Released 1959 Length 2:47 | Format Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM Label RCA Victor | |
B-side "Heaven Fell Last Night" Genre Contemporary folk
Countrypolitan | ||
"The Three Bells", also known as "Jimmy Brown" or "Little Jimmy Brown", is a song made popular by the Browns in 1959. The single reached number one in the U.S. on Billboard's Hot C&W Sides chart and the Billboard Hot 100 chart, outperforming a competing version by Dick Flood. The version by the Browns also hit number ten on Billboard's Hot R&B Sides chart. It was based on the 1945 French language song "Les trois cloches" by Jean Villard Gilles and Marc Herrand. The English lyrics were written by Bert Reisfeld and first recorded by the Melody Maids in 1948. The song was a major 1952–53 hit by Édith Piaf and Les Compagnons de la chanson. The song documents three stages of the life of "Jimmy Brown"—his birth, his marriage, and his death. The Browns' male vocalist, Jim Ed Brown, coincidentally had the same name as the song's character. Most articles link the song "The three bells" or "Little Jimmy Brown" to the original French song "Les Trois Cloches".
They don't however link it to another song by Ann Shelton and Josef Locke called "While the angelus was ringing". This song is correctly recognised as a version of "Les Trois Cloches" but does not appear to have been linked to "Little Jimmy Brown".
Recorded versions
Among the many musicians who covered the song are Édith Piaf and Les Compagnons de la chanson, who recorded the original French version, Tina Arena, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, Ken Parker, Ray Charles, Nana Mouskouri, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash & the Carter Family, Floyd Cramer, Daniel O'Donnell, Chet Atkins, Elaine Paige, Sha Na Na, Andy Williams, and Alison Krauss & Union Station. It was also recorded in Dutch as "De drie klokken" and "Bim bam", in Italian as "Le Tre Campane" by Schola Cantorum, and in Spanish, retaining the title "Jimmy Brown", by the vocal group Mocedades.
"The Three Bells", also known as "The Jimmy Brown Song", was also recorded for Decca Records in 1951 by the Andrews Sisters, the World War II boogie-woogie group of sisters: Patty, Maxene & LaVerne. While it did not prove to be the big hit that Billboard predicted it would be for the Andrews Sisters, it was nonetheless a very moving, harmonious rendition, in which the trio was accompanied by Gordon Jenkins' orchestra & chorus. The German title was "Wenn die Glocken hell erklingen".
Jim Ed Brown, one-third of the Browns, released a cover in 1969.
In 1974, Naďa Urbánková recorded a Czech version, with her own lyrics, as "Zvony nelžou", translated, "The bells never lie".
The song was parodied by the Barron Knights as "The Chapel Lead Is Missing" on their 1978 LP Night Gallery.
With lyrics in Swedish by Britt Lindeborg, Kikki Danielsson covered the song in 1979 on her debut album, Rock'n Yodel, as "Och vi hörde klockor ringa", translated "And we heard bells ringing".