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Topic: Jerry Byrd and China Nights |
Rick Ulrich
From:
Gilbert, Arizona
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Posted 22 Jan 2004 12:35 am |
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| Does anyone know which album of Jerry Byrd's has the song China Nights on it? A DJ friend of mine is looking for that song to add to his collection. |
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Egil Skjelnes
From:
Meland,Frekhaug
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Posted 22 Jan 2004 2:04 am
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Hello
I have looked through my Jerry Byrd collection that incl.all his LP`s ,45`s 78`s and cd`s,and the only release I find for this tune is on a 45 singel
China night/Torn Sarong-Monument 45-411,and later re-released as 45-504.
I might have overlooked it elsewhere,but did not find it on my Monument LP`s or CD`s.
Thge single turns up now and then on ebay.
Hope this help.
Best from Egil. |
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c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
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Posted 22 Jan 2004 4:05 am
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| Oh yes, dear old china nights. I have the 45 of it and our hawaiian band plays it at every gig. We have quite a large islander and asiatic population in this area; also a large # of vets like me that served in Japan 46-50. This was a #1 song with both the Japanese and GIs. GIs liked it for the melody. The Japanese for the lyrics that tell about when the Japanese were in China and their memories of it. I also have the sheet music as our sax player can not play anything that is not written down but can really wail when it is. The real name of the tune is Shina No Yoru (shee-nah no youra). GIs called it she ain't got no yoyo. This stayed on top until 1952 I believe when a GI in Japan wrote Gomin asi. and the japanese loved it. |
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 22 Jan 2004 7:46 am
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CC:
That is an accurate history of the song.
I was in Japan from 1952 to 1954 and have an original japanese 78 rpm record of "Shina No Yoru."
Ditto on "Go Min Nasi."
There was also a local GI country hit "Soba Song."
Nice to know you are still playing "China Nights."
Blake |
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Egil Skjelnes
From:
Meland,Frekhaug
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Posted 22 Jan 2004 7:55 am
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Hello again.
I can add to my first reply that there is a VERY good vocal version of this song-artist-Dick Curless with Weldon Myrick on steel.
Best from Egil. |
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c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
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Posted 22 Jan 2004 8:47 am
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| Blake, do you remember another one the japanese had( and I spell phoneticly) Sayonara okinawa yo, aka kure mata ?????. Telling about them leaving Okinawa. The Geishas all did a dance and part of it was as if they were shoveling. Don't take the japanese pronunciation literally. This comes from 50+yrs of memory. CC |
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Walter Stettner
From:
Vienna, Austria
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Posted 22 Jan 2004 9:39 am
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Egil,
There is also a vocal version of Dick Curless and Jerry Byrd from 1972, JB plays great on that one!
Regards, Walter
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 22 Jan 2004 11:56 am
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CC,
Your memory is right on. I don't remember
"Sayonara Okanawa Yo" I may have been going to the wrong bars. 
I do remember "Tokyo Boogie Woogie" (Later played on "Mash") also "Japanese Rumba"
Another favorite in the Pachinko Parlors was
"Tanko Bushi" (I think the miners dance...that shoveling bit) was also done to that.
In 1953 there was a good GI hillbilly/western swing band with a regular
program on Far East Network, Tokyo.
The steeler had a Fender T-8. Was that you?
Blake |
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c c johnson
From:
killeen,tx usa * R.I.P.
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Posted 23 Jan 2004 3:59 am
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| I went to Korea in 50 and then did a second Korea tour in 53-54. I went to fingerprint school in Tokyo for 3 mos in 53 and set in with different ctry and Haw bands. The guy in one of the ctry bands had a 3 necker and they played on AFRS and I set in a played his guitar. On R&R in 54 I did the same thing. While in Korea in 53 and part of 54 Dick Curless was a AFRS DJ in Taegu and called himself "The Rice Paddy Ranger" I played several shows with him around Taegu, Taejon, Pusan, and even a trip to Koje-do. So you may have senn me playing all kinds of borrowed steels. CC |
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 23 Jan 2004 8:50 am
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CC,
Yep, we were in Japan at the same time.
I spent all my time in Yokohama. I was 16 at the time and an "army brat."
Bought my first steel and was just learning to play it.
Blake |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 23 Jan 2004 9:04 am
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I must have just missed you guys....I arrived in Japan in June 1954. I was stationed in the Tokyo/Yokohama area and also played a three-neck Custom Fender in a GI band on AFRS and at military clubs.
Our band's most popular requested song by the military audience was, Star Spangled Heaven, written by our band's guitar player who later recorded it on one of his albums.
We also had frequent requests for "She Ain't Got No Yo Yo".
www.genejones.com [This message was edited by Gene Jones on 23 January 2004 at 09:10 AM.] |
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Rick Ulrich
From:
Gilbert, Arizona
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Posted 23 Jan 2004 9:52 am
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| Thanks guys for all your information and historical notes. You guys are such a great resource, it just knocks my socks off. I will pass this along to my friend over in Wichita Falls, TX. I know he wants to acquire the recording as he likes to please everyone in his audience when he does a DJ gig. |
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Michael Johnstone
From:
Sylmar,Ca. USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2004 1:54 pm
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| Here's just how small the world really is: I was also an Army brat and I lived in Yokahama at the same time Blake Hawkins did.I was only 7 at the time but he knew my older brother and sister,Bill and Colleen,who were his age - they were all high school classmates and used to run around together. Japan is also where I heard my first steel guitar player - Billy Hew Len - down on the boardwalk at Ino Shima. -MJ- |
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