March 25, 2011

"Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)"


"Cereza Rosa," or "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)" or "Gummy Mambo" is the English version of "Cerisier rose et pommier blanc," a popular song with music by Louiguy written in 1950. French lyrics to the song by Jacques Larue and English lyrics by Mack David both exist and recordings of both have been quite popular. However, Perez Prado's recording of the song as an instrumental with his orchestra featuring trumpeter Billy Regis, whose trumpet sound would slide down and up before the melody would resume, was the most popular version in 1955, reaching number one on the Billboard charts. The most popular vocal version in the U.S. was by Alan Dale, reaching #14 on the charts in 1955.
(source)

Perez Prado

I could have sworn this song was used during the Lake Tahoe party scenes near the beginning of The Godfather II!

2 comments:

Retro Hound said...

I think you're right about the Godfather II scene. My Dad has a 45 of this. As a kid, I never understood why.

Chris said...

Must have been during the nightclub scenes set in Cuba, John. That makes more sense.