Rosamunde (song)
Rosamunde is the German-language title of an internationally known mood song based on a Bohemian polka composed by Jaromír Vejvoda in 1927 . The Czech title of the song is Škoda lásky (“Too bad about love”), in English-speaking countries the piece is known as Beer Barrel Polka .
History of origin and cover versions
Jaromír Vejvoda composed the Modřanská Polka ("Polka of Modřany ") in 1927 as a purely instrumental piece. Václav Zeman wrote a text for this in 1932 with the title Škoda lásky and provided the song with a vocal range from C4 to F5.
In 1934, Klaus S. Richter wrote a German text entitled Rosamunde , which turned the song into a mood song. Accordionist Will Glahé and his orchestra first brought out a version recorded in Berlin on May 11, 1938 under the German title Skoda Lasky, Böhmische Polka / Gänsemarsch with an accordion solo ( Electrola EG 6398), which became a million seller by 1943 . Rosamunde was the second million seller in the German music industry after the soldier song Lili Marleen by Lale Andersen .
The US music publisher Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. acquired the US rights in 1938 and had the melody provided with English text by Lew Brown and Wladimir A. Timm, now dubbed Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel) . The Plehal Brothers were the first to record the song on March 20, 1939. A few more cover versions followed that did not make it into the charts . Only when the Andrews Sisters picked up the song and had it produced on May 3, 1939 (Decca 2462-A), the song became successful. Their version reached number 4 on the charts and was sold over 350,000 times. Just three days later, Will Glahé, who had meanwhile emigrated to the USA, was in the studio with his Musette Orchestra, whose version (Victor V-710-B) stayed at number 1 on the pop hit parade for 4 weeks.
Rosamunde became a soldier's song during World War II . Also in 1939 were versions of Jolly Jack Robel & His Band, Gray Gordon 's TicToc Rhythm, Henry Busse & His Orchestra and Whoopee John Wilfahrt's Band. Harry Harden's Musette Orchestra was in the studio in March 1941. In 1954, American accordionist John Serry senior arranged the melody for an accordion quartet and recorded the song for RCA Records . The acid rock band Grateful Dead also performed the song live in 1973 at the Pershing Municipal Auditorium in Lincoln, Nebraska . 1975 Bobby Vinton recorded a cover version. Over five months, held Schlagerversion of Dennie Christian on the German charts after it was released in January 1975, up to rank 3 was advancing.
On March 21, 2002, Josef Vejvoda conducted his father's most famous polka in New York's Carnegie Hall in front of a sold-out auditorium with 2,800 people.
Web links
- Jazzman with polka in his blood: About Vejvoda and Rosamunde
- German text and midi files
- Rooosaaamunde! A bohemian polka goes around the world , broadcast on May 28, 2008 on Radio Praha
Individual evidence
- 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. 21 .
- ↑ Who Is Who in Music International 1958 , publisher: Who Is Who in Music International, Chicago, Il, USA, 1958, Biographical File # B11719 for John Serry. Current publisher: International Biographical Center, Cambridgeshire, UK