Joy to the World - Sotilaat kansat maat

Today is the Independence Day of Finland. In the spirit of the day we present "Sotilaat, kansat, maat" (Soldiers, nations, countries) recorded by Pepe & Paradise (see earlier entry) in 1972. The lyrics of the song (by Vexi Salmi) tell about a childhood in the bomb shelter, and all countries, nations and soldiers are begged to "put their cannons away" for not to have wars anymore. The original song "Joy to the World" was written by Hoyt Axton and made famous by the band Three Dog Night. The song went to number one on the pop music charts in February 1971 and was the top single of the year in Billboard Magazine. The song was released on the band's album "Naturally". The group never really wanted to record the song, but they needed one last track for this album. Later they were greatly surprised that the song they didn't want to record ended up being a big hit.

Here's the pair:

Evangelina - Eva Maria

Rexi (see previous entry) recorded a lot of songs, but somehow he newer gained any greater popularity. Perhaps he didn't stood out the crowd ... One of his many country flavoured recordings was "Eva Maria" in 1983 on his album "Parasta maailmassa". Contributing were two Finnish pop stalwarts: Raul Reiman (lyrics) and Veikko Samuli (arrangement). The original song was called "Evangelina" and it was written and performed by Hoyt Axton (finnpicked earlier, here and here ). He released the song on his 1976 albun "Fearless". Lyrics of the song tell about the girl 'Evangelina' in 'old Mexico', whereas 'Eva Maria' in the Finnish version is a waitress in a corner pub ...

Updated on 15.01.2011: added the first Finnish version "Paltamon kaunein" (1979) by Seppo Närhi, and the version by Kari Tapio ("Takamaan tyttö, 1990) both with different lyrics.

Here's the bunch:

Flash of Fire - Tulta isken missä taula on

Cumulus was a sort of Finnish super group. It was born in 1969 and included former 60's folk music greats, like Anki (see previous entry) and Hector (see previous entry). The members met in the Finnish production of the musical "Hair" and decided to form a folk group. Their breakthrough came in 1970 with their debut single "Puuvillapellot" (Cotton fields), a cover of a well-known American folk song "Cotton Fields". The excellent but largely forgotten gem "Tulta isken missä taula on" (I'll strike the firestone when there's tinder) was on the groups 1978 album "Uskokaa tai älkää" (Believe it or not). At this point Hector had already left the band for solo career. The original song was written and performed by American country music singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton, whose songs are surprisingly often 'finnpicked'. This song "Flash of Fire" was on his 1976 album "Fearless".

Here's the pair:

Greenback Dollar - Suuret setelit

Four Cats is a harmony vocal group that saw the light of the day in 1958 as "Esa Laukka's Quartet", named after its founding member. In 1960 the group changed its name to Four Cats in line with famous international groups Four Freshmen and Four Aces. The group was very popular in the years 1961-65 scoring many hit records, for example "Saku Sammakko" (see previous entry) together with Brita Koivunen. One of their greatest 'solo' hits was "Suuret setelit" (Big money) in 1963. The covered song was "Greenback Dollar" originally written and performed by Hoyt Axton. (His mother was Mae Boren Axton, who co-wrote the classic rock 'n' roll song "Heartbreak Hotel", the first major hit for Elvis Presley). Hoyt establised himself as a well-known country music singer-songwriter with a unique earthy style and powerful voice. Many of his songs became well known throughout the world. Among them was this "Greenback Dollar", that was included in his first folk album titled "The Balladeer" (recorded live at the legendary Californian Troubadour nightclub). The song was made into massive hit by Kingston Trio in 1963. The trio was formed in 1957 by Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds, who were just out of college. They were greatly influenced by the calypso sounds of Harry Belafonte and other folk artists. It has been told that the group first considered itself primarily a calypso group, and therefore named itself after the capital of Jamaica. The group's first hit was a catchy rendition of a traditional folk song, "Tom Dooley" in 1958. By the time they struck gold with "Greenback Dollar", Guard had already left the group and replaced by John Stewart. The arrival of The Beatles and other rock bands pushed them out from the charts, and they disbanded in 1967.

Here's the triple: