"Quiet Village" is an orchestral pop

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 ...

that was written and originally performed by Les Baxter in 1951 and an instrumental album from 1959 by Martin Denny. In the

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to his album, '' Ritual of the Savage (Le sacre du sauvage)'', Baxter described the themes he was conveying in the work:

Martin Denny version

In the mid-1950s, Martin Denny and his band performed at a restaurant in

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O ...

, The Shell Bar, and frequently would play Baxter cover songs. One night, while his group was performing, Denny realized bullfrogs were croaking along to the music. As a joke, the band began incorporating frog sounds and birdcalls into the performance. Soon after, people began requesting "the song with the frogs." "They really enjoyed the frogs!" Denny observed. "And they thought we were making those croaking noises. So I understood that this was the way to go." The squawks and jungle sounds in the Martin Denny version of "Quiet Village" were performed by A. Purves Pullen, also known as Dr. Horatio Q. Birdbath. In 1957, Denny and his group released a cover of the song featuring exotic instruments and sounds that made it to number four on the pop singles chart on June 1, 1959 and number eleven on the R&B chart. Denny also recorded a stereo version of the song in 1959, a

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovat ...

version in 1964, and a version performed on a

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

in 1969. He released an album with a similar title (Quiet Village, the Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny) in 1959.

Other cover versions

*In 1955, organist

George Wright George Wright may refer to: Politics, law and government * George Wright (MP) (died 1557), MP for Bedford and Wallingford * George Wright (governor) (1779–1842), Canadian politician, lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island * George Wright ...

recorded an arrangement of the song on the former Chicago Paradise five-manual Wurlitzer theatre organ then installed in the home studio of Richard Vaughn. The arrangement made use of real bird calls - actually a recording of a mockingbird slowed down to half-speed which was also used in at least one recording by

Arthur Lyman Arthur Lyman (February 2, 1932 – February 24, 2002) was an Hawaiian jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica. His albums became ...

. *In 1959, actress and singer Darla Hood recorded the first vocal version in the wake of the huge success that Martin Denny had with his instrumental version. Released on Ray Note Records and credited to Darla Hood & Fabulous Modesto Orch, which was percussionist Modesto Duran's Orchestra. *In 1977, The Ritchie Family recorded a

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric p ...

version and added vocals. The single was included on their ''

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'' album. Along with the album's title track and "Summer Dance", "Quiet Village" hit number one for three weeks on the disco/dance chart in 1977. However, unlike the Martin Denny version, The Ritchie Family recording did not chart on the pop singles chart. It did peak at #68 on the R&B singles chart. *In 1986, composer Mark Mothersbaugh incorporated the song and animal sounds into the prelude theme for the children's television program ''

Pee-wee's Playhouse ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's po ...

''. *Influential

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...

artist Boyd Rice and writer/publisher Adam Parfrey released a comedic version of the song entitled "Quiet Village Idiot" under the moniker "The Tards" in 1993. *In 1991 Guitarist

Danny Gatton Daniel Wood Gatton Jr. (September 4, 1945 – October 4, 1994) was an American virtuoso guitarist who combined blues, rockabilly, jazz, and country to create a musical style he called "redneck jazz". Career Daniel Wood Gatton Jr. was born in ...

recorded a version on the album "88 Elmira Street". This version introduced Les Baxter and Martin Denny's music to a new generation of listeners/musicians.

References

1951 singles 1958 singles 1977 singles The Ritchie Family songs Exotica 1950s instrumentals Pop instrumentals Song recordings produced by Jacques Morali 1951 songs Liberty Records singles {{1950s-pop-song-stub