"The Jolly Green Giant" is a song written by Lynn Easton,
Don Harris, and
Dewey Terry and performed by
The Kingsmen
The Kingsmen are a 1960s rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the ''Billboard'' charts for six weeks and ha ...
. It reached #1 on the
Canadian chart, #4 on the
U.S. pop chart, and #25 on the
U.S. R&B chart in 1965. It was featured on their 1965 album ''
The Kingsmen Volume 3
''The Kingsmen Volume 3'' is the third album by the rock band the Kingsmen, released in 1965.
Release and reception
The Kingsmen's third album featured "The Jolly Green Giant", a novelty number which reached #4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop ...
''. The song was based on
Green Giant's mascot the Jolly Green Giant. The single originally only credited Easton as the writer, but Harris and Terry were later added when it was determined the song was a re-write of
The Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
song "Big Boy Pete".
The song was arranged by
The Kingsmen
The Kingsmen are a 1960s rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the ''Billboard'' charts for six weeks and ha ...
and produced by Jerry Dennon.
The song ranked #39 on
''Billboard'' magazine's
Top 100 singles of 1965.
Other versions
*
Sandy Nelson
Sander Lloyd Nelson (December 1, 1938 – February 14, 2022) was an American drummer. Nelson, one of the best-known rock and modern jazz drummers of the late 1950s and early 1960s, had several solo instrumental Top 40 hits and released over 30 ...
released a version of the song on his 1965 album ''Drum Discotheque''.
*
The Ravens
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
released a version of the song as the
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
to their 1965 single "Listen to Me Now".
*
The Royal Guardsmen
The Royal Guardsmen are an American rock band, best known for their 1966 hit singles " Snoopy vs. the Red Baron", "The Return of The Red Baron", "Snoopy For President", and the Christmas follow up " Snoopy's Christmas".
History
Originally kn ...
released a version of the song on their 1967 album ''Snoopy vs. the Red Baron''.
*
Don and the Goodtimes
Don and the Goodtimes were an American garage rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, United States, in 1964. Fronted by Don Gallucci, former keyboardist of the Kingsmen, the group made a name for itself in the Northwest rock scene performing in ...
released a version of the song on their 1995 compilation album ''Don & the Goodtimes''.
*
The Knickerbockers
The Knickerbockers were an American garage rock band formed in Bergenfield, New Jersey in 1964. They released the 1965 hit "Lies (The Knickerbockers song), Lies", which was known for its resemblance to the Beatles. The band was formed in 1964 ...
released a version of the song on their 1998 compilation album ''The Very Best of the Knickerbockers: Lies''.
*Several other 1965 versions with uncredited groups were released on various "hit parade" labels including
Hit
Hit means to strike someone or something.
Hit or HIT may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super''
* Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
, Hit Parader, and
Seeburg Rec-O-Dance.
References
1964 songs
1964 singles
The Kingsmen songs
Sandy Nelson songs
RPM Top Singles number-one singles
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