Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Ballad Of The Green Berets - Balladi punaisista bareteista


The vocal group Kivikasvot was formed when the members met while serving in the army, so it's only natural that they should do this particular cover. They recorded "Balladi punaisista bareteista" (The ballad of the red berets) in 1966. It was releasd as a single but in popularity it came second to it's flipside, the cover of Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann". The lyrics were provided by Sauvo "Saukki" Puhtila. The color of the berets was changed from the original green into red, becouse at the time there were no green berets in military use in Finland. In the 60's, the berets were just introduced, the first ones being red (actually maroon), and they were handed out to Parachute Troopers after their first jump. The original song "Ballad Of The Green Berets" told about the Special Forces of US Army. In addition to being the headdress of the Special Forces, "Green Berets" is also a well known nickname of the organization. The song was co-written and performed in 1966 by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler. It became a fast-selling single, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The recording was encouraged by writer Robin Moore, author of the novel "The Green Berets". This book became a 1968 movie, "The Green Berets", starring John Wayne, with "The Ballad of the Green Berets" arranged in a choral version as the title song of the film.

Here's the pair:

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

HI :) I really love your blog and would love to send you a list of important italian songs that have been covered in finnish that you still have not added to this blog.. I have never found the finnish originals.. hope you can do this miracle and help me find them :) in case you find them I can give you the original versions.

Mäkelä Jussi - Hyvää yötä maa (e adesso la pubblicita by claudio baglioni)

Toinen Kierros - Huoletonta aikaa (un orgia di anime perse) (by zucchero)

Lehti Pirjo - Vie minut pakoon (non voglio mica la luna by fiordaliso)
Luukinen lea - Joko taas (53 53 436 by raffaella carrà)
Luukinen lea - Niin paljon rakkautemme kestää (salutala x me by raffaella carrà)
Paula koivuniemi - Sanoja vaan (a parole by raffaella carrà)
Niittykoski Sinikka - Ei pelkkiin suudelmiin (baciami by raffaella carrà)
Pasanen Anneli – Hääkarnevaalit (monsieur voulez vous danser by loretta goggi)
Jernström Kristian - Näinkö kuljen (io domani by marcella)
marion rung - aina aina aina (grande grande grande by Mina)
parvi - kaikki antaisin (non so che darei by Alan Sorrenti)
rung marion - rakkaani (amor mio by Mina)
lindqvist anki - sanat ja ajatukset (pensieri e parole by lucio battisti)
kansa tapani - vapauteni laulu (il mio canto libero by lucio battisti)
merila eija - et saa uskoa (non credere by mina)
lea laven - et saa uskoa (non credere by mina)
eloranta tuulikki - et saa uskoa (non credere by mina)

contact me on messenger if you need more info :)
prugnosibillinux@hotmail.com

DM said...

That's very interesting list. The 53 53 436 -song has been presented in Finnpicks already, see here http://finnpicks.blogspot.com/2010/01/5353456-joko-taas.html. As for the others, I have to explore my store of recordings. I remember having this Pirjo Lehti's cover (as well as Katri Helena's) on Fiordaliso's hit, that is always been my favourite. I will present those in Finnpicks in the near future. Also the "Sanoja vain" by Paula Koivuniemi appears to be in my collection. The others, I have to check. I will contact you by mail.

Anonymous said...

ciaoo :)
thank you for replyin to me so fastly :)
is Lea luukinen Lea Laven? if so I didn t know it :) in the other case this is a different version of that same song.. I'm very curious to hear the cover of fiordaliso song.. :)when you contact me privately i give you some versions of that track..
hope to hear news from you soon.. :)

Anonymous said...

Kannattaa huomata, että John Waynen näyttelemän vihreän baretin esikuvana oli Larry Thorne alias Lauri Törni.

Vieras J