El Paso - El Paso

Next stop in Finnpicks Grand Tour of USA is El Paso, Texas. Tapani Rautavaara - with vocal group Neloset - recorded "El Paso" in 1960, and it was released as a single on the flipside of "Toverukset" (see earlier entry). Reino Helismaa, who was especially famous for his western songs, provided the Finnish lyrics. The original "El Paso" was written and performed by Marty Robbins, and was first released on his album "Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs" in 1959. It was released as a single, and became a major hit on both the country and pop music charts, reaching number one in both at the start of 1960. It won the Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording in 1961. Marty's western ballads were eagerly covered in Finland (one example is here). The Texan city of El Paso stands on the Rio Grande, across the border from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The two cities form a combined international metropolitan area, sometimes called Juarez-El Paso.


Here's the pair:

The Story Of My Life - Elämäni tarina

Stig Fransman makes now his debut in Finnpicks. Stig recorded some singles in the end of 50's and in the beginning of 60''. But he preferred acting to singing and after becoming professional actor he eventually quit recording. He made his first single in 1958, and on the A-side was this "Elämäni tarina" (The story of my life). Nice song and performance, but no chartbuster, however. The Finnish lyrics were provided by Sauvo "Saukki" Puhtila. The original song "The Story Of My Life" was one of the first collaborations by US songwriting team Burt Bacharach (music) and Hal David (words). The song was country and cross-over hit for Marty Robbins (finnpicked earlier, see here) in 1957. The song stayed at number 1 on the country chart for four weeks and reached number 15 on the Billboard Top 100. In the UK, Michael Holliday recorded a version that went all the way to number 1 in 1958. You can see Marty perform the song in this rare clip.

Here's the pair:

Five Brothers - Viisi veljestä

Tapio Rautavaara (see earlier entry) recorded several country & western songs. On of those was his 1961 single "Viisi veljestä" (Five brothers). The original song was written by Tompall Glaser (of Glaser Brothers) and made popular by Marty Robbins. It was on his legendary "Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs" album and released also as a single. Although it was only on the B-side. "Five Brothers" is a true old Western song with a great storyline (lyrics here) that surprisingly never made the top of the Country music chart in USA, even though it reached 74 in the Pop chart.

Here's the pair:

The Ballad of the Alamo - Kastelholman luutnantti

The song number 3 in our series 'Finnish Wild West In Song' is "Kastelholman luutnantti" (The Lieutenant of Kastelholma). The vocal group Neloset cut the song in 1961. Neloset (The Quadruples) started as The Saints in the end of the 50's when all the boys were in the Boy Scouts. The original member Jukka Kuoppamäki - who's singing lead on this record - left the group after couple of years and joined in another popular vocal group - Kukonpojat. Another original member Jaakko Kyläsalo made a successful career as a journalist. The 'Kastelholma' in the song is a famous castle (pictured above) on Finnish Alandia island. The original song "The Ballad of the Alamo" tells a story of the battle of the Alamo that was fought in 1836 in San Antonio, Texas. The legendary conflict was a part of the Texas Revolution, in which Mexico attempted to retake the province of Texas from USA. The song is composed by famous songwright Dmitri Tiomkin for the movie 'The Alamo' (1960), starring John Wayne as Davy Crockett. Marty Robbins recorded a version of the song in that same year and got a hit with it in the pop charts.

Here's the pair:

Big Iron - Kostaja

The second song in our series 'Finnish Wild West In Song' is "Kostaja" (The Avenger). It was recorded by vocal group Kukonpojat and released as a single in 1960. The name Kukonpojat means something like 'Young Roosters", and it was clearly a better choice of moniker for the group that started as The Chickens. At the time there were quite a few aspiring vocal groups in Finland who got their style from popular US groups like Kingston Trio or Brothers Four. This same song was also recorded by their rival group Neloset in the same year. Some members of Kukonpojat - like Jukka Kuoppamäki and Georg Dolivo - did later succesful career in other groups and as solo artists. The original song "Big Iron" is written and performed by C&W singer Marty Robbins (real name Martin David Robinson). It was first released as an album track on his 'Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs' in September 1959. The song tells a story of a gunfight duel between the shady hero and an outlaw named Texas Red.

Updated on 17.11.2009: added Frederik's version (1971).

Here's the triplet: