"The Three Bells", also known as "The Jimmy Brown Song", "Little Jimmy Brown", or simply "Jimmy Brown", is a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

made popular by the Browns in 1959. The song is an English adaptation of the French language song " Les Trois Cloches" written by

Jean Villard Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

, with English lyrics by

Bert Reisfeld Berthold Reisfeld (Vienna, 1906 - Badenweiler, 1991) was a lyricist, noted for adapting lyrics to well-known songs either to or from English. The songs he wrote English lyrics for include: * "It's Oh So Quiet", adapted from the German song "Und Je ...

. The

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

reached number one in the

U.S. 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on ''

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 ...

''s Hot C&W Sides

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and the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Origin

The song is an English adaptation of the French language song " Les Trois Cloches" written by

(also known as Gilles). The song narrates the life of someone named Jean-François Nicot who lived in a small village at the bottom a valley, starting with his birth, then his marriage and ending with his death, events all accompanied by ringing of the bells. The song was recorded ''

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

'' by Edith Piaf with the French vocal group Les Compagnons de la chanson with an arrangement by group member Marc Herrand in July 1946. Piaf and Les Compagnons introduced the song to an American audience in a tour in 1947. Two different English versions of "Les trois cloches" were written in 1948 – "

While the Angelus Was Ringing "While the Angelus Was Ringing" is a popular song, adapted from the Swiss song "Les trois cloches" (originally written in French by composer Jean Villard Gilles and lyricist Marc Herrand, subsequently rendered into English as "The Three Bells") by ...

" (with unrelated lyrics and recorded by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

among others), and "The Three Bells". The English lyrics of "The Three Bells" was written by

based broadly on the French original, and the name of the person in the song was changed from Jean-François Nicot to Jimmy Brown. The

Melody Maids Melody Maids were an all-girl singing group from Beaumont, Texas that toured the world from 1942 to 1972. Dick Dowling Junior High School music teacher Eloise Rush Milam was asked to help arrange entertainment for a bond rally at the Jefferson Th ...

recorded the English version in 1948. In 1951, The Andrews Sisters also recorded the song. Their version was the longest song the Andrews Sisters recorded for the label

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 ...

, and although it was well-received by ''Billboard'', the release failed to chart. Les Compagnons de la chanson themselves also recorded an English version of "The Three Bells". This version reached No. 14 in the United States in 1952, and No. 21 in the UK in 1959.

The Browns' recording

The most successful version of the song was recorded by country group the Browns in 1959. The Browns at that time were considering quitting the music business, and for what they intended to be their last recording, they chose "The Three Bells". Bonnie Brown had first heard the song being played on a local radio station (a deejay had heard "Les Trois Closhes" by Les Compagnons in Europe, and brought the record back to the US and played the song on his shows, which brought attention to the English version), and contacted the deejay to get a copy of the song. As radio stations at that time rarely played songs longer than three minutes, the Browns shortened each the three verses to keep their recording under three minutes. The Browns recorded the song at the RCA Studio B in Nashville on June 3, 1959. The song was produced by Chet Atkins with

Anita Kerr Anita Jean Kerr (née Grilli, October 13, 1927 – October 10, 2022) was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Eur ...

helping with the arrangement of the song. Atkins was convinced the song would be "the biggest hit ever", and told the Browns: "I've just recorded you a million-seller. There's no way you'll be quitting the business". The song was released on July 3, 1959. It reached number one on Billboard'' Hot 100, staying there for four weeks. It also topped the Hot C&W Sides chart for 10 weeks, as well as reaching number ten on ''Billboard''s Hot R&B Sides chart. The song sold half a million copies within the first month of its debut on the chart, eventually selling over a million copies. The song received a Grammy nomination in

for Best Record of the Year but lost to "

Mack the Knife "Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" (german: "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", italic=no, link=no) is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama ''The Threepenny Opera'' (german: Die Dreig ...

Other versions

The song has also been covered by many other artists.

Brian Poole & The Tremeloes The Tremeloes are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with "Do You Love Me". After Poole's depart ...

's version reached No. 17 on the UK chart in 1965. Nana Mouskouri recorded a version in 1974 which reached No. 7 on the Dutch charts. The Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell recorded a version which reached No. 19 on the Irish chart in 1991.

Chart position

Les Compagnons de la chanson

The Browns

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Jim Ed Brown

Daniel O'Donnell

References

External links

"Les trois cloches"
from ''The Originals'' website {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Bells, The 1959 singles The Browns songs Jim Ed Brown songs Andy Williams songs Gene Summers songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles French songs Song recordings produced by Chet Atkins Year of song missing