Johnny Cash: The German Connection

In the 1960’s and 70’s many musicians re-recorded their hits in various foreign languages to cater to different markets. Among them were The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Marvin Gaye. Johnny Cash pioneered the practice by dubbing German vocals for his song I Got Stripes in 1959. He also dubbed Five Feet High and Rising and I Walked The Line as well as recording two German songs in German, Besser So, Jenny-Jo and Kleine Rosmarie. His German connection goes back to 1952 when he spent two years as a radio operator with the U.S. Air Force stationed in Landsberg, Germany.  It was there he brought his first guitar and formed his first band the Landsberg Barbarians. Here’s Viel Zu Spät (I Got Stripes) and Wer kennt den Weg? ( I Walked The Line).

Viel Zu Spät (I Got Stripes).mp3 

Wer kennt den Weg (I Walked The Line).mp3

Lucifer's Friend: Ride In The Sky 1970

Lucifer's Friend hailed from Hamburg Germany (although singer John Lawton was an Englishman). They released their debut single, Ride In The Sky, in 1970 on Vertigo Records. It was released in America in 1973 and that is often wrongly credited as the year of its release. It is also frequently cited as one of the very first Heavy Metal records. Ride In The Sky was written by the guitarist Peter Hesslein and Lawton. The B-Side is an instrumental written by all of the band, bar Lawton. The rest of the band also recorded under the name Pink Mice as a side project.

Producer Herbert Hildebrandt

John Lawton                             Vocals
Peter Hesslein                           Guitar
Peter Hecht     Keyboards/French Horn
Dieter Horns                               Bass
Joachim Reitenbach                  Drums

***Warning recorded from vinyl. Some Surface Noise***
Ride In The Sky
Horla

Marvin Gaye: Wie schön das ist (How Sweet It Is) 1964

 

In the mid 1960s Motown decided to get some of its artist to dub different language version of their American hits for non-English speaking markets. Barry Gordy never missed an opportunity to make money. This one's Marvin Gaye doing 'How Sweet It Is' in German' Note it's out on CBS, not Motown or even Stateside. 

Wie schön das ist