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JOHNNY O'KEEFE
To Love (Wally Gold - Aaron Schroeder - Sebastian Yradier [b. Iradier]) Australia 1962 #24 Melbourne
This was the B-side of Sing, a single on Leedon by Johnny O'Keefe (1935-1978), Australia's biggest star of the rock'n'roll era, known as The Wild One, The King of Rock'n'Roll or just J. O'K. All of the songs listed on this page use the same melody, from Yradier's La paloma. It has been adapted for many songs over the years, but only a few significant or interesting versions are highlighted here. To listen to an early recording of La paloma, jump to here. Acknowledgement: This page draws almost entirely on original research contributed by Chris Vening.   
RAL DONNER
To Love (Wally Gold - Aaron Schroeder - Sebastian Yradier [b. Iradier]) USA 1962 Original version with these lyrics Influential version Single on Gone, recorded May 1961 but released the following year. In the meantime, Elvis's No More, based on the same Sebastian Yradier melody, La paloma, had been released (see below). The lyrics: (also used in Johnny O'Keefe's 1962 Australian version) To love - Ral Donner was an Elvis Presley influenced rock'n'roll singer (1943-1984) whose big hit was his 1961 US #4 You Don't Know What You've Got (Until You Lose It). He provided the voice of Elvis in the 1981 biopic This Is Elvis. See also I Got Burned.
ELVIS PRESLEY
No More (2) (Don Robertson - Hal Blair - Sebastian Yradier [b. Iradier]) USA 1961 From the film Blue Hawaii. The melody is Yradier's La paloma. An earlier rewrite of La paloma from Britain, also entitled No More, is a different version: see No More (1), below. No more do I see the starlight caress your hair Further reading: 1. No More at David Neale's Elvis Originals. 2. Co-lyricist and arranger Don Robertson on writing No More, inspired by the success of the adaptation O sole mio for Elvis's hit It's Now Or Never: I enlisted Hal Blair’s aid and we began work on it. I didn’t have a copy of the music, so I worked it out from memory. This was probably a blessing in disguise, because it took on a unique quality, different from the song I had learned as a child.
CONNIE FRANCIS
Your Love ([Unknown lyricist 3] - Sebastian Yradier [b. Iradier]) USA 1961 MGM recording, June 1961, first released in Germany on single, EP and LP. The melody is Yradier's La paloma. Connie Francis recorded La Paloma in several languages, 1961-62. The Your Love lyric (transcribed by Chris Vening):Your love Your Love, 1961, English version (on 1961 Italian album Connie Nel Mondo, also on 1962 German single); Thank you to Connie Francis discographer Roger Turner.
BILLY VAUGHN & HIS ORCHESTRA
La Paloma (Sebastian Yradier [b. Iradier]) USA 1958 #20 USA Instrumental version, single on Dot by the label's musical director. Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra were often on the charts from the mid-50s to early 60s, notably with Melody Of Love (1954, #2 USA), The Shifting Whispering Sands (1955, #5) and Sail Along Silvery Moon (1958, #8). Further reading: Billy Vaughn entries at All Music Guide and Wikipedia.
DEAN MARTIN
The Look (Bob Russell - Sebastian Yradier [b. Iradier]) USA 1956 The look The look Also recorded by Dean Martin in 1963 as La Paloma, with different lyrics: see below.
WEBSTER BOOTH
No More (1) (Jack Popplewell - Sebastian Yradier [b. Iradier]) UK 1951 78 rpm recording by the tenor Webster Booth (1902-1984) with lyrics by British playwright and songwriter Jack Popplewell (1909-1996). Elvis Presley's No More (1961), also based on Yradier's La paloma, is a different version with the same title. See No More (2), above. Chris Vening points at that, although there are similarities between the lyrics of No More (1) and (2), this may be attributable to the use of "stock phrases of romantic ballads" in both versions. Thanks to Jeannie C. at Anne Ziegler-Webster Booth, a blog about Booth and his wife and duettist.
BANDA DE ZAPADORES DE MEXICO
La paloma (Sebastian Yradier [b. Iradier]) USA 1905 Edison Gold Moulded cylinder #18734. Early out-of-copyright recording available from several websites including Project Gutenberg.
FERRUCCIO GIANNINI
La Paloma ([Unknown lyricist 1] - Sebastian Yradier [b. Iradier]) USA 1896 First known recording Berliner label release, cited by Arnold Rypens at The Originals as the earliest known recording of La paloma. Rypens continues his list of versions with recordings from 1899, 1900, 1902, 1905 and 1919. Reference: History of La paloma at The Originals by Arnold Rypens. (The Originals spells the singer's first name as "Fenuccio" but this appears to be incorrect.) See also Elvis Presley: The Originals (No More).
[PUBLISHED WORK]
La paloma (Sebastian Yradier [b. Iradier]) Spain 1859 Original melody Spanish composer Sebastian Iradier (1809-1865), published as Yradier, is best known for two compositions: the much recorded, performed and reworked La paloma, and El arreglito, famously used as the habanera in Carmen by Georges Bizet who initially believed it was a folk song but later acknowledged it as Yradier's composition. Commentary by researcher Chris Vening (contributed):
References: 1. James J. Fuld discusses the original publication of La paloma, in his Book of World-famous Music (1966), see relevant excerpt here. 2. Paul Griffiths, The New Penguin Dictionary of Music (2004) on Iradier/Yradier. Later versions:
DEAN MARTIN
La Paloma ([Unknown lyricist 2] - Sebastian Yradier [b. Iradier]) USA 1963 Later version On the 1963 Reprise album Dino Latino: When I left Havana nobody saw me go In 1956 Dean Martin had recorded The Look, also based on La paloma: see above. Corrections or comments? Contact the writer. |
The melody of Johnny O'Keefe's To Love is from La paloma (1859) by the Spanish composer Sebastian Yradier. The lyrics are those first recorded by Ral Donner (
