"Amapola" was first recorded instrumentally by Cuban Orquesta Francesa de A. Moreno for Columbia in February 1923. Spanish tenor Miguel Fleta made the first vocal recording in 1925. In 1935, the Lecuona Cuban Boys released their rhumba rendition of the song as a single. Japanese singer Noriko Awaya released her version of the song in 1937. A popular recorded version was made later by the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra with vocalists Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly; this was released by Decca Records as catalog number 3629 and arrived on the Billboard charts on March 14, 1941, where it stayed for 14 weeks and reached #1. This version was remembered by American soldiers in WWII and sung with irony as they fought in France and saw the poppies of Flanders fields. Another English-language version for the American market was recorded by Spike Jones and his City Slickers in the characteristic comic style of his band.
...
Wikipedia