Finntrio (see earlier entry) sang about "Hurja vaari" (Outrageus grandpa) in 1964 to Juha Vainio's lyrics. It was relased as a single but wasn't a hit at all. The covered song was old Bahamian traditional song "The John B. Sails" that has been covered by numerous artists; Weavers, Kingston Trio, Jimmie Rodgers, and most notably, the Beach Boys. I guess the version that Finntrio covered was that of Kingston Trio. It appeared on their 1958 LP "The Kingston Trio". The "John B." was an old sponger boat whose crew were in the habit of getting notoriously merry whenever they made port. It was wrecked and sunk at Governor's Harbour in Eleuthera, The Bahamas, in about 1900. You can see Kingston Trio perform the song in 2005, here.
Lasse Mårtenson (see earlier entry) teamed up with Carola (see earlier entry) in 1967 and they recorded "Mä lähden stadiin" (I'll go downtown). It was released as a single (Carola covered James Bond -theme "You only live twice" on the B-side). The record was a big success, as would be expected. The original was done Kingston Trio in 1963 on their album "Sunny Side!" The song called "Jackson" was penned by Billy Edd Wheeler with the help of veteran songsmith Jerry Leiber. Billy was inspired by the bickering couple in Edward Albee's play 'Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf', The song became worldwide hit when it was recorded by Johnny Cash & June Carter, and Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood. But now we present the rarely heard original "Jackson".
Updated on 15.01.2011: added the version that might be the true original one - by Billy Edd Wheeler and Joan Sommer.
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.
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