"Amapola" is a 1920 song by Spanish American composer José María Lacalle García (later Joseph Lacalle), who also wrote the original lyrics in Spanish.[3] Alternative Spanish lyrics were written by Argentine lyricist Luis Roldán in 1924.[4] French lyrics were written by Louis Sauvat and Robert Champfleury. After the death of Lacalle in 1937, English language lyrics were written by Albert Gamse.[5] In the 1930s, the song became a standard of the rhumba repertoire, later crossing over into pop music charts.
Recordings
"Amapola" was first recorded instrumentally by Cuban Orquesta Francesa de A. Moreno for Columbia in February 1923.[6][7] Spanish tenor Miguel Fleta made the first vocal recording in 1925. In 1935, the Lecuona Cuban Boys released their rendition of the song as a single, recorded in 1935 in Paris.[8] Japanese singer Noriko Awaya released her version of the song in 1937.
A popular recorded version was made later by the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra with vocalistsHelen O'Connell and Bob Eberly;[9] this was released by Decca Records as catalog number 3629 and arrived on the Billboard charts on March 14, 1941, where it stayed for 14 weeks and reached #1.[10] This version was remembered by American soldiers in World War II and sung with irony as they fought in France and saw the poppies of Flanders Fields.[11] Another English-language version for the American market was recorded by Spike Jones and his City Slickers in the characteristic comic style of his band.
^Lacalle, José M. (1941). Amapola: canción. Buenos Aires: Ricordi Americana. OCLC63818754.
^Collected Works of George Grant: 1933-1950 George Parkin Grant, Peter Christopher Emberley, Arthur Davis - 2000 footnote Page 35 "38 'Amapola,' a popular love-song in 1941 written in French in 1924 by Joseph M. Lacalle and later given English words by Albert Gamse. The song was recorded by many artists, including Deanna Durbin."
^Díaz Ayala, Cristóbal (3 May 2018). "Lecuona Cuban Boys"(PDF). Encyclopedic Discography of Cuban Music 1925-1960. Florida International University Libraries. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
