Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)
Encyclopedia
"Cereza rosa", or "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" or "Gummy Mambo" is the English version of "Cerisier rose et pommier blanc", a popular
song
with music by Louiguy written in 1950. French
lyrics to the song by Jacques Larue and English
lyrics by Mack David
both exist and recordings of both have been quite popular. However, Perez Prado
's recording of the song as an instrumental with his orchestra featuring trumpeter Billy Regis, whose trumpet sound would slide down and up before the melody would resume, was the most popular version in 1955, reaching number one on the Billboard charts. The most popular vocal version in the U.S. was by Alan Dale
, reaching #14 on the charts in 1955
.
In the United Kingdom
, two versions of the song went to number one in 1955. The first was the version by Perez Prado, which reached number one for two weeks. Less than a month later, a version by the British trumpeter Eddie Calvert
reached number one for four weeks.
In 1982, the British pop group Modern Romance
(featuring John Du Prez
) had a UK Top 20 hit with the vocal version of the song.
In 1961
, Jerry Murad's Harmonicats released an album featuring the song, also entitled Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
with music by Louiguy written in 1950. French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
lyrics to the song by Jacques Larue and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
lyrics by Mack David
Mack David
Mack David was an American lyricist and songwriter, best known for his work in film and television, with a career spanning from the early 1940s through the early 1970s. Mack was credited with writing lyrics and/or music for over one thousand songs...
both exist and recordings of both have been quite popular. However, Perez Prado
Perez Prado
Dámaso Pérez Prado was a Cuban bandleader, musician , and composer. He is often referred to as the 'King of the Mambo'.His orchestra was the most popular in mambo...
's recording of the song as an instrumental with his orchestra featuring trumpeter Billy Regis, whose trumpet sound would slide down and up before the melody would resume, was the most popular version in 1955, reaching number one on the Billboard charts. The most popular vocal version in the U.S. was by Alan Dale
Alan Dale (singer)
Alan Dale was an American singer of traditional popular and rock and roll music.-Early life:He was born Aldo Sigismondi in the Brooklyn borough of New York...
, reaching #14 on the charts in 1955
1955 in music
-Events:*January 1 – RCA Victor announces a marketing plan called "Operation TNT." The label drops the list price on LPs from $5.95 to $3.98, EPs from $4.95 to $2.98, 45 EPs from $1.58 to $1.49 and 45's from $1.16 to $.89...
.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, two versions of the song went to number one in 1955. The first was the version by Perez Prado, which reached number one for two weeks. Less than a month later, a version by the British trumpeter Eddie Calvert
Eddie Calvert
Eddie Calvert was an English trumpeter, who enjoyed his greatest successes in the 1950s. Calvert had his first United Kingdom, number one instrumental single in 1954, with "Oh Mein Papa".-Biography:...
reached number one for four weeks.
In 1982, the British pop group Modern Romance
Modern Romance (band)
Modern Romance were a British pop music band that found popularity in the early 1980s. Formed in 1980 by previous members of an earlier punk rock band, The Leyton Buzzards, the band enjoyed a string of UK chart hits before they broke up in 1985...
(featuring John Du Prez
John Du Prez
John Du Prez is a musician, conductor, and composer. Du Prez was a member of the 1980s multi-hit Salsa-driven pop band Modern Romance and has since written several Film scores including Oxford Blues and the final Carry On film, Carry On Columbus...
) had a UK Top 20 hit with the vocal version of the song.
In 1961
1961 in music
-Events:*January 15 – Motown Records signs The Supremes.*January 20 – Francis Poulenc's Gloria receives its premiėre in Boston, USA.*February 12 – The Miracles' "Shop Around" becomes Motown's first million-selling single....
, Jerry Murad's Harmonicats released an album featuring the song, also entitled Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White.
Recorded versions
- Chet AtkinsChet AtkinsChester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
1955 - James LastJames LastJames Last is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark...
Orchestra - John BarryJohn Barry (composer)John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
- Bill Black's ComboBill BlackWilliam Patton "Bill" Black, Jr. was an American musician who is noted as one of the pioneers of rockabilly music. Black was the bassist in Elvis Presley's early trio and the leader of Bill Black's Combo....
- Stanley BlackStanley BlackStanley Black OBE was an English Bandleader, Composer, conductor, arranger and pianist. He wrote and arranged many film scores and recorded prolifically for the Decca label...
- Pat BoonePat BooneCharles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
(19601960 in music-Events:*January 14 – Elvis Presley is promoted to Sergeant in the U.S. Army*February 6 – Songwriter Jesse Belvin dies in an automobile accident in Los Angeles...
, a major hit in the Philippines) - Earl BosticEarl BosticEarl Bostic was an American jazz and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist, and a pioneer of the post-war American Rhythm and Blues style. He had a number of popular hits such as "Flamingo", "Harlem Nocturne", "Temptation", "Sleep", "Special Delivery Stomp", and "Where or When", which showed off his...
- Alan Braden and His Orchestra (Instrumental)
- Eddie CalvertEddie CalvertEddie Calvert was an English trumpeter, who enjoyed his greatest successes in the 1950s. Calvert had his first United Kingdom, number one instrumental single in 1954, with "Oh Mein Papa".-Biography:...
- André ClaveauAndré ClaveauAndré Claveau was born in Paris and was a very popular singer in France from the 1940s to 1960s....
(original version) - Xavier CugatXavier CugatXavier Cugat was a Spanish-American bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a key personality in the spread of Latin music in United States popular music. He was also a cartoonist and a successful businessman...
- Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
- Alan Dale (singer)Alan Dale (singer)Alan Dale was an American singer of traditional popular and rock and roll music.-Early life:He was born Aldo Sigismondi in the Brooklyn borough of New York...
(19551955 in music-Events:*January 1 – RCA Victor announces a marketing plan called "Operation TNT." The label drops the list price on LPs from $5.95 to $3.98, EPs from $4.95 to $2.98, 45 EPs from $1.58 to $1.49 and 45's from $1.16 to $.89...
) - DevoDevoDevo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
(as "Softcore Mutations" - unreleased) - Lou DonaldsonLou DonaldsonLou Donaldson is a jazz alto saxophonist. He was born in Badin, North Carolina. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker.His first recordings were...
- The Fabulous ThunderbirdsThe Fabulous ThunderbirdsThe Fabulous Thunderbirds are an American, Grammy-nominated Blues rock band, formed in 1974.-Career:After performing for several years in the Austin, Texas blues scene, the band won a recording contract with Takoma/Chrysalis Records, and later on signed with Epic Records.Their first two albums,...
- Horst Fischer
- Georgia GibbsGeorgia GibbsGeorgia Gibbs was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs first achieved acclaim in the mid-1950s interpreting songs originating with the black rhythm and blues community and later as a featured vocalist on a long list of...
(19511951 in music-Events:*January 29 – Nilla Pizzi wins the first annual Sanremo Music Festival with "Grazie dei fiori".*February – The first complete performance of Charles Ives's Second Symphony is given in Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Bernstein.*March – Alan...
) - Harry JamesHarry JamesHenry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
- Spike JonesSpike JonesMel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink"...
(under the pseudonym "Davey Crackpot"; a parody of the Perez Prado hit record featuring George RockGeorge RockGeorge Rock was a member of Spike Jones and His City Slickers.In addition to being a trumpet player, he also sang with the group from time to time, using a voice characterization that sounded like a child...
on trumpet) - Michel LegrandMichel LegrandMichel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
- LiberaceLiberaceWladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...
- Ron LivingstonRon LivingstonRonald Joseph "Ron" Livingston is an American film and television actor. His roles include a disaffected corporate employee in the film Office Space, a sardonic writer in a short-term relationship with Carrie Bradshaw in the TV show Sex and the City, and Captain Lewis Nixon in the miniseries...
- Gisele MacKenzieGisele MacKenzieGisèle MacKenzie was a Canadian-American singer, most famous for her performances on the popular television program Your Hit Parade.-Biography:...
- Modern RomanceModern Romance (band)Modern Romance were a British pop music band that found popularity in the early 1980s. Formed in 1980 by previous members of an earlier punk rock band, The Leyton Buzzards, the band enjoyed a string of UK chart hits before they broke up in 1985...
- Hugo MontenegroHugo MontenegroHugo Montenegro was an American orchestra leader and composer of film soundtracks. His best known work is derived from interpretations of the music from Spaghetti westerns, especially his cover version of the main theme from the 1966 film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
- Jerry Murad (19611961 in music-Events:*January 15 – Motown Records signs The Supremes.*January 20 – Francis Poulenc's Gloria receives its premiėre in Boston, USA.*February 12 – The Miracles' "Shop Around" becomes Motown's first million-selling single....
) - Arthur MurrayArthur MurrayArthur Murray was a dance instructor and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name....
- Ruben Pena
- Perez PradoPerez PradoDámaso Pérez Prado was a Cuban bandleader, musician , and composer. He is often referred to as the 'King of the Mambo'.His orchestra was the most popular in mambo...
(Instrumental) (19551955 in music-Events:*January 1 – RCA Victor announces a marketing plan called "Operation TNT." The label drops the list price on LPs from $5.95 to $3.98, EPs from $4.95 to $2.98, 45 EPs from $1.58 to $1.49 and 45's from $1.16 to $.89...
) - Billy Regis (performed the trumpet solo on the famous Perez Prado version)
- Ivo RobićIvo RobicIvo Robić was Croatian singer and songwriter.-Domestic career:Robić began his career as a soloist with the Radio Zagreb Orchestra, while studying at the same time in Zagreb...
(as "Jabuke i trešnje"; CroatianCroatian languageCroatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
lyrics by Mario Kinel) - Edmundo RosEdmundo RosEdmundo William Ros OBE was a Trinidadian musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader who made his career in Britain. He directed a highly popular Latin American orchestra, had an extensive recording career and owned one of London's leading nightclubs.- Life :Ros was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad...
- Lester SterlingLester SterlingLester Sterling is a Jamaican trumpet and saxophone player.-Biography:Like many Jamaican musicians of his generation, Sterling attended the Alpha Boys School....
(under the pseudonym Mr. Versatile; instrumental) (19691969 in music-Events:Perhaps the two most famous musical events of 1969 were concerts. At a Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, a fan was stabbed to death by Hells Angels, a biker gang that had been hired to provide security for the event...
) - The Thundertones
- Billy VaughnBilly VaughnRichard "Billy" Vaughn was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records....
- The VenturesThe VenturesThe Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...
- Lawrence WelkLawrence WelkLawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
- Mnozil BrassMnozil BrassMnozil Brass is an Austrian brass septet, founded in 1992.-History:All founding members were graduates of the renowned Vienna College of Music, who met while playing at the Mnozil pub in Vienna's first inner city district....
(2004) - Norrie Paramor Orchestra (1977-Silver Serenade)
Finnish versions Kaksi ruusua (Two roses)
- Henry Theel (1955)
- Olavi VirtaOlavi VirtaOlavi Virta was a Finnish singer, acclaimed as the king of Finnish tango. Between 1939 and 1966 he recorded almost 600 songs, many of which are classics of Finnish popular music, and appeared in many films and theatrical productions...
(1955) - Erkki JunkkarinenErkki JunkkarinenErkki Aukusti Junkkarinen was a Finnish singer.Junkkarinen established his musical career in 1950 with his successful album Yksinäinen harmonikka, though in the following years his popularity began to dwindle. He created only one album in the 1960s, Ruusut hopeamaljassa, which at the time had only...
(1975) - Reijo Taipale (1975)
- AgentsAgents (band)Agents is a Finnish band formed in 1979, playing rautalanka, schlager and rock'n'roll music. The head figure and musical director of the band is solo guitarist Esa Pulliainen.-Founding of Agents:...
(1985)
In film
- The song was featured in the film, Underwater!Underwater!Underwater! is a 1955 adventure film directed by John Sturges and starring Jane Russell and Richard Egan.-Plot synopsis:Johnny and his wife Theresa , along with mercenary Dominic Quesada , priest Father Cannon and Gloria , the boat owner, go searching for sunken treasure in the Caribbean...
, starring Jane RussellJane RussellJane Russell was an American film actress and was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s....
. - The recording by Perez PradoPerez PradoDámaso Pérez Prado was a Cuban bandleader, musician , and composer. He is often referred to as the 'King of the Mambo'.His orchestra was the most popular in mambo...
was featured in the film, CookieCookie (film)-Plot:Cookie Voltecki is the illegitimate daughter of mobster Dino Capisco , who has just finished thirteen years in prison. Since being released from jail, all that Dino wants is to settle some old scores, and make up for lost time with his daughter.Cookie's mother, Lenore Voltecki , has been...
, in 1989.