Lyr Req: Spanish Flea

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Spanish Flea
From: GUEST,Starship
Date: 04 Mar 20 - 04:32 PM

Here's the song by the Doodletown Pipers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlo7pOW0Z0E

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Spanish Flea
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 04 Mar 20 - 04:16 PM

Ok. The above don't ring any bells, apart from the mention of Herb Alpert.
I only recall a line or two of lyrics from back then:
If you come from Spain
And Spanish blood runs through your vein(s)
Possible something completely different, but the tune was the same.

Okay. I googled it. Apparently it was "showbusiness is in your veins"
YouTube, Spanish Flea: Kathy Kirby

Apart from the Herb Alpert instrumental, this is the version most likely to be remembered by UK Mudcatters.

Subject: Lyr Add: SPANISH FLEA (Doodletown Pipers)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 Mar 20 - 01:25 PM

"Spanish Flea" was made famous by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass as an instrumental recording in 1965. Wikipedia says it was written for Alpert by Julius Wechter, and the song had lyrics by Cissy Wechter. Julius Wechter was a percussionist and a member of the famous Wrecking Crew; he was also the leader of The Baja Marimba Band, which also recorded it as an instrumental, medleyed with other songs.

Here's an early recording with lyrics, which you can hear at YouTube. I don't know for certain that these are the words written by Cissy Wechter, but it seems likely, and they also seem to match the original request in this thread, and the quote from the Simpsons:


SPANISH FLEA
As recorded by the Doodletown Pipers on "Sing-Along '67" (1967)

There was a little Spanish flea.
A record star he thought he'd be.
He'd heard of singers like Beatles.
The Chipmunks he'd seen on TV.
Why not a little Spanish flea?

And so he hid
Inside a doggy from Madrid,
Arriving here in the city
Still singing his sweet harmony
As brave as anything could be.

He walked around
As if he owned the town,
Humming his pint-sized melody.
With his guitar
He knew he'd be a star,
And in his own home town how proud they'd be.

Then all at once he met a man
Who said: "I'll help you if I can."
He listened first to his song
Then he sang right along, for you see,
He loved the little Spanish flea.

Dot-dah-dah-dah...(Etc.)

"You'll be the rage.
I'll put you on the stage
In costumes like you've never worn."
Without a glance,
He knew this was his chance,
As all at once a Spanish star was born.

Oh, when the people heard him play
They all began to shout: "Hooray!"
He was the pride of the nation.
A singing sensation was he,
Though he was just a Spanish flea,
Though he was just a Spanish flea,
Though he was just a Spanish flea.

Subject: Lyr Add: SPANISH FLEA (Allan Sherman)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 Mar 20 - 11:48 AM

You can hear this at YouTube:


SPANISH FLEA
Music: "Spanish Flea" which was famously recorded as an instrumental by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass in 1965.
As recorded by Allan Sherman on "Togetherness" (1967)

It's good to be a Spanish flea.
The Spanish dogs all scratch at me.
I make my home in a spaniel
Called Jose or Manuel
Or Juan,
And I wouldn't put you on.

My summer place is some great Dane
In Barcelona, northern Spain,
And though it rains in July,
I keep dry way up high
'Cause the rain
Falls mainly in the plain.

Ah, but in the wintertime, I find a cozy Saint Bernard.
Up the Spanish alps we climb, complete with antifreeze.
More brandy, please!

I've got a sweetheart flea; cute kid!
Lives on a beagle near Madrid.
If she can sublet her beagle,
I'll make her my legal
First wife,
And we'll live a dog's life.

But, if she refuses me, I'm gonna shout: "Who cares?"
And move somewheres.

Perchance I'll fly to southern France,
Where any flea can find romance.
I'll pack my kit and caboodle
And find me a poodle
And dance.
'Scuse me, Rover: which way's France?

Subject: RE: Spanish Flea
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Sep 98 - 12:41 PM

Well, if you click here or click here, you might be able to transcribe it from a clip from The Simpsons. You can do further research on this by going to www.hotbot.com and searching under "spanish flea simpsons."
Here's what I could make of it. Sorry, but Homer's diction isn't all that good, and I can't understand it completely. This may be as close as you're gonna get. Music was written by Julius Wechter in 1966. The words are no doubt written by those wonderful people who bring you The Simpsons.

There was a little Spanish flea
A record star he thought he'd be
He heard of singers like Beatles
The Chipmunks he'd seen on TV,
Why not a little Spanish flea?

-Joe Offer-

Subject: Spanish Flea
From: Andrea
Date: 07 Sep 98 - 12:03 PM

I'm looking to find the words to Spanish Flea for my Girl Scouts to sing at our next campfire. Can anyone help me? I would prefer if you e-mail me directly. Thanks.

"There was a little Spanish Flea.. a record star he thought he be....."

Andrea [e-mail]