Candy Apple Red - Tummanpunainen

For some reason contry & western songs are not so widely covered in Finland. Which is odd, becouse there's a basic Finnish mood in many country songs; wailing and sadness presented with down-to-earth lyrics and hummable melodies. Often with a strong story line. Here's one great country cover song with a sad story inside it. Eero, Jussi & the Boys (see previous entry) recorded "Tummanpunainen" (Dark red) in 1966. It was released as a single and fared very well, probaly aided by the fact that another "story song" "Balladi kanuunasta (Ballad of a canon) was on the other side of the record. This story about a boy and a girl, fast red car, and sheriff (girl's father) was first told in American country ballad called "Candy Apple Red". It was recorded in 1964 by Bill Anderson and George Hamilton IV, both popular country artists in USA, but less known in Finland. I don't know which of the gentleman cut the definite first version but here I represent the Anderson version. He's been named "Whispering Bill", and when you listen to this song you understand why. BTW, "Candy apple red" is the name code used by manufacturing companies to define a shade of red similar to the red caramelized sugar coating on candied apples. So now you know what color the car was ...

Updated 19.1.2009: I have added the George Hamilton IV version.

Here's the triplet: