Oh My Pa-Pa (O Mein Papa)
Encyclopedia
"O mein Papa" is a German song, as related by a young woman remembering her beloved, once-famous clown
father. It was written by Swiss composer Paul Burkhard
in 1939 for the musical
Der Schwarze Hecht (The Black Pike), reproduced in 1950 as Feuerwerk (Fireworks) to a libretto
by Erik Charell
, Jürg Amstein, and Robert Gilbert
. In 1954, that musical was turned into the film Feuerwerk
with Lilli Palmer
.
version by trumpet
er Eddie Calvert
topped the UK Singles Chart
in 1954,
and was also a Top 10 hit in the U.S.
It was adapted into English by John Turner
and Geoffrey Parsons under the title "Oh! My Pa-Pa". A recording by Eddie Fisher
with Hugo Winterhalter
's orchestra & chorus was made at Webster Hall
, New York City, on December 12, 1953. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-5552 (in USA) and by EMI
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10614.
Fisher's recording became a #1 hit
on the U.S. Billboard charts
in 1954. Fisher's version also made the UK Top 10; thus, in the UK, Calvert's version was number one while Fisher's made the top 10, but missed the top spot, and in the U.S., the opposite occurred. Calvert's version has a further claim to fame as the first UK number one to be recorded at the most successful of all British recording studio
s, Abbey Road
. The song returned to Abbey Road when Brian Fahey conducted an instrumental version in the summer of 1960 to be used as a backing track for Connie Francis
' English-Yiddish recording for her album Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites
. Francis overdubbed
her vocals in Hollywood. In June 1966, Francis overdubbed the same the playback once more, this time with the original German lyrics for her German concept album Melodien, die die Welt erobern
.
U.S. television viewers were re-introduced to the song via the television show Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
. In the episode "Sing a Song of Papa", Jim Nabors
' Private Pyle enters a talent contest at a nightclub. His rendition of the song wins him $25 and the admiration of the club's owner, who is apparently connected to organized crime, and predictable hijinks ensue.
The song has been performed and recorded by numerous artists since its debut, including Alan Breeze
, Billy Cotton
, Billy Vaughn
, The Everly Brothers
, Harry James
, Guy Mitchell
, Lys Assia
, Malcolm Vaughan
, Muriel Smith
, Ray Anthony
& his Orchestra, Russ Morgan
& his Orchestra, The Beverley Sisters
, Björk
(on Gling-Gló
, as "Pabbi minn") and many others.
The original German version of the song contains passages that more fully give the context to the listener; these don't appear in the English translation. It contains fractured grammar, confusing masculine and feminine nouns and adjectives, as if sung by a non-native German speaker, perhaps to heighten the tragicomic
effect and to emphasize the old German cliché that circus people are always of non-German heritage.
The opening stanza was momentarily quoted in Frank Zappa
's song "Billy the Mountain
" (1972) in place of the word "fissure," a reference to Eddie Fisher.
The song was also in the episode "Like Father, Like Clown
" of The Simpsons
sung by Krusty the Clown.
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
father. It was written by Swiss composer Paul Burkhard
Paul Burkhard
Paul Burkhard was Swiss composer. He wrote primarily Oratoria, Musicals and Operettas.His probably most famous artistic creation was the song Oh mein Papa , about the death of a beloved clown-father, written for the musical "Der Schwarze Hecht" that premiered in April 1939...
in 1939 for the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Der Schwarze Hecht (The Black Pike), reproduced in 1950 as Feuerwerk (Fireworks) to a libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
by Erik Charell
Erik Charell
Erich Karl Löwenberg , later known as Erik Charell, was a German actor and director. He was best known as a director of musical revues and operettas, especially at Großes Schauspielhaus in Berlin...
, Jürg Amstein, and Robert Gilbert
Robert Gilbert (musician)
Robert Gilbert was a German composer of light music, lyricist, singer, and actor. His father was Max Winterfeld, a composer and conductor who went by the pen name of Jean Gilbert...
. In 1954, that musical was turned into the film Feuerwerk
Feuerwerk
Feuerwerk is a 1954 West German musical comedy film directed by Kurt Hoffmann and starring Lilli Palmer, Karl Schönböck and Romy Schneider. Its English-language title is Fireworks.-Cast:* Lilli Palmer: Iduna...
with Lilli Palmer
Lilli Palmer
Lilli Palmer , born Lilli Marie Peiser, was a German actress. She won the Volpi Cup, the Deutscher Filmpreis three times, and was nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award.-Life and career:...
.
Recordings
Under the original German title, an instrumentalInstrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
version by trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er 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:...
topped the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in 1954,
and was also a Top 10 hit in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
It was adapted into English by John Turner
John Turner (lyricist)
John Turner was the pseudonym used by the English lyricist James John Turner Phillips.He ran the Peter Maurice Music Company whose most important lyricist was Geoffrey Parsons. The company specialized in adapting songs originally in foreign languages into the English language. He would usually...
and Geoffrey Parsons under the title "Oh! My Pa-Pa". A recording by Eddie Fisher
Eddie Fisher (singer)
Edwin Jack "Eddie" Fisher , was an American entertainer. He was one of the world's most famous and successful singers in the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show. His divorce from his first wife, Debbie Reynolds, to marry his best friend's widow, Elizabeth Taylor, garnered...
with Hugo Winterhalter
Hugo Winterhalter
Hugo Winterhalter was an American musician.An easy listening arranger and composer, Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Mount St. Mary's near Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1931, where he played saxophone for the orchestra and sang in two of the choirs...
's orchestra & chorus was made at Webster Hall
Webster Hall
Webster Hall is a nightclub located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1886, its current incarnation was opened by the Ballinger Brothers in 1992...
, New York City, on December 12, 1953. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-5552 (in USA) and 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 10614.
Fisher's recording became a #1 hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
on the U.S. Billboard 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...
in 1954. Fisher's version also made the UK Top 10; thus, in the UK, Calvert's version was number one while Fisher's made the top 10, but missed the top spot, and in the U.S., the opposite occurred. Calvert's version has a further claim to fame as the first UK number one to be recorded at the most successful of all British recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
s, Abbey Road
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
. The song returned to Abbey Road when Brian Fahey conducted an instrumental version in the summer of 1960 to be used as a backing track for Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
' English-Yiddish recording for her album Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites
Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites
Connie Francis sings Jewish Favorites is a studio album of Jewish Songs recorded by U. S. Entertainer Connie Francis.After the success of her 1959 album Connie Francis sings Italian Favorites , Francis decided to release more albums which appealed to immigrants in the United States.In July 1960,...
. Francis overdubbed
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
her vocals in Hollywood. In June 1966, Francis overdubbed the same the playback once more, this time with the original German lyrics for her German concept album Melodien, die die Welt erobern
Melodien, die die Welt erobern
Melodien, die die Welt erobern is a studio album recorded for the German market by U. S. Entertainer Connie Francis.-History:Beginning in 1960 with the overwhelmig # 1 chart success of Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel, a German version of her own U. S...
.
U.S. television viewers were re-introduced to the song via the television show Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.The show renders the title as Gomer Pyle - USMC. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy...
. In the episode "Sing a Song of Papa", Jim Nabors
Jim Nabors
James Thurston "Jim" Nabors is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing...
' Private Pyle enters a talent contest at a nightclub. His rendition of the song wins him $25 and the admiration of the club's owner, who is apparently connected to organized crime, and predictable hijinks ensue.
The song has been performed and recorded by numerous artists since its debut, including Alan Breeze
Alan Breeze
Alan Louis Breeze was a singer with the Billy Cotton Band Show.He was born in West Ham, London, to Louis Breeze, a concert and oratorio singer and a member of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, and Isobel, who taught with the old London County Council.At the beginning of his career, Breeze sang in...
, Billy Cotton
Billy Cotton
William Edward Cotton , better known as Billy Cotton, was a British band leader and entertainer, one of the few whose orchestras survived the dance band era. Today, he is mainly remembered as a 1950s and 1960s radio and television personality, although his musical talent emerged as early as the 1920s...
, Billy Vaughn
Billy Vaughn
Richard "Billy" Vaughn was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records....
, The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
, Harry James
Harry James
Henry 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...
, Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell, born Albert George Cernik, was an American pop singer, successful in his homeland, the U.K. and Australia...
, Lys Assia
Lys Assia
Lys Assia born Rosa Mina Schärer on 3 March 1924, Rupperswil, Aargau, Switzerland) is a Swiss singer who won the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. When Lys Assia was a young girl she was a dancer. In 1940, however, she stood in for a female singer...
, Malcolm Vaughan
Malcolm Vaughan
Malcolm Vaughan was a Welsh traditional pop music singer and actor. Known for his distinctive tenor voice, he had a number of chart hits in the United Kingdom during the 1950s.-Biography:...
, Muriel Smith
Muriel Smith (singer)
Muriel Burrell Smith was an American singer. In the 1940s and 1950s, she was a star of musical theater and opera, and was also the off-film ghost singer in several hit movies...
, Ray Anthony
Ray Anthony
Ray Anthony is an American bandleader, trumpeter, songwriter and actor.- Biography :...
& his Orchestra, Russ Morgan
Russ Morgan
Russ Morgan was a big band orchestra leader and musical arranger in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...
& his Orchestra, The Beverley Sisters
Beverley Sisters
The Beverley Sisters are a British female vocal trio, popular during the 1950s and 1960s. The trio consists of eldest sister Joy and the twins, Teddie...
, Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
(on Gling-Gló
Gling-Gló
Gling-Gló, released in 1990, is the only album by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar, consisting of Björk Guðmundsdóttir on vocals, Guðmundur Ingólfsson on piano, Guðmundur Steingrímsson on drums, and Þórður Högnason on bass...
, as "Pabbi minn") and many others.
The original German version of the song contains passages that more fully give the context to the listener; these don't appear in the English translation. It contains fractured grammar, confusing masculine and feminine nouns and adjectives, as if sung by a non-native German speaker, perhaps to heighten the tragicomic
Tragicomedy
Tragicomedy is fictional work that blends aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature, from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy referred to a serious play with either a happy ending or enough jokes throughout the play to lighten the mood.-Classical...
effect and to emphasize the old German cliché that circus people are always of non-German heritage.
The opening stanza was momentarily quoted in Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
's song "Billy the Mountain
Billy the Mountain
"Billy the Mountain" is a Frank Zappa song first made available on the album Just Another Band from L.A. in 1972. The original recording of this song, which took more than a half-hour to perform, was from a live tour performance on August 7, 1971 in Los Angeles, performed by Zappa with his band The...
" (1972) in place of the word "fissure," a reference to Eddie Fisher.
The song was also in the episode "Like Father, Like Clown
Like Father, Like Clown
"Like Father, Like Clown" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 24, 1991. In the episode, Krusty the Clown reveals to the Simpson family that he is of Jewish heritage, and that his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski,...
" of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
sung by Krusty the Clown.
See also
- List of number-one singles from the 1950s (UK)
- List of number-one singles of 1954 (U.S.)