Ramona (song)

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Record by the duo Blue Diamonds (1960)

Ramona is the title of a waltz song that the American composer Mabel Wayne wrote in 1928 as the theme song for the silent film melodrama Ramona by Inspiration Pictures / United Artists. The English text is from Louis Wolfe Gilbert . The German version was composed by the songwriter and singer Franz Baumann under the artist name Fred Barny . The song was published by Leo Feist in New York and by Francis Day & Hunter in London .

In America, the leading actress Dolores del Río sang the song live before commercials in the cinema and then also for the record.

The whispering baritone Whispering Jack Smith , who accompanied himself on the piano, and the famous tango singer Carlos Gardel , who was accompanied by a guitar duet, provided idiosyncratic interpretations in their own way . Paul Whiteman played a jazzy version on record for Victor with his orchestra, which at the time also included cornetist Leon Bismarck Beiderbecke . Even Louis Armstrong produced in 1953 a medium swing version of it in 4/4 time.

When the film came to Germany, the chansonnier Paul O'Montis recorded a German version of the song with a “whispering orchestra” at Odeon. Other well-known artists from the Weimar Republic also made recordings of the piece. The Dajos Béla dance orchestra recorded it as a slow waltz, and Efim Schachmeister's jazz orchestra even played it as a blues. The song was also available as a piano roll for the electric piano.

In Germany in 1928 a sounding short documentary by Tobis was released with the title “Die Kapelle Etté plays [Boston] Ramona”, directed by Walter Ruttmann , who was featured in the supporting programs.

Recordings of the waltz song were also made in Austria and Czechoslovakia . It was sung by Ernst Davis in Vienna and by the popular Czech tenor Karel Hruška in Prague , where the film opened in November 1928 .

In the Netherlands , the well-known cabaret and folk singer Kees Pruis recorded it with his own text.

Even after the Second World War, the popular bass-baritone Willy Schneider sang the song with German lyrics to accompany the Hans Bund orchestra on record.

Today the song is mainly known in 4/4 time, it is now one of the evergreens of hit history. The Indonesian- born Dutch duetists Ruud and Riem de Wolff, who became known as Blue Diamonds , had late success with a modernized 4/4 version . The band was at the top of the German single charts for three months, making the single one of the most successful long-running hits in German chart history . In addition, the single received a gold record and sold over a million copies.

Audio documents

  • Ramona. Waltz (Mabel Wayne - Fred Barny) Paul O'Montis with a whispering orchestra. Odeon O-2699 a (Be 7491). Berlin, November 1928
  • Ramona. Waltz (Mabel Wayne) Franz Baumann with Efim Schachmeister-Ensemble. Gramophone 21 670 / B 42740 (Matr. 1389 1/2 bd-II)
  • Ramona. Song Waltz (Mabel Wayne - Fred Barny) Ernst Davis, with orchestral accompaniment. Odeon A 45 617 (Be 7725)
  • Ramona. Waltz (Mabel Wayne) Dajos Béla dance orchestra . Odeon O-2548 b (Be 6999²)
  • Ramona. Blues (Wayne) Efim Schachmeister ’s Jazz Symphonians. Polydor 21 841 (mx.?)
  • Ramona, I'll say good-bye to you goodbye. Waltz by Mabel Wayne. Orchestrion roll EMPECO by Michael, Preuss & Co. (series roll D 204) (1929)
  • Ramona. Valčik (hudba ze zpěvem: M. Wayne, text R. Jurist) [waltz, music: Mabel Wayne, Czech text: Ruda Jurist], spivá Karel Hruška, E-Record 2038 (Matr. 5433), post. Prague 1928

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mabel Wimpfheimer: 1904–1978, pianist, composer and singer, cf. todotango.com ; Photo of the artist at pianola.co , and Ritzel a. a. 0.
  2. ↑ Directed by Edwin Carewe, cf. IMDb , cinema poster at scvhistory.com ( Memento of the original from November 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.scvhistory.com
  3. ↑ Baumann also recorded the song himself in 1928 with Deutsche Grammophon , accompanied by Efim Schachmeister and his ensemble, both in German (see Grammophon 21 670 (Matr. 1389 1/2 bd-II), label shown on ebay.de ( accessed on November 15, 2015)) as well as in English (Grammophon 21 669 (Matr. 821 br-II): "with English singing: Franz Bauman")
  4. ↑ Fig. Of the sheet music title at psstatic.com (accessed on November 14, 2015)
  5. ↑ Illustration of the music title. In: amazon.com. and pinion a. a. 0. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  6. ↑ cf. IMDb trivia : “The song 'Ramona', whilst not featuring in the film itself, was specially written by Mabel Wayne (music) and L. Wolfe Gilbert (lyric) for Dolores del Rio to sing during promotional appearances for the film. It is thought to be the first instance of a song being 'inspired' by a film. "
  7. ↑ listen on YouTube
  8. ↑ on HMV EG962, to be heard on YouTube
  9. ↑ to be heard on YouTube , title with Photo Gardels shown. at todotango.com ; Enrique Cadícamo wrote the Spanish text, cf. todotango / cadícamo
  10. ↑ Victor (US) 21 214-A, matrix BVE-41293. Recorded on January 4, 1928. See ucsb.edu , available on YouTube
  11. ↑ listen on YouTube
  12. ↑ First performance on September 17, 1928 in Berlin, cf. IMDB release info
  13. ↑ listen on YouTube
  14. ↑ Fig. Of a piano roll title at mmdigest.com Connazional Music Roll # 308, "Ramona", waltz, by A. Crivello, publ. by A. Centonze Music Co.
  15. ↑ with the orchestra by Bernard Etté , 111 m, 4 min., Premiered on January 17, 1929 in Berlin, Tauentzien-Palast, cf. filmportal.de , IMDb and Ritzel aa0 .; for content cf. Development protocol of the Federal Archive Koblenz at filmarchives-online
  16. ↑ cf. IMDb release info
  17. ↑ 1891–1966, a photo of the artist at fdb.cz
  18. ↑ Photo. In: ytimg.com. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  19. ↑ Homocord 4-5935, October 26, 1928, Kees Pruis met Orkest, to be heard on YouTube , there also reproduction of the Dutch text.
  20. ↑ Polydor 48 196-A, cf. YouTube
  21. ^ Günter Ehnert: Hit balance sheet - German chart singles 1956-1980 . 1st edition. Verlag popular music-literature, Norderstedt 2000, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 443 .
  22. 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. 121 .
  23. ↑ listen on YouTube
  24. ↑ to be heard on YouTube , label off. at yatego.com ( memento of the original dated November 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (retrieved November 11, 2015) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.yatego.com
  25. ↑ listen on YouTube
  26. ↑ listen on YouTube
  27. ↑ listen on YouTube