"A Swingin' Safari" is a 1962

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 instru ...

composed by

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the musi ...

, using his alias, Bernd Bertie. It was recorded by Kaempfert on

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

and released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 ...

. The song features a distinctive main theme played on the

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

as substitute for the traditional

tin whistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...

, and a trumpet solo by Manfred "Fred" Moch. The prominent bass line is by Ladi Geisler. Kaempfert's recording of the song did not reach the charts, but a near-simultaneous cover by

Billy Vaughn Richard Smith "Billy" Vaughn (April 12, 1919 – September 26, 1991) was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records. Biography Vaughn was born in Glasgow, Kentucky, United States, where his father, ...

reached #13 on the U.S. ''

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 advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and No. 5 on the

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

chart.

Similarities to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"

"A Swingin' Safari" shares a number of compositional elements in common with

The Tokens The Tokens were an American doo-wop band and record production company group from Brooklyn, New York City. The group has had four top 40 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, all in the 1960s, their biggest being the chart-topping 1961 hit singl ...

' 1961 hit "

The Lion Sleeps Tonight "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube" for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in isiZulu, while the English version's lyrics were wri ...

," which itself was derived from several earlier arrangements of Solomon Linda's 1939 song "Mbube". In particular, "A Swingin' Safari" uses the chord changes, tempo, shuffle rhythm, and high soprano

obbligato In Western classical music, ''obbligato'' (, also spelled ''obligato'') usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking ''ad libitum''. It can also be used, more specifically, to indica ...

of the Tokens' hit, and the tin whistle theme that opens the arrangement rhythmically mimics the "wimoweh" vocal figure found in the

Weavers Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainment ...

' 1952 "Wimoweh" recording and the Tokens' version. Kaempfert's own recording of "Wimoweh" appears on the album, credited to "Paul Campbell" which is a pseudonym for the members of The Weavers.

''A Swingin' Safari'' (album)

The song was the title track of an LP consisting of orchestrations of the South African

kwela Kwela is a pennywhistle-based street music from southern Africa with jazzy underpinnings and a distinctive, skiffle-like beat. It evolved from the marabi sound and brought South African music to international prominence in the 1950s. The music h ...

style of penny-whistle music popular in the 1950s. The album was credited to "Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra". This album was first released in the U.S. in August 1962 under the title ''That Happy Feeling'' and had climbed to Number 14 in the charts by September of that year. It was then released on the European market with the title ''A Swingin' Safari'' in autumn of the same year.

Tracklist

The tracklist for the album was: #"A Swingin' Safari" - Written by Bert Kaempfert (3:06) #"That Happy Feeling" - Written by

Guy Warren Guy Warren of Ghana, also known as Kofi Ghanaba (4 May 1923 – 22 December 2008), was a Ghanaian musician, best known as the inventor of Afro-jazz — "the reuniting of African-American jazz with its African roots" — and as a member of The T ...

(2:54) #"Market Day" - Written by Kaempfert (2:31) #"Take Me" - Written by Kaempfert and Helmut Brüsewitz (3:01) #"Similau" - Written by Arden Clar and Harry Coleman (2:56) #"Zambesi" - Written by Anton de Waal,

Bob Hilliard Bob Hilliard (born Hilliard Goldsmith; January 28, 1918 – February 1, 1971) was an American lyricist. He wrote the words for the songs: " Alice in Wonderland", "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", " Any Day Now", "Dear Hearts and Gentle ...

Nico Carstens Nicolaas Cornelius Carstens (10 February 1926 – 1 November 2016) more commonly known as Nico Carstens, was a South African musician, accordionist, and songwriter. Early life Born, 10 February 1926, in Cape Town of Afrikaner parents, Carstens g ...

(2:48) #"Afrikaan Beat" - Written by Kaempfert (2:26) #"Happy Trumpeter" - Written by Kaempfert (2:37) #"Tootie Flutie" - Written by Kaempfert (2:09) #"

Wimoweh "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and recorded by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube" for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. Linda's original was written in isiZulu, while the English version's lyrics were wri ...

" - Written by Paul Campbell & Roy Ilene (2:41) #"Black Beauty" - Written by Kaempfert & Cedric Dumont (2:34) #"

Skokiaan "Skokiaan" is a popular music, popular Melody, tune originally written by Zimbabwean musician August Msarurgwa, August Musarurwa (d. 1968, usually identified as August Msarurgwa on record labels) in the Tsaba-tsaba big band-style that succeeded M ...

" - Written by

August Msarurgwa August Musarurwa (usually identified as August Msarurgwa on record labels) was the Zimbabwean composer of the 1950s hit tune "Skokiaan" (also known as Skokiyana, Skokian). History August Musarurwa was born and raised in the Zvimbamap district of ...

Tom Glazer Thomas Zachariah Glazer (September 2, 1914 – February 21, 2003) was an American folk singer and songwriter known primarily as a composer of ballads, including: "Because All Men Are Brothers", recorded by The Weavers and Peter, Paul and M ...

(2:49)

Certifications

Billy Vaughn version

In 1962, the same year as the release of the original,

recorded the song "A Swingin' Safari" as a cover; his version reached #13 on the U.S. ''

and No. 5 on the

chart that summer. On ''Cash Box'', the song peaked at No. 11.

Use in media

*The Bert Kaempfert version of "A Swingin' Safari" served as the original theme music to the television game show ''

The Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game, panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebr ...

,'' from 1962 to 1967. *The Kaempfert version is also featured as the main theme in the Swedish game show called ''

Vi i femman ''Vi i femman'' (en: We in Fifth grade) is a Swedish game show, it has been broadcast on Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company ...

'', where two teams of fifth-graders compete against each other. *In 1971, the song was used as the theme music to the ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

'' Royal Safari. *In 2009, the song was played over the closing credits of the Australian animated film ''

Mary and Max ''Mary and Max'' is a 2009 Australian independent stop-motion adult-animated comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam Elliot and was his first animated feature film. The film was produced by Melanie Coombs and Melodrama Pictures with mus ...

''. *In 2017, the song was used extensively by the European furniture retailer DFS, in both TV and radio advertising campaigns. *In 2018, it lent its title to the Australian comedy film '' Swinging Safari'', set in the 1970s. The track featured in the soundtrack, and the album cover was seen on screen when a character showed off his collection of popular LPs.

References

External links

Allmusic.com entry for ''A Swingin' Safari'' (1998 re-release)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swingin' Safari, A 1962 singles 1960s instrumentals Television game show theme songs Songs with music by Bert Kaempfert Songs written for films 1962 songs Polydor Records singles Decca Records singles