“Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” or “Cerezo Rosa” or “Ciliegi Rosa” or “Gummy Mambo”, is the English version of “Cerisiers Roses et Pommiers Blancs”, 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, Pérez 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 for 10 weeks on the Billboard chart. It became a gold record. Pérez had first recorded this title for the movie Underwater! (1955), where Jane Russell can be seen dancing to the song. Prado recorded Cherry Pink several times, the best known version being the original hit recording from 1955 and the 1960 recording in stereo. The most popular vocal version in the U.S. was by Alan Dale. In the United Kingdom, two versions of the song went to number one in 1955. The first was the version by Prado, which reached number one for two weeks. Less than a month later, a version by the British trumpeter Eddie Calvert reached number one for four weeks. Al Hirt released a version on his 1965 album, They’re Playing Our Song. In 1982, the British pop group Modern Romance (featuring John Du Prez) had a UK Top 20 hit with the vocal version of the song. In 1961, Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats released an album featuring the song.
Songs with Banjo from Harold Hagler
