Released 1963 Length 3.43 Writer(s) Charles Aznavour | Genre Chanson Label Barclay Records | |
La mamma is a song written in 1962 by French lyricist Robert Gall and Armenian-French artist Charles Aznavour.
Contents
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.
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. "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.