"Fraulein" is a 1957 song written by

Lawton Williams Lawton Williams (July 24, 1922 – July 27, 2007) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Williams taught himself to play guitar as a teenager but made no steps towards a musical career until, while serving in World War II, he ...

and sung by

Bobby Helms Robert Lee Helms (August 15, 1933 – June 19, 1997) was an American country singer, who is best remembered for his 1957 Christmas hit "Jingle Bell Rock". Additionally, he had two other hit records from that year: " Fraulein" and "My Special Ange ...

. Released by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), 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 ...

that year, "Fraulein" was Helms's debut single on the U.S. country chart, reaching #1 for four weeks and staying on chart for 52 weeks, the sixth longest song in country music history to spend over 50 weeks on the country singles chart. The song's popularity crossed over to the pop chart where "Fraulein" peaked at #36. Country artist

Hank Locklin Hank Locklin (born Lawrence Hankins Locklin; February 15, 1918 – March 8, 2009) was an American country music singer-songwriter. He had 70 chart singles, including two number one hits on ''Billboard''s country chart. His biggest hits included ...

recorded a shorter version of the song that is included on his 1965 album, ''Once Over Lightly.''

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

recorded and released a version of the song on his 1966 album, ''Country Favorites - Willie Nelson Style.''

David Allan Coe David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville. He initially played mostly i ...

recorded and released a version on his 1975 album, ''

Once Upon a Rhyme ''Once Upon a Rhyme'' is the fourth studio album by American country singer David Allan Coe. It was released in 1975 on Columbia. Recording ''Once Upon a Rhyme'' contains one of Coe’s biggest hits, “You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” a ...

''. In 1967, this song was covered by the late

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

an singer/

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

Su Yin (舒雲) in

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...

language with

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

lyrics written by Li Tian (黎天) and given the title name of 夜茫茫, appearing on his LP album
黃昏放牛＊一片青青的草地
', and released by

EMI Columbia Records Columbia Graphophone Co. Ltd. was one of the earliest gramophone companies in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1917 as an offshoot of the American Columbia Phonograph Company, it became an independent British-owned company in 1922 in a manageme ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

released a version on his 1969 album, ''Sings the Country Music Hall of Fame Hits, Vol. 2''.

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

covered the song on his 1972 album ''The Late Great Townes Van Zandt''. In 1974,

Mickey Gilley Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 1 ...

also covered the song and released it on his album ''City Lights''.

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

singer

Victor Wood The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

covered this song in 1967 on the album ''Memories''. Country music singer and

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

labelmate

Kitty Wells Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier to women in country music with her 1952 hit recording "It Wasn't God W ...

recorded a response to the song, "(I'll Always Be Your) Fraulein" in 1957. It reached #10 on the country charts that year. "(I'll Always Be Your) Fraulein" appears in her 1959 album ''Kitty Wells' Golden Favorites''. Helms himself recorded his own follow-up song in 1960, entitled "Lonely River Rhine". The lyrics reveal a darker side of the singer: he had had a wife all along, but "stole love" from a local girl when in Munich, only to later leave her and much later learn from the newspapers that she had committed suicide by drowning herself in the Rhine, and he learned that the deceased was the one whom he truly loved. In 2017, singer/songwriter

Colter Wall Colter Wall (born June 27, 1995) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for his deep, gruff baritone and narrative songwriting, Wall's music encompasses country, folk, and western styles. His self-titled debut album was released i ...

released a version on his self-titled album, ''Colter Wall''. In this duet version, he is joined by fellow traditional country music artist,

Tyler Childers Timothy Tyler Childers (born June 21, 1991) is an American singer and songwriter. His music is a mix of neotraditional country, bluegrass, and folk. He released his breakthrough album ''Purgatory'' in August 2017. Childers has released five stud ...

. The melody of the song is largely borrowed from "

Oklahoma Hills "Oklahoma Hills" is a song written by Woody Guthrie. In 2001 it was named the official Folk Song of the state of Oklahoma. Chorus :''Way down yonder in the Indian nation'' :''I rode my pony on the reservation'' :''In the Oklahoma Hills where I wa ...

" by

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

, which was recorded as a hit song in 1945 by his cousin

Jack Guthrie Leon Jerry "Jack" Guthrie (November 13, 1915 – January 15, 1948) was a songwriter and performer whose rewritten version of the Woody Guthrie song "Oklahoma Hills" was a hit in 1945.Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits'', p. ...

Charts

References

1957 singles Bobby Helms songs Jerry Lee Lewis songs Songs written by Lawton Williams 1957 songs {{1950s-country-song-stub