Barry Sadler

Barry Sadler (born November 1, 1940 in Carlsbad, New Mexico , † November 5, 1989 ) was an American singer. He was a professional soldier and a Vietnam veteran . He musically implemented his experiences with the Green Berets .

Life

Sadler had started early to write patriotic songs about life in the army. One of them was a song about his unit, the Green Berets . After this song was recorded by Sadler and distributed to troop members, a record company signed it. This produced a professional recording called The Ballad of the Green Berets . When the single was released in February 1966, it quickly became a top hit, selling a million copies in just fourteen days. The song was No. 1 in the United States for a total of 5 weeks in 1966 . It also became the theme song for John Wayne's war film The Green Berets in 1968 .

Shortly thereafter, Barry Sadler quit his job and worked as a musician, but could not continue his first success. Only The A-Team was able to place itself in the charts. He then worked as a writer and film actor. He created the character Casca, a soldier who is doomed to fight over and over again in all possible epochs of world history (including the future). Sadler wrote only the first volumes himself, the series Casca: The Eternal Mercenary was continued by other authors and now has 31 volumes.

In 1978 he shot and killed country singer Lee Emerson in a dispute over a woman, which earned him several years in prison. In the 1980s he worked as a military instructor in Guatemala . There he was shot in the head in 1988, although it is still unclear whether it was a planned attack, a suicide attempt, an accident with his own weapon or just a very common robbery.

plant

His greatest success was the 1966 million seller The Ballad of the Green Berets to the music of Miklós Rózsa .

In Germany, the song to the same melody was published twice with great success under the title Hundert Mann und ein Command - by Freddy Quinn and Heidi Brühl . In contrast to the original version, however, the German text has no content that glorifies the military. The songs were extremely successful in Germany, the original by Barry Sadler reached number 4 in the singles charts, the version by Heidi Brühl reached number 8 and the version by Freddy Quinn reached number 1 and stayed in the top 10 for 15 weeks.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)		Remarks
		US	Country
1966	Ballads of the Green Berets	US1 gold (32 weeks)US	Country1 (12 weeks) Country
	The 'A' team	US130 (3 weeks) US	-

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	UK	US	Country
1966	Ballads of the Green Berets Ballads of the Green Berets	DE4 (10 weeks) DE	UK24 (8 weeks) UK	US1 gold (13 weeks)US	Country2 (14 weeks) Country
	The 'A' Team The 'A' Team	-	-	US28 (7 weeks) US	Country46 (4 weeks) Country

Individual evidence

1. ↑ For more information on the title, see: Fred Bronson: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits . 3rd revised and expanded edition, Billboard Publications, New York City 1992, p. 195.
2. ^ Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit balance sheet. German chart singles 1956-1980 . Taurus Press, Hamburg 1990, p. 179.
3. ^ Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit balance sheet. German chart singles 1956-1980 . Taurus Press, Hamburg 1990, p. 39.
4. ^ Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit balance sheet. German chart singles 1956-1980 . Taurus Press, Hamburg 1990, p. 78.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE UK US
6. ↑ Music Sales Awards: US

Web links

• http://www.sizemoremusic.com/sadler_history.htm
• Report of Sadler's wound in Guatemala in the New York Times, September 15, 1988
• Report of Barry Sadler's death in the New York Times, November 6, 1989