(Felice & Boudleaux Bryant)
Australia
#3 Sydney #2 Melbourne #10 Brisbane #7 Adelaide #20 Perth
Single on Leedon label.
Double-sided hit in Sydney and Adelaide with Let’s Love Tonight.
Johnny O’Keefe (1935-1978), known in Australia as “The Wild One”, “The King of Rock’n’Roll” or just “J. O’K.”, was a pioneer Australian rocker, a chart topping artist in his home country. The TV mini-series Shout! The Story of Johnny O’Keefe (1985) was adapted as a stage musical in 2001. The definitive biography is Damian Johnstone’s The Wild One (2001).
Also recorded in Australia by Bill McCormack (Melbourne, 1965), single on Astor label; and by Robert Gennari (Sydney, 1968), single on RCA label, B-side of When The Sun Will Shine Again.
(Felice & Boudleaux Bryant)
USA
Single on Buckley July 1962.
This is Jimmy Bell’s original recording, re-released under his real name of Jimmy Sweeney, after the master was purchased by Buckley.
Thanks to Craig Coyle.
(Felice & Boudleaux Bryant)
USA
Original version with these lyrics
B-side on Hickory November 1960.
Nashville singer-guitarist-songwriter Jimmy Bell also released this under his real name, Jimmy Sweeney (above).
This appears to be the earliest released version of La Golondrina as She Wears My Ring.
Released in Canada on Reo January 1961, it charted #5 on Radio CHUM, Toronto and was the station’s #10 bestseller for 1961 .
Also recorded, for example, by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and Ray Price: see list at The Originals.
Recommended reading: The Jimmy Sweeney article at Wikipedia is worth consulting, especially the Jimmy and Elvis section: Jimmy’s main claim to fame is as an influence to the young Elvis and that he was the mystery singer on a demo disk played to Elvis by Sam Phillips.
(Narciso Serradel Sevilla)
USA
Ten-inch 78 rpm disc on Victor by American baritone Emilio De Gogorza (1874-1949), also known as Carlos Francisco, Signor Francisco and Señor Francisco.
This is one of the earliest recordings of La Golondrina, but De Gogorza’s recording under his real name came earlier (see below).
(Narciso Serradel Sevilla)
USA
Brown wax two-minute Columbia Phonograph Co cylinder #31596 by band of Patrick S. Gilmore (1829-1892), Irish-born bandmaster and lyricist of When Johnny Comes Marching Home, published pseudonymously as Louis Lambert (1863).
References:
1. Kenneth M. Lorenz, Two-Minute Brown Wax and XP Cylinder Records of the Columbia Phonograph Company, Numerical Catalogue August, 1896-ca. March,
1909 (1981, digitised copy at Internet Archive: page 24 of 44).
2. Notes on Gilmore’s Band in Tim Brooks, A Directory to Columbia Recording Artists
of the 1890’s, PDF at the website of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.
3. David Neale, She Wears My Ring, at Elvis Presley: The Originals.
(Narciso Serradel Sevilla)
USA
Very early recorded version by American baritone who would later record La Golondrina under one of his several aliases, Señor Francisco (1906, above),
Source: Discography of American Historical Recordings: De Gorgoza/Francisco 1900.
(Narciso Serradel Sevilla)
USA
Original vocal version
Seven-inch Berliner disc #1219 by Italian-born tenor and guitarist in American vaudeville who recorded in Italian and Spanish.
Reference:
1. Notes on Arthur B. Adamini in Tim Brooks, A Directory to Columbia Recording Artists
of the 1890’s, PDF at the website of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.
2. Listing at Discography Of American Historical Recordings: Adamini, La Golondrina, “Before 1899”.
3. David Neale, She Wears My Ring, at Elvis Presley: The Originals.
(Narciso Serradel Sevilla)
USA
Original instrumental version
1896 or 1897
This appears to be the earliest known recording of La Golondrina.
Brown wax two-minute Columbia Phonograph Co cylinder #407 by about a dozen musicians from the main U.S. Marine Band. At this time the band was led by Francesco Fanciulli, successor to John Philip Sousa. It was based in Washington D.C., as was the Columbia Phonograph Co.
References:
1. Kenneth M. Lorenz, Two-Minute Brown Wax and XP Cylinder Records of the Columbia Phonograph Company, Numerical Catalogue August, 1896-ca. March,
1909 (1981, digitised copy at Internet Archive, p.7 of 44).
2. Notes on U.S. Marine Band in Tim Brooks, A Directory to Columbia Recording Artists
of the 1890’s, PDF at the website of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.
3. David Neale, She Wears My Ring, at Elvis Presley: The Originals.
(Narciso Serradel Sevilla)
Mexico
Original melody
Song also known as ‘The Mexican ‘Home Sweet Home’.
Serradel: Mexican composer (1843-1910) born in Veracruz. His name appears variously as ‘Narciso Serradell‘, ‘Narciso Serradel‘ or ‘Narciso Serradel Sevilla‘, the form used, for example, at the Veracruz page at Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México.
The Spanish lyrics of La Golondrina (The Swallow) use the image of a migrating swallow to evoke sentiments of longing for one’s homeland.
The song has been recorded by numerous artists over the years, either as an instrumental or with various lyrics.
Listen to a modern recording of La Golondrina (here entitled Las Golondrinas) at Spotify
Thank you to David Neale. See his detailed notes on She Wears My Ring at his Elvis Presley: Original Versions website.
(Felice & Boudleaux Bryant)
UK
Later version
#3 UK #28 Australia #17 NZ | #27 Sydney #31 Melbourne #11 Brisbane
Single on Columbia (UK).
Solomon King (Allen Levy 1931-2005) was born in Lexington KY but lived in the UK for many years throughout the 1960s and 70s before returning to the US.
King’s UK charting singles She Wears My Ring (1968, #3 UK, #28 Australia) and When We Were Young (1968, #21 UK, also charted in Adelaide & NZ) were British productions.
His varied career took in touring with Billie Holliday and playing with The Jordanaires. He also recorded as Randy Leeds (late 50s) and Levi Jackson (early 70s).
Further reading: The Solomon King Wikipedia article has good coverage of King’s career including his various singles and chart history. See also Solomon King at Discogs.com.
Pop Archives
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Website by Lyn Nuttall. © Lyn Nuttall 2004-2024. Chart positions courtesy of Gavin Ryan’s Australian Chart Books and Dean Scapolo’s Complete NZ Music Charts. Special thanks to Terry Stacey for information, corrections and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Watson, Philippe Edouard, Dave Overett.., More…