"Wonderful Land" is an instrumental piece which was released as a single by The Shadows

The Shadows

The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...

 in 1962. It stayed at #1 in the UK

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 ...

 for more weeks than any other single during the whole of the 1960s.

It was recorded in May 1961 by The Shadows' original line up of Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan. The strings were added later by producer Norrie Paramor. By the time of the song's release Tony Meehan had left the group to be replaced by Brian Bennett who co-wrote the B side "Stars Fell on Stockton". The group was in a period of transition and whilst the song was at No 1 Jet Harris left to be replaced by Brian Locking.

Charts

The instrumental was released in February 1962 and reached number 1 in the UK Chart where it remained for the next 8 weeks. It stayed at #1 in the UK

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 ...

 for more weeks than any other single during the whole of the 1960s - including all the number one singles released by The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

. It was also released in the U.S. on the Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 label but did not reach the Billboard Top 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

.

Chart (1962)	Position
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 ...	1

Mike Oldfield version

English musician Mike Oldfield

Mike Oldfield

Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...

 covered "Wonderful Land" on his 1980 QE2

QE2 (album)

QE2 is the sixth record album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1980 on Virgin Records.The album contained both original Oldfield compositions as well as two cover version of pieces recorded by other bands .- Album analysis :The longest tracks on the album are "Taurus I" and the title track, "QE2",...

album. Oldfield's version was also released as a single and as the B-side for his "Sheba

Sheba (song)

"Sheba" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1980 . It is from the album QE2. In many countries the Shadows cover, "Wonderful Land", was the A-side, while the B-side was "Sheba"....

" single; in some countries, "Wonderful Land" was the a-side. The Shadows later covered one of Oldfield's songs, "Moonlight Shadow

Moonlight Shadow

"Moonlight Shadow" is a pop song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, released as a single in May 1983 and included in the album Crises of the same year. The vocals were performed by Scottish vocalist Maggie Reilly, who had joined Mike Oldfield in 1980...

".

The video for "Wonderful Land" again shows Oldfield playing various instruments, including a violin, which he has claimed not to be able to play very well. The video is available on the Elements - The Best of Mike Oldfield video.

Hank Marvin and Mark Knopfler version

Two guitarists, Hank Marvin

Hank Marvin

Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...

 (of The Shadows) and Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler

Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...

 (of Dire Straits

Dire Straits

Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...

) recorded a version of "Wonderful Land" on the 1993 album Heartbeat, produced by Jeff Lynne

Jeff Lynne

Jeffrey "Jeff" Lynne is an English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader and sole constant member of Electric Light Orchestra and was a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys together with George Harrison, Bob...

.