Published 1956 | ||
Writer(s) Robert Nemiroff (credited as Robert Barron), Burt D'Lugoff (credited as Burt Long) | ||
"Cindy, Oh Cindy" is a song, written by Robert Nemiroff and Burt D'Lugoff and credited to their pseudonyms, Robert Barron and Burt Long. It used as its melody a stevedore song, "Pay Me My Money Down", collected by Lydia Parrish in her 1942 book Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands, which was performed by The Weavers during their influential 1955 Carnegie Hall concerts and further popularized by the Kingston Trio on tour starting in 1957.
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The song was originally recorded in 1956 by Vince Martin and The Tarriers, and quickly covered by Eddie Fisher. Both versions made the charts that year; for Fisher it was his last Top 40 single. For Martin, it was his only top 40 entry, peaking at No. 9, and he teamed with the Tarriers to record the tune by the artists' label, Glory Records. "We arranged it in a calypso style and sang behind this guy, Martin," Tarriers member Erik Darling told Wayne Jancik in The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders. "That was issued first before any stuff we'd do, much to our chagrin. ... We didn't wanna sing with a Vince Martin. He wasn't a folksinger, in any manner or form."
The song was also covered by the American rock band The Beach Boys in 1962, although the song remained unreleased for many years. The song was eventually released on the re-release of the Surfin' Safari/Surfin' U.S.A. albums.
Other versions have been recorded by Tony Brent, by Perry Como, by The Highwaymen, by Waylon Jennings, and in German by Margot Eskens.