La mamma (song)

La mamma is a song written in 1962 by French lyricist Robert Gall and Armenian-French artist Charles Aznavour.

"La mamma"
Single by Charles Aznavour
from the album La mamma
Released1963
GenreChanson
Length3.43
LabelBarclay
Songwriter(s)Charles Aznavour, Robert Gall

History

Charles Aznavour first recorded "La mamma" for a 1962 EP with his version serving as title cut for his 1963 album release. The first single release was by Les Compagnons de la chanson which reached #80 on the French charts in late 1963: the Aznavour version was then issued as a single to reach #1 in France in February 1964. "La mamma" also afforded Aznavour a hit on the Dutch charts of Belgium and, rendered in Italian, was a hit in Italy for both Aznavour (#13) and also Domenico Modugno (#36). "La mamma" became Aznavour's first million seller.[1]

An English-language rendering of "La mamma" by lyricist Don Black entitled "For Mama" was recorded by Matt Monro and released in December 1964 in the UK where it had a chart peak of #36.[2] "For Mama" became a minor US hit in 1965 for both Connie Francis and Jerry Vale whose versions debuted on the Hot 100 in Billboard magazine dated March 6, 1965 at #86 (Francis) and #88 (Vale): in the previous issue of Billboard, that dated February 27, 1965, the Matt Monro version of "For Mama" had appeared in the "Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles" chart at #135 along with the Jerry Vale and Connie Francis versions, respectively #121 and #127, but Monro's version did not subsequently advance into the Hot 100. The Connie Francis and Jerry Vale versions of "For Mama" rose to respective Hot 100 peaks of #48 (Francis) and #54 (Vale) on the Hot 100 dated April 3, 1965 with each disc charting for one subsequent week for a total Hot 100 tenure of seven weeks. Vic Damone also recorded a cover version of "For Mama" which failed to chart.

Adaptations
  • La mamma, written by Nelly Byl (Dutch)
  • La mamma, written by Gerrit den Braber (Dutch)
  • Mamãe, written by Nazareno de Brito (Portuguese)
  • For Mama, written by Don Black (English)
  • Mama, written by Dragutin Britvić (Croatian)
  • La mamma, written by Mogol (Italian)
  • La mamma, written by Charly Niessen (German)
  • Den bompa, written by Leo Rozenstraten (Brabantian dialect of Antwerp)
  • Ya yemma, written by Lili Boniche (Algerian Arabic)

Cover versions

References
  1. Million selling records from the 1900s to the 1980s: an illustrated directory, by Joseph Murrells. Batsford, 1984, p. 170
  2. The Penguin encyclopedia of popular music, by Donald Clarke, Penguin Books, 1990, p. 56
  3. "Yoyoy Villame - Mamay Maliya (HD)". Retrieved 25 March 2014.

See also
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