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: