Sylvia's mother
| Sylvia's mother | |
|---|---|
| Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show | |
| publication | 1971 |
| length | 3.31 to 3.55 min |
| Genre (s) | Country rock |
| Author (s) | Shel Silverstein |
| Publisher (s) | Columbia Records |
| album | Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show |
| Cover versions | |
| 1972 |
Bobby Bare - Sylvia's mother |
| 1972 |
Randolph Rose - Sylvia's mother |
| 1976 |
Sacha Distel - Le père de Sylvia - Sylvia's mother says |
| 1987 |
Drukwerk - Sylvia's moeder |
| 1994 |
Jonny Hill - Sylvia's mother |
Sylvia's Mother is the title of a song written by Shel Silverstein, written by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show released in 1971 and released as their first single in 1972. It was produced by Ron Haffkine.
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Background and content
The song is based on Silverstein's friendship with a girl named Sylvia Pandolphi. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in November 1972 he reported that something similar had happened to him eight years earlier when he called his former girlfriend Sylvia and her mother answered the phone. Only the last name was changed to “Mrs. Avery ”changed because that fit the text better.
“I called Sylvia and her mother said, 'She can't talk to you.' I said, 'Why not?' Her mother said she was packing and she was leaving to get married, […] Her mother finally let me talk to her, but her last words were, 'Shel, don't spoil it.' ”
"I called Sylvia and her mother said, 'She can't talk to you.' I said, 'Why not?' Her mother said that she was packing as she was leaving to get married, [...] Finally her mother let me talk to her, but her last words were, 'Shel, don't spoil it [please].' "
This song tells the course of the telephone conversation, how the mother put the caller off, tells him about Sylvia's marriage plans and the imminent departure. The phone call is repeatedly interrupted by the operator ( telephone exchange ), who demands the insertion of more cent coins in order to keep the line. Sylvia's mother asks him not to say anything that would make Sylvia sad or to try to change her mind or to stop her, but she does not pass the phone on to her daughter. It ends with the mother calling Sylvia not to forget her umbrella and telling the caller not to call again.
Cover versions
When the song was released as a single in 1972, it was released in a cover version by country singer Bobby Bare , which also made it into the charts. This version reached number 21 in the country singles chart in October 1972 . Also in 1972 Randolph Rose brought out a German version with the title Sylvia's Mutter , written by Peter Orloff , which reached number 26 in Germany. The Les Humphries Singers released their version of the song a year later.
In 1976 the French singer Sacha Distel reissued the song, once as the French version Le Père de Sylvia (The Father of Sylvia), and with the German title Sylvias Mutter says . Edwin Gitsels from Drukwerk wrote a Dutch version of the song called Sylvia's moeder , which became a minor hit of the pop band in the single Top 100 in 1987 . The Austrian singer Jonny Hill recorded the German version of Randolph Rose again in 1994.
In 2003, the American rock band Bon Jovi played the song in a performance on November 14, 2003 at the Hotel Borgata in Atlantic City .
Musical structure
The song is composed in the key of C major and moves harmoniously between the tonic in C, the dominant G and the subdominant in F. It has a continuous 4/4 time signature , and the entire piece is available in the notated version 78 bars. It should be played at a tempo of 
85. This means that the quarter note should be struck 85 times per minute, which roughly corresponds to an andante . As instrumentation Silverstein looks next to percussion , two electric guitars , an African kora or gravikord , fretless electric bass ( fretless bass ) and an electronic piano , synthesizer -Streicher and voices before.
Publications (selection)
- Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show (Album Embassy): OCLC 464338210
- Dr. Hook (album CBS): Sylvia's mother. OCLC 872062396
- Sylvia's Mother (Single CBS)
- Sylvia's Mother (Single Columbia)
Web links
- Dr. Hook - Biography on billboard.com
- Sylvia's Mother by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show on songfacts.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show - Sylvia's Mother
- ↑ Sylvia's Mother (Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show) at hitparade.ch / chartsurfer.de , accessed on July 13, 2015.
- ↑ a b Sylvia’s mother (Randolph Rose) at officialcharts.de / hitparade.ch
- ↑ 10. Sylvia's Mother - Dr Hook on whatculture.com
- ↑ Dr. Hook's VD and Medicine Shows. sylviasmother.com, accessed July 13, 2015 .
- ↑ Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show - lyrics - Sylvia's Mother. oldielyrics.com, accessed July 13, 2015 .
- ^ Billboard . Nielsen Business Media, Inc., October 7, 1972, p. 28 ( books.google.de ).
- ↑ Randolph Rose - Sylvia's mother. Discogs, accessed July 13, 2015 .
- ↑ Steffen Hung: The Les Humphries Singers - Sylvia's Mother. hitparade.ch, accessed on July 15, 2015 .
- ↑ Steffen Hung: Sacha Distel - Le père de Sylvia. hitparade.ch, accessed on July 13, 2015 . and Steffen Hung: Sacha Distel - Sylvia's mother says. hitparade.ch, accessed on July 13, 2015 .
- ↑ Jonny Hill - Sylvia's mother at hitparade.ch
- ^ Against the "J.Lo-Junk". laut.de, accessed on July 13, 2015 .
- ↑ Sylvias Mother - Dr. Hook on musicnoteslib.com (sheet music)