Single:
El Cóndor Pasa entered the Australian singles chart* on 29 June 1970 and was a #1 hit. The song was #11 on the Top 100 of 1970.
Album:
The song is on Bridge Over Troubled Water which debuted on the Australian albums chart* on 6 April 1970 in the #1 position. It was #1 for a total of 15 weeks between April and September 1970.
Songwriters:
Daniel Alomía Robles (music), Paul Simon (English lyrics), Jorge Milchberg (Arrangement)
Producers:
Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Roy Halee
Record label of Australian release:
CBS
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Wikipedia:
El Cóndor Pasa, Spanish for “The Condor Passes”, is an orchestral musical piece by Peruvian composer Daniel Alomía Robles, written in 1913 and based on traditional Andean music, specifically folk music from Peru.
In 1970, the Simon & Garfunkel duo covered a version by Los Incas, adding some English lyrics which in turn added Paul Simon to the author credits under the song name El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could). The instrumental version by Los Incas was used as the base track.
Read More: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cóndor_Pasa_(song)
Songfacts:
This song started out as an Andean folk melody that Paul Simon came across in 1969 when he played a week-long engagement at a theatre in Paris along with the South American group Los Incas, who played an instrumental version of the song called Paso Del Condor. Said Simon: “I used to hang around every night to hear them play that. I loved it and I would play it all the time, and then I thought, let’s put words to it.”
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/simon-garfunkel/el-condor-pasa-if-i-could
Lyrics:
I’d rather be a sparrow than a snail
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would
I’d rather be a hammer than a nail
Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
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