"Little Man" ( Russian. Young man , boy ) - the song of the American duet Sonny and Cher . Written by Sonny Bono in 1966. The song did not achieve much success in the USA , however, it conquered the charts of several European countries (Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, as well as Flanders). It has been translated into French, Italian, Finnish and a number of other languages; in English, translated or instrumental, she entered the repertoire of such artists as Delilah , James Lust , Milva , Yucca Kuoppamyaki and many other musicians. In addition, several songs were created based on the Little Man melody, including in Russian, with a meaning that was far from the original.
| Little man | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Executor | Sonny and Cher | |||
| Album | In Case You're in Love | |||
| Date of issue | 1966 | |||
| Date Recorded | 1966 | |||
| Song language | English | |||
| Duration | 3:15 | |||
| Author | Sonny Bono | |||
| Composer | ||||
| Album track listing “ In Case You're in Love ” | ||||
| ||||
Content
Song Story
| Little Man (1966) | |
Performed by duet Sonny and Cher . | |
| Playback help | |
In early 1966, Sonny and Cher released their third studio album, The Wondrous World of Sonny & Cher . However, this disc was less successful than the second album Look at Us , released in 1965, and could not rise above the fourth dozen in the American chart of music albums . After the success of “ I Got You Babe ” in August 1965, individual songs did not reach the heights of musical charts. Sonny Bono begins writing songs for the new album and composes Little Man. In September 1966, “Little Man” as a single (on the “A” side ) was released on a seven-inch record simultaneously in North America and the United Kingdom: in the USA [1] and Canada [2] , the record company Atco Records acted as the release, and on the British Islands - Atlantic Records [3] .
While in the USA the song reached only 21st place in the national charts, in the UK “Little Man” did better, taking 4th place. An important role in the successful European promotion of the song was played by the fact that Sonny and Cher went on a tour of Europe in September 1966. The American duet began his tour with the vocal recording “Little Man” in London (the instrumental track was brought from America). This attracted attention to the song, and touring Europe, coupled with numerous television appearances in a short period of time, brought the popularity of Little Man in continental Europe.
In October 1966, Atco Records released a mini-album [4] , intended for distribution in France. On the “A” side of the record, two songs by Sonny and Cher were recorded in French, including “Petit homme” - the translation of “Little Man”. The author of the translation was Michelle Tatinger. On the “B” side of this minion was also the song “Little Man” - in English. Also in France, Atco Records also released a single [5] , the main song of which was “Little Man”. Due to the huge popularity of the song in the fall of 1966, singles were released in the Netherlands [6] , Norway [7] , Japan [8] , Australia [9] and Sweden [10] . During a tour in Italy, Sonny and Cher performed their song in Italian. The author of the words of the composition, called "Piccolo ragazzo", was the Italian songwriter Giulio Rapetti.
In the repertoire of other performers
- First Verse and Chorus [11]
- Little man, when you stand by my side
- Then I know I don't have to hide from anyone
- And I pray that we'll stay just that way
- Till the day comes along when we catch the sun.
- Little man, when you stand by my side
- Chorus
- Little girl you're runnin '
- Come catch my hand I'm near you
- Little girl you're singin '
- Come close to me I hear you
- Little girl you're runnin '
“Little Man”, both in the original and in the translated version, immediately entered the repertoire of many artists in different countries of the world. The English version was performed by a duet of popular Finnish artists Anki and Danny , as well as a number of lesser-known performers. The French version of the song - “Petit homme”, was performed by Delilah , who with this composition was able to reach seventh place in the French music hit parade. Also, “Petit homme” was in the repertoire of North American singer Nanette Workman . And Delilah, in addition to the French version of "Little Man", sang this song in Italian. "Piccolo ragazzo" was also performed by the Italian band Rogers , singers Fiammetta and Milvoy ; Milva with this song was able to reach the 15th line of the Italian charts. The Finnish version of “Little Man” - “Pieni mies” - was in the repertoire of singer Jukka Kuoppamyaki , who won with her at the hit festival in Rostock in 1971, and singer Anita Hirvonen . The Romanian version - “Un Baiat” - was performed by Margareta Pyslaru .
Also, many free translations of the song “Little Man” were born, in which the original melody was preserved, but the text carried a different semantic load. For example, a song appeared in Bulgaria called "The Malak Prince", dedicated to the eponymous character of the famous fairy tale Antoine de Saint-Exupery . “Decak taj” was written in Serbian (the author of the words is George Novković ) performed by Bisera Velentanlich and "Da Si Tu", included in the repertoire of Radmila Karaklaich . Based on the melody “Little Man” in German by the duet Cindy & Bert the song “Cäsar und Cleopatra” ( Caesar and Cleopatra ) was recorded, and the song “Immer Nur Die Anderen” by singer Bertie Glockner. In France, musician Eric Saint Laurent sang the song "Les Enfants Qui Jouent", reaching 85 in the national charts.
A number of musicians have released instrumental versions of Little Man; the most famous are the arrangements by Frank Pursel , James Last , Raymond Lefebvre , Klaus Wunderlich .
Execution in the USSR
| “Little Man” arranged by F. Pursel’s orchestra | |
In the USSR, the instrumental version, sounding in the ninth issue of the animated film “Well, wait a minute!” Was popular | |
| Playback help | |
Acquaintance of a wide Soviet audience with the work of Sonny Bono occurred in 1969, when the film " Lovers " produced by the Uzbekfilm studio came out in Soviet distribution. According to the plot, the main characters meet and dance to the instrumental performance of the composition by the restaurant ensemble. A similar episode was in the 1974 film " Anna and the Commander " - the main characters dance to an instrumental performance in a hotel restaurant. In 1972, the tune “Little Man” in the processing of James Last was used to arrange one of his numbers recorded for television, “Sunny Clown” by Oleg Popov , and in 1973 - a duet of pantomimists Natalya and Oleg Kiryushkin [12] . The instrumental version of Frank Pursel’s orchestra was used in the ninth episode of the animated film “Well, wait a minute!” , In the scene where the Hare and the Wolf are preparing to swords with swords. In 1975, the song “Train of my life” - to the tune of “Little Man”, but with a meaning far from the original, - performed by singer Vladimir Stepanov; later she entered the repertoire of the VIA "Jolly Fellows" .
Editions
The song “Little Man” was included in the fourth studio album of Sonny and Cher In Case You're in Love , which was released in 1967, and became the first on the track of side “B” . However, the first recordings of the composition in the form of singles and a mini-album saw the light in the autumn of 1966.
| Album title | Album type | A country | Record Company, Release Number | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Man / Monday [1] | single | USA | Atco Records , 45-6440 | 1966 |
| Little Man / Monday [3] [6] | single | UK / Netherlands | Atlantic Records , 584040 | 1966 |
| Little Man / Monday [2] | single | Canada | Atco Records 6440X | 1966 |
| Little Man / Monday [8] | single | Japan | Atlantic Records, JET 1723 | 1966 |
| “Little Man” / “Bring It On Home To Me” [7] [10] | single | Norway / Sweden | Atlantic Records, 70.181 | 1966 |
| Little Man / So Fine | single | Italy | Atlantic Records, 90179 | 1966 |
| Little Man / We'll Sing In the Sunshine | single | Argentina | Atlantic Records, S-33-1623 | 1966 |
| Little Man / Monday [9] | single | Australia | Atlantic Records, 1524 | 1966 |
| Petit Homme / Mais Tu Es à Moi | single | Canada | Atco Records, LF 117 | 1966 |
| Little Man / Summertime [5] | single | France | Atco Records, 23 | 1966 |
| “Petit Homme” / “Tell Him” / “Little Man” / “Summertime” [4] | mini album | France | Atco Records 117 | 1966 |
| In Case You're in Love | album | USA / Great Britain | Atlantic Records / Atco Records | 1967 |
Chart places
"Little Man" conquered the first line of the music charts of Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Flanders. The French version of the song - the song "Petit homme" - performed by Dalida reached the 7th line of France’s national hit parade. Another French song - “Les Enfants Qui Jouent” - had the same melody, but different in meaning, performed by Eric Saint Laurent at 85th place on the French music chart. "Piccolo ragazzo" - the Italian version of "Little Man" - performed by Milva reached the 15th line of the Italian hit parade.
| Chart title | A country | Chart debut month | Being in the charts (weeks) | Highest place | Date of entry to 1st place | Week in 1st place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 [13] [14] | USA | October 1966 | 7 | 21 | ||
| RPM Top Singles [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] | Canada | October 1966 | eight | 6 | ||
| UK Singles Chart [21] | Great Britain | September 1966 | ten | four | ||
| VG-lista Top 10 Singles [22] | Norway | September 1966 | 15 | one | September 25, 1966 [23] | 6 |
| Nederlandse Top 40 [24] | Netherlands | October 1966 | sixteen | one | October 8, 1966 [25] | 6 |
| Kvällstoppen [26] | Sweden | September 1966 | ten | one | October 11, 1966 | four |
| Tio i topp [27] | Sweden | September 1966 | 7 | one | ||
| New Zealand Listner [14] | New Zealand | January 1967 | 3 | 9 | ||
| Australia Goset [14] | Australia | December 1966 | 3 | 23 | ||
| WKNR [28] [29] [30] | USA | September 1966 | 3 | 17 |
| Chart title | A country | Chart debut month | Being in the charts (months) | Highest place | Months on the 1st place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hit Parade of Flanders [14] [31] | Flanders | October 1966 | 3 | one | one |
| German Top 20 [14] [32] | Germany | January 1967 | four | 2 |
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Atco Records 6440 Record Data . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 ATCO 6640X Record Data . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Atlantic Records 584040 Record Data . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 ATCO-117 Record Data . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Data on the ATCO-23 record . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Atlantic Records 584040 Record Data . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Atlantic ATL 70.181 Record Data . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Atlantic JET 1723 Record Data . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Atlantic AK-1524 Record Data . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Atlantic ATL 70.181 Record Data . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Song lyrics are protected by copyright laws and cannot be published in their entirety. See full text on Jooov.net
- ↑ "Girl, a bully and a ball." Natalia and Oleg Kiryushkiny (pantomime)
- ↑ Little Man - Sonny & Cher . Billboard Hot 100 . Billboard . Date of treatment October 29, 2011.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 List of Songs by Sonny & Cher . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ RPM Top Singles - Volume 6, No. 7, October 10, 1966 RPM Top Singles. Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ RPM Top Singles - Volume 6, No. 8, October 17 1966 RPM Top Singles. Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ RPM Top Singles - Volume 6, No. 9, October 24 1966 RPM Top Singles. Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ RPM Top Singles - Volume 6, No. 11, November 07 1966 RPM Top Singles. Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ RPM Top Singles - Volume 6, No. 12, November 14 1966 RPM Top Singles. Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ RPM Top Singles - Volume 6, No. 13, November 21 1966 . RPM Top Singles. Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Little Man on chartarchive.org . chartarchive.org. Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Sonny & Cher - Little Man (Song ) . norwegiancharts.com. Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ VG Lista - Singles Top 20. 41/1966 . norwegiancharts.com. Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Sonny & Cher - Little Man (nid.) . top40.nl. Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Nederlandse Top 40 (nid.) . top40.nl. Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Kvällstoppen (1966-1969) (Swedish) . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Tio i topp (64-66) (Swedish) . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Hit parade of the radio "Keener 13" for the week (September 19, 1966) (eng.) . WKNR (September 19, 1966). Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Hit parade of the radio "Keener 13" for the week (September 26, 1966) (eng.) . WKNR (September 26, 1966). Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Hit parade of the radio "Keener 13" for the week (October 3, 1966) (English) . WKNR (October 03, 1966). Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Flanders hitparade. 1966 Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
- ↑ Sonny & Cher, Little Man on charts.de (German) . Date of treatment October 30, 2012. Archived December 29, 2012.
Links
- The song "Little man". Chapter 1. The history of the song. Authors . "The story of one song." Date of treatment October 30, 2012.
- The song "Little man". Chapter 2. Lyrics and translations . "The story of one song." Date of appeal October 30, 2012.
- The song "Little man". Chapter 3. Video and audio . "The story of one song." Date of treatment October 30, 2012.
- Little man . Date of appeal October 30, 2012.