Banjo boy

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  • Jan & Kjeld on Ariola in Germany
  • Valerie Masters at Fontana in Great Britain

Banjo Boy is a foxtrot whose music and German lyrics are by Charly Niessen . It was successful both in Germany in the version with Jan & Kjeld and internationally in various languages.

Germany

Charly Niessen wrote the first version of Banjo Boy in 1959 for the Austrian music film No Man to Marry , in which the 15 and 13 year old Danish brothers Jan and Kjeld Wennick appeared with the song. The song is about how everybody in Tennessee, big and small, wants the Banjo Boy to "sing your song". Everyone knows it, because it's the most beautiful thing in the world, and the Banjo Boy sings it under the blue sky. The film premiered in Austria in January 1960.

In September 1959, the Munich Union Studio with producer Helmut Jantsch for the record company Ariola recorded the single with the titles Banjo Boy and Mach not always so much wind . It came onto the German market in November 1959 with catalog number 35274. On February 6, 1960, Banjo Boy was first mentioned in the top 50 by Musikmarkt magazine and was ranked first for ten weeks later. In the music market evaluation by Günter Ehnert in Hit Bilanz , Banjo Boy was Schlager of the year 1960. The record industry awarded the title the Golden Record , and Radio Luxemburg awarded it the Bronze Lion in 1960 . The single sold over a million times in Germany alone and is one of the most successful hits and one of the best-selling singles in general .

After the success of Jan and Kjeld, further singles with Banjo Boy were released in Germany . There was also Germany's largest record company Polydor , which released a version with the Honey Twins . The two Austrian singers came in 32nd place in the German Top 50. The two cheap labels Hallo and Prima also launched their versions with Elrune Fortmann and Hanno Birkenberger or Kai and Tom.

International

Banjo Boy was also well received internationally. Various versions have been released in the United States alone. The most successful was the German original version with Jan and Kjeld on Kapp Records , which reached number 58 in the Hot 100 of the music magazine Billbord . With the English text by Buddy Kaye, the American Decca released a single with the Honey Twins. Other Buddy Kaye versions appeared with Dorothy Collins, Art Mooney and Patty & Peter. An instrumental version with the Richard Wolfe Orchestra was also released in the USA.

In Great Britain, the English-language version with Valerie Masters entered the New Musical Express charts , where it reached number 27. In addition, other English versions with George Formby jr. and Laurie London published on the island. Banjo Boy with the lyrics by Buddy Kaye also appeared in Australia with Jan and Kjeld, Lori and Marie Simone, and in New Zealand with the Edward Sisters. In Finland Reino Helismaa wrote a Finnish text for Eero Ja Jussi.

annotation

All of the above information relates only to single releases. Banjo Boy has also been released on numerous vinyl long-playing records and compact discs around the world.

Discography

Interpreter language Label country
Jan & Kjeld German Ariloa 35274 Germany
Jan & Kjeld German Triola 49 Denmark
Jan & Kjeld German CNR 209 Netherlands
Jan & Kjeld German Kapp 335 United States
Jan & Kjeld German Ember 101 UK
Jan & Kjeld English Pye Int. 008 Australia
Honey Twins German Polydor 24230 Germany
Elrune Fortmann & Hanno Birkenberger German Hello 1011 Germany
Kai and Tom German Great 17 Germany
Art Mooney / The Ivys English MGM 12908 United States
Dorothy Collins English Top Rank 2052 United States
Honey Twins English Decca 31108 United States
Patty & Peter English Bonnie brae 4001 United States
Richard Wolfe instrumental Kapp 336 United States
George Formby English Pye 15269 UK
Laurie London English Parlophone 4662 UK
Valerie Masters English Fontana 267110 UK
Eero Yes Jussi Finnish Decca 5507 Finland
Lori English RCA 101677 Australia
Marie Simone English Grendon 65 Australia
Edward Sisters English Lotus 1004 New Zealand

swell

  1. ^ Günter Ehnert: Hit balance sheet - German chart singles 1956-1980 . 1st edition. Verlag popular music-literature, Norderstedt 2000, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 444 .
  2. Jump up ↑ Joseph Murrells: The Book of Golden Discs: The Records That Sold a Million . 2nd Edition. Limp Edition, London 1978, ISBN 0-214-20512-6 , pp. 125 .

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