A walk in the Black Forest

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Leadbelly
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 01:17 PM

To Alec and Flash Company - (and all other participants)

I found out that "A Walk in the Black Forest" was composed by Horst in 1962 i.e. 3 years before becoming a hit!

Another information says that this melody was composed by Horst at the beginning of the 60' for promotional purposes (commercial/advertising movie). Although the special kind of this campaign is not stated it appears that Alec's memory serves him extremely well. And your's too, FC.

Here comes the corresponding note in german (source:www.jazzecho.de):
"Für einen Werbefilm komponierte Jankowski zu Beginn der 60er Jahre den Ohrwurm "Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt", der in kürzester Zeit - und zur allgemeinen Überraschung - zum internationalen Instrumental-Hit wurde und Jankowski weltweit Bekanntheit verschaffte."

Last but not least,for those interested in the german lyrics of AWITBF I can offer this example without knowing when and by whom it was written:

Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt


Am Feldberg und am Titisee,
wo dunkle Tannen steh'n,
da ist es schön,
da ist es schön.

Im Höllental, auf Bühlerhöh',
bei Hirschen und bei Reh'n,
da ist es schön,
da ist es schön.                 

Hast du das schöne Land geseh'n,
wo Schwarzwaldhäuschen steh'n,
kehrst du zurück,
kehrst du zurück.

Denn so ein kleines Schwarzwaldhaus,
das suchen wir uns aus
für unser Glück,
für unser Glück.

Refrain:
Einsam sind viele Wege in diesem Land,
gemeinsam woll'n wir sie gehen Hand in Hand.
Bei Regen, Sonne oder Schnee,
im Tal und auf den Höh'n,
da ist es schön,so wunderschön.
Komm mit mir,ich zeig es dir!

Manfred

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Leadbelly
Date: 09 Mar 07 - 02:20 PM

Sorry for coming back so soon, but my last reply to this thread has to be completed resp. modified because of a discussion amongst Mudcatters in 2001 (see: Walk in The Black Forest UK TV Theme?). Here it comes:

"Dear Peter,
With reference to your question as to whether Horst Jankowski's "A Walk in the Black Forest" was ever used as a theme tune by the BBC, I very much doubt this, based on the following relevant information, that I have taken directly from an interview which Horst gave to WDR, a radio station in Germany.

" I had originally written that tune as "Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt" in 1961 for a radio show. It was a travel programme and I recorded a couple of tracks about famous places like, Paris, the Alps and that kind of thing. "Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt" was about a beautiful trip through Germany's Black Forest. It became successful in America first, in 1964, three years after I had recorded it. The whole story is a very unfortunate part of my career. In the sixties American producers were coming to Europe to buy music for TV shows."

"This was much cheaper for them than producing it at home since here they didn't have to pay musicians and the union. I sold them four tracks from the radio programme, including "Eine Schwarzwaldfahrt" and they paid me 125, - Deutschmarks, which seemed OK at the time. I signed a piece of paper and started work on something else. We musicians were pretty stupid back then. Not long after that, my song was used in an American TV show, and became a huge hit there under the title " A Walk in the Black Forest". It was only then that I realised what exactly I had signed. I wouldn't get any royalties, all rights were owned by an American company. It took me seven years, several lawyers, and lots of money to get the rights back. After seven years, of course, the song was no longer a hit and didn't even make back the money I had spent on the lawsuit. Although I went on to sell lots of albums, I didn't make a penny from "Black Forest!"

So, there we are then Peter, there is no mention of England or the BBC. On the contrary it would seem that "A Walk in the Black Forest" was in fact used for an American TV show!!

I hope that this information helps to answer your question.
br> yours sincerely,
br> Phil. (Kent).

I Also did a Google search, and found a reference at Guardian On Line, where someone suggested that it was used for Desmond Morris' "Animal Magic" programme. However, Animal Magic started in 1962, 3 years before "A Walk In The Black Forest" became a hit in August 1965, and was hosted by Johnny Morris, not Desmond Morris, so I'd have to qualify that source as unreliable.
Warm regards Peter".

Many thanks to Peter and Kent for this information,

Manfred

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Scrump
Date: 12 Mar 07 - 11:32 AM

I only just saw this, Manfred. Was WITBF a hit in the USA?

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Mark Dowding
Date: 12 Mar 07 - 11:58 AM

Laurie Johnson wrote the theme to "Animal Magic". It was called "Las Vegas" and I can see why it might be mistaken for WITBF if you haven't heard either tune for ages although they're very dissimilar.

Cheers
Mark

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Leadbelly
Date: 12 Mar 07 - 02:36 PM

Scrump -

yes it was. Couldn't find info about top ranking in 1965 but in year end charts of Billboard resp. Cashbox AWITBF reached rank # 47 resp. 46.
The sequence of succsess might have been like this:

- tune written for a radio show (TV?) in 1961 or 1962.
- used in an american TV-show in 1964 or 1965
- became a hit in US first, followed by UK and other countries in 1965.

This might have been the sequence. What do you think about it, Scrump?

And which american Mudcatters do remember? Any idea for which TV-show this tune was used for? Hi friends, we do need your help, to understand the rest of this story!

Manfred

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 05:06 AM

It was quite a big hit here in Australia too.

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Scrump
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 07:53 AM

Hi Manfred - sorry for the delay in replying.

I should think you're right about the sequence - it seems logical.

It seems odd it should be a minor hit in the US, and then find its way back to Europe and become a bigger hit here (the UK) and the continent, but stranger things have happened in pop music!

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Leadbelly
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 09:09 AM

Scrump + Foolestroupe - Thanks for your replies!

Foolestroupe - Do you remember the year? Was it done by Horst Jankowski or did somebody else make a cover version?
What factor(s) have been influencial in becoming a big hit in Australia?

A lot of questions, indeed. And it's long, long ago...

Manfred

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Leadbelly
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 12:15 PM

Found this interesting note (wikipedia):

"Alex Law was born in 1965, at a time when "A Walk in the Black Forest" was the top of the charts in Australia."

Manfred

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Scrump
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 12:24 PM

Who's Alex Law, Manfred? I had a quick Google, but there seem to be loads of them.

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Leadbelly
Date: 13 Mar 07 - 02:12 PM

Scrump - He's a user of wikipedia. Quite a normal person, I believe. I wasn't interested in him (sorry,Alex)but in his statement concerning AWITBF.

By feeding into the computer Australia+A-walk-in-the-black-forest+Alex-Law
you will find his statement.

In the meantime I could veryfy # 1 position in Australia.

Maybe a Mudcatter from the States will remember in which show/programme this tune was used in 1973 or 1974. This might be the missing link.

Manfred

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Scrump
Date: 14 Mar 07 - 04:49 AM

Ah, I see. Sorry Manfred, I now realise you were just quoting that because it indicates that AWITBF (or SWF!) was no. 1 in Australia, not particularly because Mr Law had any great significance to this discussion otherwise.

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Mo the caller
Date: 20 Jan 12 - 10:00 AM

Can anyone tell me when this was popular in the UK, and whose recording made the charts?

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: MartinRyan
Date: 20 Jan 12 - 10:04 AM

See the start of thread - Horst Janckowski, 1965, apparently. My own guess would have been Floyd Kramer around the same era!

Regards

Subject: RE: A walk in the Black Forest
From: Acorn4
Date: 20 Jan 12 - 10:35 AM

Slightly later than Floyd Cramer, most of whose hits were 1960/61 ish.