A friend, a good friend

With the words A friend, a good friend begins the refrain of a marching song in six-eight time that Werner Richard Heymann wrote in 1930 for the sound film operetta Die Drei von der Gasstelle . Robert Gilbert wrote the text for it . The song was published in 1930 by UFAton-Verlag GmbH. in Berlin, in France at the Francis Salabert édition in Paris.

Refrain

A friend, a good friend,
that's the best there is in the world.
A friend always remains a friend,
even when the whole world collapses.
Therefore never be sad
if your sweetheart no longer loves you.
A friend, a good friend,
that's the greatest treasure there is.

Lore

In Germany the hit was recorded on gramophone records in 1930 by almost all known dance orchestras from Dajos Béla to Marek Weber . Of course, the main actors of the film, Willy Fritsch , Oskar Karlweis and Heinz Rühmann , also made vocal recordings of the title. He became particularly famous for his interpretation by the vocal ensemble Comedian Harmonists , which was also shown in the film.

In Austria, the entertainment singer Otto Neuman (n) recorded the song with the accompaniment of Frank Fox's dance orchestra at Columbia.

The song was also commercially available as a piano roll for mechanical musical instruments. It was also spread on sounding song postcards.

version

Since the film was shot in a French language version, there were also several recordings of the song with the main actors in France. Willy Fritsch's role was played by the Romanian-born actor and singer Henri Garat , who enjoyed great popularity. He sang the title with Polydor, the actor Adrien Lamy with Columbia on record. The French version of the text Avoir un bon copain comes from Jean Boyer , son of the librettist Lucien Boyer.

Afterlife

The song line has almost taken on the quality of a phrase and is quoted many times. In Germany as in France, the song itself has risen to the rank of a folk song because of its generally valid human message, which is still on everyone's lips.

Sheet music editions

A friend a good friend. March song ad sound film “The three from the gas station”. Music by Werner R. Heymann. Words from Robert Gilbert. UFAton Musikverlag GmbH. Berlin [1930]. Publisher No. 13 685.

"Le Chemin du Paradis" n ° 3: Avoir un bon copain. Marche chanté. Paroles de Jean Boyer. Musique de WR Heymann. Edition Francis Salabert, Paris-Bruxelles-New York-Berlin. Copyr. 1930 by UFAton-Verlag GmbH. Berlin.

Sound documents (selection)

• A friend a good friend. Six-eight ad sound film operetta from the Erich Pommer production “Die Drei von der Gasstelle” (Werner Richard Heymann- Text: Rob. Gilbert) Willy Fritsch with trio and orchestra. Odeon O-2993 b (Be 9149). Oct. 1930
• A friend a good friend. Six-eight ad sound film operetta from the Erich Pommer production “Die Drei von der Gasstelle” (Werner Richard Heymann- Text: Rob. Gilbert) Oskar Karlweis and Heinz Rühmann with Lewis Ruth Band. Conductor: Werner R. Heymann. Electrola EG2007 / 60-1121 (Matr. ORA 8907), also HMV AM 2968
• A friend a good friend. March song from the sound film “Die Drei von der Gasstelle” (Heymann-Gilbert) Ben Berlin dance orchestra with German refraing singing: Leo Monosson . Gramophone 23 516 / C 40 170 (Matr. 1116 ½ BT-VI)
• A friend, a good friend. Six-eight ad sound film “Die Drei von der Gasstelle” (Heymann-Gilbert) Frank Fox Dance Orchestra, with vocals: Otto Neuman. Columbia DV.353 (Matr. WHA 244). Vienna approx. September 1930
• A friend a good friend. Marching song ad the sound film operetta “Die Drei von der Gasstelle” (Werner Richard Heymann) Dance Orchestra Dajos Béla . Odeon O-2994 a (Ki 3006). 1930
• Avoir un bon copain. Fox-trot (du film "Le Chemin du Paradis") (Heymann) Marek Weber et son Orchester avec refrain vocal. Disque Gramophone N ° Cat. K-6056 / 60-1154 (sung in German)
• A friend, a good friend. Six-eight ad sound film “Die Drei von der Gasstelle” (Heymann-Gilbert) crystal orchestra with refrained singing. Kristall Elektro-Record No. 3113 (C 611-1)
• A friend, a good friend. Six-eight ad sound film “Die Drei von der Gasstelle” (Heymann-Gilbert) Sid Kay's Fellows . Tri-Ergon TE 6097 (Matr. 04084), apply. Berlin, October 1931

Picture postcard

WECO audio postcard with the song “A friend, a good friend”.

Piano rolls

of Ludwig Hupfeld AG Leipzig, for:

Hupfeld Phonoliszt "Violina"

Hupfeld Animatic Clavitist

• version française:

Avoir un bon copain. Marche chantée du film parlant français "Le Chemin du Paradis" (WR Heymann - Jean Boyer) Henri Garat accompagné par l'Orchestre Fred Mélé . Disque Polydor n ° 521.857 (mx. 4073 ½ BKP), enregistré a Paris 1930

"Avoir un bon copain" du film "le chemin du paradis" chanté by Adrien Lamy . L'orchestre dirigé by Pierre Chagnon . Paroles de Jean Boyer. Musique de Heymann. Disque Columbia n ° DF.414 (mx. L 2741), enregistré en Janvier 1931

literature

• Gregor Ball: Heinz Rühmann - his films, his life. (= Heyne Film Library. Volume 24). Heyne-Verlag, 1981, ISBN 3-453-86024-1 , p. 68.
• Hans Borgelt: UFA - a dream. Verlag Edition Q, 1993, ISBN 3-86124-178-1 , p. 181.
• Rick Crandall: The complete catalog of all 933 music rolls ever originally produced by Hupfeld for the Phonoliszt-Violina. (rickcrandall.net ; PDF)
• Günter Grull: Radio and music by and for soldiers: War and post-war years: 1939–1960. (= WHV / WHV. Volume 55). Verlag Herbst, 2000, ISBN 3-923925-66-2 , p. 138.
• Wolfgang Hirschenberger, Herbert Pames: Discography of Austrian Popular Music. Dance, jazz and light music recordings. 1900-1958. (grammophon-platten.de ; PDF)
• Berthold Leimbach: audio documents of cabaret and their interpreters 1898-1945. Self-published, Göttingen 1991.
• Peter Moormann (ed.): Classics of film music. (= Reclams Universal Library. 18621). Verlag Reclam, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-15-018621-3 , p. 39.
• Fred Sellin: I break my heart ...: The life of Heinz Rühmann. Rowohlt Verlag, 2001, ISBN 3-498-06349-9 , p. 24.
• Charles Davis Smith, Richard J. Howe: The Welte-Mignon: its music and musicians. Vestal Press for the Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association, 1994, ISBN 1-879511-17-7 , p. 263.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ to be found at ingeb.org
2. ↑ Fig. D. Note title at notenlink.de
3. ↑ title shown. at imagesmusicales.be
4. ↑ on Electrola EG 2032 (Matr. BDR 8945-II). Berlin August 22, 1930.
5. ↑ cf. Hirschenberger-Pames p. 83.
6. ↑ on this medium “Tonbild-Postcard” cf. Rainer E. Lotz at lotz-verlag.de and the article "Weco Tonbild-Postkarten were very popular between 1929-1933" at grammophon-platten.de (Moderators: SchellackFreak, intoxicated, Grammophonteam, Formiggini, TimoMusicMaster, Jul 13 2013)
7. ↑ as "Le Chemin du Paradis", cf. fr.wiki  ; Movie poster dep. at unifrance.org
8. ↑ z. B. in: Norbert Arzberger: Between threshing floor and tabernacle. Verlag BoD - Books on Demand, 2011, ISBN 978-3-942867-02-3 , p. 71.Dieter
   Beckmann, Maria Rhein, Michael Boenke, Armin Öhri: Im Bann des Occultten. Gmeiner-Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-7349-9384-8 .
   Gerhard Gemke: The wrong order. (= Bresel crime thriller. 3). Publisher neobooks, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8476-3358-7 .
   Samuel Dreher: The fault. BoD - Books on Demand, 2013, ISBN 978-3-7322-8239-5 , p. 324.
   What all these quotes have in common is that the song is attributed to the Comedian Harmonists and not to the real authors Heymann and Gilbert: so much Over time, the listeners become aware of Schlager and their interpreters. But the "friend" is also endeavored in the more recent advisory literature; B.
   Herrad Schenck: The fear of old age complex: on the way to a new self-confidence. (= Beck series. 1755). Verlag CH Beck, 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54781-2 , Chapter 7, p. 117
   Silvia Meixner: Gestalkt - Diary of fear: How I defend myself against my persecutor. Heyne-Verlag, 2015, ISBN 978-3-641-14518-7 .
9. ↑ after 1945 the popular tenor Rudolf Schock sang it with the Günter Arndt Choir on record, to be heard on YouTube  ; the pop singers Willy Hagara , Bully Buhlan and Bill Ramsey sang the title in 1974 in the television program “Zum Blauen Bock” with a parody text by Heinz Schenk , which can be viewed on YouTube ; Also in a (different) television program in 2007, the popular actors Peter Lohmeyer and Heino Ferch sang the title together with Max Raabe and his palace orchestra, which can be heard on YouTube
10. ↑ listen on YouTube
11. ↑ to be heard on YouTube , label released. at grammophon-platten.de
12. ↑ listen on YouTube
13. ↑ listen on YouTube
14. ↑ listen on YouTube
15. ↑ listen on YouTube  ; on this band founded by trumpeter Shabtai Petrushka cf. grammophon-platten.de
16. ↑ fig. at posot.es ( memento of the original from September 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (retrieved 06/22/16) 
17. ↑ roll no. 37.371, to be heard on YouTube , cf. Crandall p. 62 Heymann, WR: A Friend, a Good Friend of the talkie the Three Good Friends
18. ↑ roll (no.?), Listen to on YouTube
19. ↑ listen on YouTube
20. ↑ listen on YouTube