Jesamine

Last updated
"Jesamine"
The Casuals - Jesamine.jpg
Single by The Casuals
B-side "I've Got Something Too"
ReleasedAugust 1968
Genre
Length3:30
Label Decca
Songwriter(s) Frere Manston, Jack Gellar

"Jesamine" is a song written by Marty Wilde and Ronnie Scott, published under the pseudonyms Frere Manston and Jack Gellar. Initially recorded by Welsh band the Bystanders as "When Jezamine Goes", the version by English band the Casuals became a hit when it was released as a single in August 1968. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in October 1968. [2]

Contents

Background

Marty Wilde and Ronnie Scott wrote "Jesamine" in January 1968. [3] Scott initially conceived "when Rosemary goes" as the first line of the chorus; Wilde suggested the name be changed to Jesamine, the name of a cafe in Huyton, Merseyside, where his mother-in-law lived. [3] The songwriters used the pseudonyms of Frere Manston and Jack Gellar. [4] Wilde, who had been a teen idol, was keen to "know what reaction there was to the song" before disclosing his identity. [3]

The song was originally recorded by the Bystanders, a band managed by Scott, and released under the title "When Jezamine Goes" on Pye Records. [5] [6] The song, however, failed to make any impact on the chart. The song was then recorded by the Casuals based largely on the Bystanders' arrangement, and released as "Jesamine". This version was successful in many countries; in the UK it reached number two, kept off the number one spot by Mary Hopkin's "Those Were The Days". [7] A recording by Wilde appears on his album Diversions (1969). [8]

Reception

Paul Weller has described "Jesamine" as one of his favourite records. [7] It was one of the songs in his record collection that he discussed on the 8 February 1998 BBC Radio One edition of All Back to Mine, describing it as "a beautiful record", that he loved the melody, and found it "sad", "nostalgic" but "really inspiring". [9] He included it in the 2003 compilation of songs that influenced him, Under the Influence . [10]

Robin Carmody of Freaky Trigger praised the song's "charming, sun-kissed flight" and grouped it among other early British bubblegum pop songs, like the Love Affair's "Everlasting Love" (1967) and the Tremeloes' "Suddenly You Love Me" (1968) for their emerging sense of optimism, "not in a cloying or false way, but appealingly (and unreachably) pre-ironic." [1]

In 1969, "Jesamine" received the Ivor Novello Award for Most Romantic Song of the Year. [11]

Charts

Chart (1968–69)Peak
position
Australia (Go-Set) [12] 21
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [13] 5
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [14] 28
France [15] 62
Ireland (IRMA) [16] 3
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [17] 8
New Zealand ( Listener Chart) [18] 1
Norway (VG-lista) [19] 6
UK Singles (OCC) [2] 2
West Germany (GfK) [20] 9

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References

  1. 1 2 Carmody, Robin (1 January 2002). "The Cottage Industry of Moments". Freaky Trigger. p. 1. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 "The Casuals: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  3. 1 2 3 Jones, Alan (19 October 1968). "Marty is back, as songsmith". Evening Sentinel: 4. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Carlin, Marcello (2011). The Blue in the Air. Zero Books. ISBN   9781846945960.
  5. ↑ "The BystandersWhen Jezamine Goes / Cave Of Clear Light". Discogs .
  6. ↑ Driver, Jim (2010). The Mammoth Book of Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN   9781849014618.
  7. 1 2 Dunbavan, Peter (2017). An Avid's Guide to Sixties Songwriters. ISBN   9781524633455.
  8. ↑ Diversion (liner). Marty Wilde. Philips. 1969.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ↑ "All Back to Mine: Paul Weller". BBC Genome. 5 February 1998. Event occurs at 29'55"–34'05". p. 114. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  10. ↑ "Track listing of Under the Influence". Amazon UK. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "The Ivors 1969". The Ivors. Archived from the original on March 7, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Go-Set Australian charts - 1 January 1969". Poparchives.com.au.
  13. ↑ "The Casuals – Jesamine" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  14. ↑ "The Casuals – Jesamine" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  15. ↑ "Les Compagnons de la chanson". infordisc. Select "Casuals" from list
  16. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Jesamine". Irish Singles Chart.
  17. ↑ "The Casuals – Jesamine" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  18. ↑ "The Casuals (search)". Flavour of New Zealand.
  19. ↑ "The Casuals – Jesamine". VG-lista.
  20. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Casuals – Jesamine" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
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