North to Alaska - Kohti Alaskaa

We now leave California and head for "whitier pastures". Tapio Rautavaara recorded "Kohti Alaskaa" (To Alaska) in 1961 together with vocal group Neloset. It was on the flipside of earlier finnpicked song "Kylmää vettä" (see here). The Finnish lyrics were written by Sauvo Puhtila. The original song was called "North to Alaska" and it was  featured in the 1960 movie "North to Alaska", starring John Wayne.It was performed by Johnny Horton, an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs".

Here's the pair:

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:

Cool Water - Kylmää vettä

Now we meet for the first time in Finnpicks, a true Finnish legend, Tapio Rautavaara. Rautavaara was a Finnish master athlete, singer and movie actor. He won the Olympic Gold Medal in the javelin throw at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. And later in his career he won the gold medal in the Finnish archery team in World Championships of 1958. Since 1940's Tapio had also played in several movies and reorded hudreds of songs. His songs were mainly of Finnish origin, but he did some covers, too - often on country & western songs. This is one of those. Tapio recorded "Kylmää vettä" (Cold water) in 1961 with vocal group Neloset (see earlier entry). The original was country classic "Cool Water", a song written by Bob Nolan, founder member of The Sons of the Pioneers. This group also recorded the original and best-selling version of the song in 1948. The lyrics of the song tell about a man and his mule, Dan, and a mirage in the desert.

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: