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Jambalaya (On the Bayou)
Encyclopedia
"Jambalaya" is the title of a song written and recorded by American
country music
singer Hank Williams that was first released in July 1952. Named for a Creole
and Cajun dish
, jambalaya
, it spawned numerous cover version
s and has since achieved popularity in a number of music genres.
song "Grand Texas", some sources, including Allmusic, claim that the song was co-written by Williams and Moon Mullican
, with Mullican uncredited but receiving ongoing royalties
.
Released in July 1952, crediting Williams as the sole author, it was performed by Williams as a country song. It reached number one on the U.S. country charts for fourteen non-consecutive weeks. "Jambalaya" remains one of Hank Williams most popular songs today.
Although Williams changed the lyrics, he kept a Louisiana theme. In addition, Cajuns readily identified with the soulful sound of Williams. After Williams released his version, Cajuns recorded the song again using Cajun instruments. However, this time they used Williams' lyrics translated into the Cajun French language. Over the past few decades, the Cajun French version has been performed by many Cajun bands including Aldus Roger and Jo-El Sonnier
.
song, in melody only. "Grand Texas" is a song about a lost love, a woman who left the singer to go with another man to "Big Texas". "Jambalaya", alternatively, is about life, parties and stereotypical food of Cajun cuisine
. The song has a Cajun
theme, possibly inspired by Williams' time with the Louisiana Hayride
, though Louisiana Hayride was recorded in Shreveport, a city with very little Cajun cultural influence. Referenced within the song are such Cajun dishes as jambalaya, crawfish pie, and filé
gumbo
. Williams sings of "Yvonne" in the song, referring to her as my ma cher amio, which is considered poor Cajun French for "my dear" (redundantly Williams uses the word "my" before the French "ma"), and has caused some confusion among listeners, particularly given his pronunciation. The refrain "son of a gun
, we'll have big fun on the bayou
" has become a well-recognized and often repeated phrase.
Williams composed a sequel to the song from the female perspective, "I'm Yvonne (Of the Bayou)", with Jimmy Rule. It was not as popular. As with "Jambalaya" there is speculation that Williams may have purchased this song from Mullican.
Later researched by a member of Moon Mullican's family, a story emerged about how the song came about in the first place, and it was said that while visiting a small bar located just south of the Choupique Bayou and owned by Yvonne Little, the song "Jambalaya" referred to some truly wonderful times had there.
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Another, even more popular at the time, version of the song was the 1952 cover version
recorded by Jo Stafford
, reaching #3 on the Billboard pop charts
(and making the song well known to people other than country music fans). Mitch Miller
had originally intended "Jambalaya" to be recorded by Jimmy Boyd
for Columbia Records
. Boyd turned the song down and Miller recorded it with Jo Stafford. Years later Jimmy Boyd did record it for Dot Records
. It was further popularized in a Rock'n'Roll version by Fats Domino
.
The Carpenters
featured the song, in an uptempo MOR version with country flourishes, on their 1973 album Now & Then. Their version was released as a single outside the United States in 1974 and sold well in the UK and Japan.
Other artists who have performed the song include Jerry Lee Lewis
, Jimmy C. Newman
, Leon Russell
, Charley Pride
, Jimmy Buffett
, Jeff Healey
on his 2008 album Mess of Blues
, Emmylou Harris
included it in her 1976 album Elite Hotel
, Moon Mullican
, John Fogerty
(whose version hit #16 in 1973 under the name of The Blue Ridge Rangers
), Gerry and the Pacemakers, Brenda Lee
, Harry Connick, Jr.
, Lucinda Williams
, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
(whose version peaked at #84 in 1972), Billy "Crash" Craddock, George Jones
, The Residents
, Leo Kottke
, Wes Paul
, Dolly Parton
, Andy Kaufman
, Professor Longhair
, Shocking Blue
, Creedence Clearwater Revival
, Freddy Fender
, The White Stripes
, Tab Benoit
, and Tommy Funderburk
(appearing in the film Steel Magnolias
), Van Morrison
and Linda Gail Lewis
on their 2000 album You Win Again
, and The Residents
among many others.
A recording by The Tanner Sisters with orchestra Cond.: Don Carlos was made in London
on September 25, 1952. It was released by EMI
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10418.
Ex-Hong Kong
female singer, CHANG Loo (張露), covered this song twice. The first version was covered in Mandarin Chinese entirely, under title name of 小癩痲 in the mid 50s. The second one was covered, in alternate English
and Mandarin Chinese, under title name of Jambalaya/小癩痲, on her LP album An Evening With Chang Loo in 1963. In 1978, another Hong Kong
female singer, Paula Tsui (徐小鳳), covered the Mandarin Chinese version made by CHANG Loo, on her LP album 風雨同路.
In 1974, Singapore
-based female singer, Ervinna, covered this song, on her LP album Top Hits Vol. 2 with the local White Cloud Records.
In India, Usha Iyer (now Usha Uthup
) recorded a version in 1968 on the HMV label, that became the best selling song until then, by an Indian artist in English.
International, translated or derived versions do exist at least in Chinese
, Dutch
, Finnish
, French
, Italian
, Polish
(as 'Baju-baj, proszę pana' recorded by Anna Jantar), German
and Estonian
. In 2005, two versions of "Jambalaya" surged in Mexican folk music, one by Banda Limón and the other from the Duranguense
group K-Paz de la Sierra
. However, in Mexican music, the most famous cover version is by Los Felinos.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer Hank Williams that was first released in July 1952. Named for a Creole
Louisiana Creole cuisine
Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana which blends French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Asian Indian, Native American, and African influences, as well as general Southern cuisine...
and Cajun dish
Cajun cuisine
Cajun cuisine is the style of cooking named for the French-speaking Acadian or "Cajun" immigrants deported by the British from Acadia in Canada to the Acadiana region of Louisiana, USA. It is what could be called a rustic cuisine — locally available ingredients predominate, and preparation...
, jambalaya
Jambalaya
Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence. -Jambalaya varieties:Jambalaya is traditionally made in three parts, with meats and vegetables, and is completed by adding stock and rice. It is also a close cousin to the saffron colored paella found in Spanish culture...
, it spawned numerous cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s and has since achieved popularity in a number of music genres.
Authorship
With a melody based on the CajunCajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
song "Grand Texas", some sources, including Allmusic, claim that the song was co-written by Williams and Moon Mullican
Moon Mullican
Aubrey Wilson Mullican , known as Moon Mullican, was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and pianist. However, he also sang and played jazz, rock 'n' roll and the blues...
, with Mullican uncredited but receiving ongoing royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
.
Released in July 1952, crediting Williams as the sole author, it was performed by Williams as a country song. It reached number one on the U.S. country charts for fourteen non-consecutive weeks. "Jambalaya" remains one of Hank Williams most popular songs today.
Cajun Roots of the Song
Since the original melody of the song was from a Cajun French song called "Grand Texas", the song is a staple of cajun culture.Although Williams changed the lyrics, he kept a Louisiana theme. In addition, Cajuns readily identified with the soulful sound of Williams. After Williams released his version, Cajuns recorded the song again using Cajun instruments. However, this time they used Williams' lyrics translated into the Cajun French language. Over the past few decades, the Cajun French version has been performed by many Cajun bands including Aldus Roger and Jo-El Sonnier
Jo-El Sonnier
Jo-El Sonnier is an American singer-songwriter and accordionist who performs country music and Cajun music. Originally signed to Mercury Nashville Records, Sonnier charted several minor singles on the Billboard country charts in the late 1970s...
.
Theme
Williams' song resembles "Grand Texas", a Cajun FrenchCajun French
Cajun French is a variety or dialects of the French language spoken primarily in Louisiana, specifically in the southern and southwestern parishes....
song, in melody only. "Grand Texas" is a song about a lost love, a woman who left the singer to go with another man to "Big Texas". "Jambalaya", alternatively, is about life, parties and stereotypical food of Cajun cuisine
Cajun cuisine
Cajun cuisine is the style of cooking named for the French-speaking Acadian or "Cajun" immigrants deported by the British from Acadia in Canada to the Acadiana region of Louisiana, USA. It is what could be called a rustic cuisine — locally available ingredients predominate, and preparation...
. The song has a Cajun
Cajun music
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin...
theme, possibly inspired by Williams' time with the Louisiana Hayride
Louisiana Hayride
Louisiana Hayride was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the greatest names in American music...
, though Louisiana Hayride was recorded in Shreveport, a city with very little Cajun cultural influence. Referenced within the song are such Cajun dishes as jambalaya, crawfish pie, and filé
File
File or filing may refer to:Tools:* File * Filing * Nail filePaper or computer records:* File folder, a folder for holding loose papers* Filing cabinet or file cabinet...
gumbo
Gumbo
Gumbo is a stew or soup that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. It consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers, and onions...
. Williams sings of "Yvonne" in the song, referring to her as my ma cher amio, which is considered poor Cajun French for "my dear" (redundantly Williams uses the word "my" before the French "ma"), and has caused some confusion among listeners, particularly given his pronunciation. The refrain "son of a gun
Son of a gun
Son of a gun is an exclamation or a noun in American and British English. Apollo 12 Astronaut Pete Conrad said, upon seeing the Surveyor 3 just prior to touching down on the Moon: "Hey, there it is! There it is! Son of a gun, right down the middle of the road!" It can be used encouragingly or to...
, we'll have big fun on the bayou
Bayou
A bayou is an American term for a body of water typically found in flat, low-lying areas, and can refer either to an extremely slow-moving stream or river , or to a marshy lake or wetland. The name "bayou" can also refer to creeks that see level changes due to tides and hold brackish water which...
" has become a well-recognized and often repeated phrase.
Williams composed a sequel to the song from the female perspective, "I'm Yvonne (Of the Bayou)", with Jimmy Rule. It was not as popular. As with "Jambalaya" there is speculation that Williams may have purchased this song from Mullican.
Later researched by a member of Moon Mullican's family, a story emerged about how the song came about in the first place, and it was said that while visiting a small bar located just south of the Choupique Bayou and owned by Yvonne Little, the song "Jambalaya" referred to some truly wonderful times had there.
Chart performance
| Chart (1952) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 20 |
Cover versions
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
recorded by Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
, reaching #3 on the Billboard pop charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
(and making the song well known to people other than country music fans). Mitch Miller
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller was an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive...
had originally intended "Jambalaya" to be recorded by Jimmy Boyd
Jimmy Boyd
Jimmy Boyd was an American singer, musician, and actor. He was best known for his recording of the novelty song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".-Early years:...
for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. Boyd turned the song down and Miller recorded it with Jo Stafford. Years later Jimmy Boyd did record it for Dot Records
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...
. It was further popularized in a Rock'n'Roll version by Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
.
The Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
featured the song, in an uptempo MOR version with country flourishes, on their 1973 album Now & Then. Their version was released as a single outside the United States in 1974 and sold well in the UK and Japan.
Other artists who have performed the song include Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, Jimmy C. Newman
Jimmy C. Newman
Jimmy Yves Newman , better known as Jimmy C. Newman , is an American singer and a long time star of the Grand Ole Opry.-Biography:Newman was born near Big Mamou, Louisiana...
, Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Claude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
, Charley Pride
Charley Pride
Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
, Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
, Jeff Healey
Jeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey "Jeff" Healey was a blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
on his 2008 album Mess of Blues
Mess of Blues
Mess of Blues is an album by Jeff Healey. It was released in 2008 less than two months after his death and just three weeks shy of his 42nd birthday. Four of the albums tracks were recorded live in front of audiences, two of the live tracks at the Islington Academy in London, and the other two...
, Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
included it in her 1976 album Elite Hotel
Elite Hotel
Elite Hotel was Emmylou Harris's second album to be released in 1975, following the widely acclaimed success of Pieces of the Sky, and surpassed it on the Billboard Music Charts, becoming her first #1 country album...
, Moon Mullican
Moon Mullican
Aubrey Wilson Mullican , known as Moon Mullican, was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and pianist. However, he also sang and played jazz, rock 'n' roll and the blues...
, John Fogerty
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...
(whose version hit #16 in 1973 under the name of The Blue Ridge Rangers
The Blue Ridge Rangers
The Blue Ridge Rangers is the first solo album by John Fogerty, the former lead singer and lead guitarist of Creedence Clearwater Revival....
), Gerry and the Pacemakers, Brenda Lee
Brenda Lee
Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
, Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
, Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams is an American rock, folk, blues and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album,...
, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country-folk-rock band that has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California in 1966. The group's membership has had at least a dozen changes over the years, including a period from 1976 to 1981 when the band performed and recorded...
(whose version peaked at #84 in 1972), Billy "Crash" Craddock, George Jones
George Jones
George Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
, The Residents
The Residents
The Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
, Leo Kottke
Leo Kottke
Leo Kottke is an acoustic guitarist. He is widely known for his innovative fingerpicking style, which draws on influences from blues, jazz, and folk music, and his syncopated, polyphonic melodies...
, Wes Paul
Wes Paul
Wester Paul Gerrard is an English guitarist and singer.Wes Paul grew up in Lodge Lane, Liverpool. Between 13 November 2005 and 2 September 2007 he was the stage manager and compère of Sounds of the Sixties Cavern Showcase which ran every Sunday at The Cavern Club, Liverpool...
, Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, Andy Kaufman
Andy Kaufman
Andrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one...
, Professor Longhair
Professor Longhair
Professor Longhair was a New Orleans blues singer and pianist...
, Shocking Blue
Shocking Blue
Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band from The Hague, the Netherlands, formed in 1967. Their biggest hit, "Venus", went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1970, and the band had sold 13.5 million discs by 1973, but the group disbanded in 1974.-Members:...
, Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
, Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender , born Baldemar Garza Huerta in San Benito, Texas, United States, was a Mexican-American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados...
, The White Stripes
The White Stripes
The White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
, Tab Benoit
Tab Benoit
Tab Benoit is an American blues guitarist, musician and singer. He plays a style that is a combination of blues styles, primarily Delta blues. He plays a Fender Telecaster electric guitar and writes his own musical compositions. Benoit graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma,...
, and Tommy Funderburk
Tommy Funderburk
Tommy Funderburk is an American rock and roll singer. He has recorded with artists such as Jon Anderson, Laura Branigan, Coverdale-Page, Melissa Manchester, Magnum, Mötley Crüe, Steve Lukather, Richard Marx, Rick Springfield, Starship, REO Speedwagon, Whitesnake, Yes and many others.Funderburk was...
(appearing in the film Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross that stars Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah and Julia Roberts....
), Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
and Linda Gail Lewis
Linda Gail Lewis
Linda Gail Lewis is an American singer and pianist. She is the sister of Jerry Lee Lewis.She plays piano and has recorded with Stephen Ackles, Van Morrison, and with her brother. She also has recorded with her two daughtersMaryJean Ferguson, and Annie Marie Dolan in a group called The Lewis 3...
on their 2000 album You Win Again
You Win Again (album)
You Win Again is the twenty-eighth album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, and Linda Gail Lewis, released in 2000...
, and The Residents
Stars & Hank Forever: The American Composers Series
Stars and Hank Forever was the second release in the American Composers Series by the avant garde band The Residents. The album was released in 1986. This particular release featured a side of Hank Williams songs and a medley of John Philip Sousa marches...
among many others.
A recording by The Tanner Sisters with orchestra Cond.: Don Carlos was made in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on September 25, 1952. It was released by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10418.
Ex-Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
female singer, CHANG Loo (張露), covered this song twice. The first version was covered in Mandarin Chinese entirely, under title name of 小癩痲 in the mid 50s. The second one was covered, in alternate 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...
and Mandarin Chinese, under title name of Jambalaya/小癩痲, on her LP album An Evening With Chang Loo in 1963. In 1978, another Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
female singer, Paula Tsui (徐小鳳), covered the Mandarin Chinese version made by CHANG Loo, on her LP album 風雨同路.
In 1974, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
-based female singer, Ervinna, covered this song, on her LP album Top Hits Vol. 2 with the local White Cloud Records.
In India, Usha Iyer (now Usha Uthup
Usha Uthup
Usha Uthup is a popular Indian pop, jazz and playback singer. She is well known for popular hits in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.She started her Bollywood playback career, when she sang an English verse in hit song, "Dum maro dum"" in Hare Rama Hare Krishna, and went on work with music...
) recorded a version in 1968 on the HMV label, that became the best selling song until then, by an Indian artist in English.
International, translated or derived versions do exist at least in Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, 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...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
(as 'Baju-baj, proszę pana' recorded by Anna Jantar), German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Estonian
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
. In 2005, two versions of "Jambalaya" surged in Mexican folk music, one by Banda Limón and the other from the Duranguense
Duranguense
Duranguense is a genre of Mexican music. It is popular among the Mexican-American community in the United States. Duranguense is closely related to the Mexican styles of banda and norteño. The main instruments, which are held over from banda, are the saxophone, trombone, and bass drum...
group K-Paz de la Sierra
K-Paz de la Sierra
K-Paz de la Sierra is a Duranguense band that was formed in Chicago, Illinois by Mexican natives. The group was formed on Christmas Eve of 2002 by some departing members of Montez de Durango. The company ProcanRecords gave them the opportunity. K-paz De La Sierra was well known in the U.S. in the...
. However, in Mexican music, the most famous cover version is by Los Felinos.
External links
- http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/site/multimedia-video.aspx?cid=295Excerpt of Brenda Lee singing "Jambalaya," April 9, 1960 on Ozark JubileeOzark JubileeOzark Jubilee is the first U.S. network television program to feature country music's top stars, and was the centerpiece of a strategy for Springfield, Missouri to challenge Nashville, Tennessee as America's country music capital...
]