"Amapola" is a 1920 song by

Spanish American Spanish Americans ( es, españoles estadounidenses, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in th ...

composer José María Lacalle García (later Joseph Lacalle), who also wrote the original lyrics in Spanish. Alternative Spanish lyrics were written by Argentine lyricist

Luis Roldán Luis Roldán Ibáñez (16 August 1943 – 24 March 2022) was a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politician known for being the director general of the Civil Guard when a big scandal of corruption arose in 1993. This case, along with the GAL c ...

in 1924. French lyrics were written by Louis Sauvat and Robert Champfleury. After the death of Lacalle in 1937,

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

lyrics were written by

Albert Gamse Albert Gamse (1901 – 1974) was an American lyricist. Gamse wrote lyrics for the Presidential Anthem of the United States, "Hail to the Chief". Notable songs *" Amapola" *" Miami Beach Rhumba" (with Irving Fields) *" Chantez, Chantez" (with ...

. In the 1930s, the song became a standard of the

rhumba Rhumba, also known as ballroom rumba, is a genre of ballroom music and dance that appeared in the East Coast of the United States during the 1930s. It combined American big band music with Afro-Cuban rhythms, primarily the son cubano, but also c ...

repertoire, later crossing over into

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

charts.

Recordings

"Amapola" was first recorded

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

ly by

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a pers ...

Orquesta Francesa de A. Moreno for

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

in February 1923. Spanish tenor

Miguel Fleta Miguel Burro Fleta (28 December 1897, in Albalate de Cinca, Province of Huesca, Aragon – 29 May 1938, in A Coruña) was a Spanish operatic tenor. Despite his short stage career, lasting from 1919 to 1935, Fleta has been described as one of the ...

made the first

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production ...

recording in 1925. In 1935, the

Lecuona Cuban Boys The Lecuona Cuban Boys was a popular Cuban orchestra which toured the world for over forty years. The band was founded by Ernesto Lecuona, whose role was that of a patron-entrepreneur. He did not actually play with the band, but sometimes gave a p ...

released their rendition of the song as a single, recorded in 1935 in Paris. Japanese singer

Noriko Awaya was a Japanese female soprano chanteuse and popular music (''ryūkōka'') singer. She was dubbed the "Queen of Blues" in Japan. Life and career Awaya was born as in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. She was the oldest daughter of a wealthy m ...

released her version of the song in 1937. A popular recorded version was made later by the

Jimmy Dorsey James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary Peop ...

Orchestra with

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

Helen O'Connell Helen O'Connell (May 23, 1920 – September 9, 1993) was an American singer, actress, and hostess, described as "the quintessential big band singer of the 1940s". Early life Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell grew up in Toledo, Ohio. By the time ...

and Bob Eberly; this was released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

as catalog number 3629 and arrived on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' charts on March 14, 1941, where it stayed for 14 weeks and reached #1. This version was remembered by American soldiers in World War II and sung with irony as they fought in France and saw the poppies of Flanders Fields. Another English-language version for the American market was recorded by Spike Jones and his City Slickers in the characteristic comic style of his band. Since its debut "Amapola" has been a favorite recording of opera tenors including Tito Schipa (1926),

Nino Martini Nino Martini (7 August 1902 — 9 December 1976) was an Italian operatic tenor and actor. He began his career as an opera singer in Italy before moving to the United States to pursue an acting career in films. He appeared in several Holl ...

(1941),"Amapola"
as sung by Nino Martini and the

Alfredo Antonini Alfredo Antonini (May 31, 1901 – November 3, 1983) was a leading Italian-American symphony conductor and composer who was active on the international concert stage as well as on the CBS radio and television networks from the 1930s through the e ...

Orchestra on archive.org]

Jan Peerce Jan Peerce (born Yehoshua Pinkhes Perelmuth; June 3, 1904 December 15, 1984) was an American operatic tenor. Peerce was an accomplished performer on the operatic and Broadway concert stages, in solo recitals, and as a recording artist. He is t ...

(1950), Alfredo Kraus (1959) and Luigi Alva (1963). Tatsuro Yamashita covered Amapola in his 1986 a cappella album ''On The Street Corner 2''. In 1990 "Amapola" was sung during the first

Three Tenors The Three Tenors were an operatic singing trio, active during the 1990s and early 2000s, and termed as a supergroup (a title normally reserved for rock and pop groups) consisting of Italian Luciano Pavarotti and Spaniards Plácido Domingo and ...

concert in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

recorded the song three times: first on his album '' El Señor Bing'' (1960), then on ''

Bing Crosby's Treasury - The Songs I Love Bing most often refers to: * Bing Crosby (1903–1977), American singer * Microsoft Bing, a web search engine Bing may also refer to: Food and drink * Bing (bread), a Chinese flatbread * Bing (soft drink), a UK brand * Bing cherry, a variety ...

'' (1965) and finally for his 1975 album '' Bingo Viejo''. The song was recorded by instrumental surf rockers The Spotnicks, included on their 1962 debut album ''The Spotnicks in London''. Brazilian singer Roberto Carlos recorded a version with his own Portuguese lyrics in 1964. In 2008, Guatemalan artist Gaby Moreno recorded the song for her debut album, ''Still The Unknown''.

Ryuichi Kawamura is a Japanese singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known as lead singer of the rock band Luna Sea since 1989. He started a solo career in 1997, three years before Luna Sea disbanded in 2000. In 2005, Kawamura for ...

's cover appears on his 2011 album ''The Voice''.

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

included "Amapola" in her 2013 album '' Natalie Cole en Español''. In 2016,

Bradley Walsh Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English actor, comedian, singer, television presenter, and former professional footballer. Walsh is known for his roles as Danny Baldwin in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2004–2006), a ...

recorded the song for his debut album, '' Chasing Dreams''.

In popular culture

Deanna Durbin sang the song in the 1939 film '' First Love''. The song was performed in other films by

Alberto Rabagliati Alberto Rabagliati (27 June 1906 in Milan – 8 March 1974 in Rome) was an Italian singer. Early career Alberto Rabagliati was born in Milan in 1906 and was the son of piedmontese spouses: his father Leandro Valentino Rabagliati and his moth ...

(1941) and

Sara Montiel María Antonia Abad Fernández MML (10 March 1928 – 8 April 2013), known professionally as Sara Montiel, also Sarita Montiel, was a Spanish actress and singer, who also held Mexican citizenship since 1951. She began her career in the 1940s an ...

(''La Bella Lola'', 1962). In Gabrielle Roy's ''

The Tin Flute ''The Tin Flute'' (original French title ''Bonheur d'occasion'', literally "secondhand happiness") is the first novel by Canadian author Gabrielle Roy and a classic of Canadian fiction. Imbued with Roy's brand of compassion and understanding, th ...

'', published in 1945, the character Emmanuel hums "Amapola". An orchestral version of "Amapola" directed by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classi ...

served as a

leitmotif A leitmotif or leitmotiv () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is an anglic ...

in the 1984 gangster film ''

Once Upon a Time in America ''Once Upon a Time in America'' ( it, C'era una volta in America) is a 1984 epic crime film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The film is an Italian–American venture produ ...

''.

Sources

*Stockdale, Robert L. ''Jimmy Dorsey: A Study in Contrasts. (Studies in Jazz Series).'' Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1999.

References

{{authority control 1920 songs 1935 singles 1941 singles Songs with lyrics by Albert Gamse Number-one singles in the United States Spanish-language songs