500 miles - Viimeinen vihellys

Well, the numbers keep getting bigger and bigger. This time we keep an old promise. On the flip side of the 1964 single "Sitruunapuu" (see earlier entry) by vocal trio Anki, Bosse and Robert, was the song "Viimeinen vihellys" (The last whistle). It was a cover of the well-known country classic "500 Miles". The first version was recorded by an US vocal group called The Journeymen. The group consisted of John Phillips, Scott McKenzie and Dick Weissman. Their version of "500 Miles" went nowhere, even if the group got some potential; John Phillips was the future Mamas & Papas leader, and Scott McKenzie was of course the 'San Francisco' -man six years later. The song has been successfully covered many times, most notably by Peter, Paul & Mary and Bobby Bare. The song was written by Hedy West, a folksinger and songwriter. This was her most famous song, and was put together from fragments of a melody she had heard her uncle sing to her back in Georgia . She copyrighted the resulting patched song, and the rest is history ...