Green Tambourine - Misplaced Pages

"Green Tambourine" is a song written and composed by Paul Leka (who also produced it) and Shelley Pinz. It was the biggest hit by the 1960s Ohio-based rock group the Lemon Pipers, as well as the title track of their debut album, Green Tambourine. The song was one of the first psychedelic pop chart-toppers and became a gold record.

Released toward the end of 1967, it spent 13 weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 1 on February 3, 1968, and sold over a million copies. The record remained on the chart for three months. It was also the first U.S. No. 1 hit for the Buddah label. The Lemon Pipers never repeated this success, though their "Rice Is Nice" and "Jelly Jungle", both also written by Leka and Pinz, made the charts in 1968.

Song and recording

The song's lyricist, Rochelle "Shelley" Pinz (1943–2004) was a writer at the Brill Building, working with Leka. She said:

In early Spring, 1966, while standing in front of the Brill Building I watched a man holding a tambourine begging for money. I wrote a poem about him and called the poem 'Green Tambourine.' I added it to my lyric collection ... Sometimes I wonder what happened to the man in front of the Brill Building, holding a tambourine begging for money. I remember writing the lyric, 'watch the jingle jangle start to shine, reflections of the music that is mine. When you toss a coin you'll hear it sing. Now listen while I play my Green Tambourine' as if it were yesterday..; in the 60s, on the streets between Seventh Avenue and Broadway there was a magic one could only imagine.

The song tells the story of a street musician pleading for someone to give him money. In exchange he offers to play his green tambourine. The song's instrumentation contains the titular tambourine as well as an electric sitar, a frequent signature of the so-called "psychedelic sound". Another hook is the heavy, psychedelic tape echo applied to the word "play" in each chorus and at the end, fading into a drumroll ("Listen while I play play play play play play play my green tambourine"). The echo is noticeably different in the mono and stereo mixes. The mono version also starts fading out slightly earlier than in the stereo version.

The musical arrangement also features sweeping orchestrated strings and the distinctive vibraslap percussion instrument. While the Lemon Pipers played on the record, producer and joint author-composer Leka hired a string section to accompany the band, to add extra depth to the already psychedelic arrangement.

The single's B-side, "No Help from Me," featured lead vocal by keyboardist Bob Nave and did not appear on either of the group's two albums.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1967–1968)	Peak position
Australia (Go-Set)	3
Belgium (Wallonia)	30
Canada RPM 100	3
Germany	10
Netherlands	9
New Zealand (Listener)	3
South Africa (Springbok)	6
Switzerland (Swiss Hitparade)	7
UK Record Retailer	7
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	1
U.S. Record World 100 Top Pops	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1968)	Rank
Canada RPM 100	6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	47
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	8

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)	Gold	1,000,000
Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

Ivan Browne – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Bill Bartlett – lead guitar
R. G. Nave – organ, tambourine, fog horn, toys
Steve Walmsley – bass
Bill Albaugh – drums

Additional personnel

Irv Spice Strings – string section
Ken Hamann (incorrectly credited on original album pressings as "Kenny Hammond") – engineer (Cleveland Recording Company)
Bill Radice – engineer (New York)

Cover versions

In 1968, an instrumental version was released by Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra on the album Love Is Blue, and as a single. Welk's version reached No. 27 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart, No. 21 on Record World's "Top Non-Rock" chart, and No. 11 on Record World's chart of "Singles Coming Up". In the same year, Status Quo covered the song on their debut album Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo.

Robert Goulet covered the song for the 2001 film Recess: School's Out, providing the singing voice for the character Mikey, releasing it as a single from the film soundtrack of the same name.

References

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Cafarelli, Carl (2001). "Overview: An Informal History of Bubblegum Music". In Cooper, Kim; Smay, David (eds.). Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth. Los Angeles: Feral House. p. 15.
^ Lanza, Joesph (November 10, 2020). "A Sea of Green Tambourines". Easy-Listening Acid Trip - An Elevator Ride Through '60s Psychedelic Pop. Port Townsend: Feral House. pp. 133–134.
Unterberger, Richie. The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine at AllMusic. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
Jim DeRogatis (January 1, 2003). Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 378. ISBN 978-0-634-05548-5.
^ Hot 100 - The Lemon Pipers Green Tambourine Chart History, Billboard.com. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
^ Nite, Norm N. and Newman, Ralph M.: ROCK ON: The Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Rock N' Roll': Thomas Y. Crowell: 1978. p 276.
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"Vincent Bell Danelectro, Silvertone Guitar, Bass, Parts, Accessories. History, Vintage Danelectro". Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
Nimmervoll, Ed, "GO-SET National Top 40", April 3, 1968. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
^ The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine, Ultratop. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
"The RPM 100", RPM, Volume 8, No. 24, February 10, 1968. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine, Dutch Charts. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
"Flavour of New Zealand, 11 April 1968". Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
"SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine, hitparade.ch. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
Lemon Pipers - Full Official Chart History, Official Charts Company. Accessed July 29, 2016.
"Cash Box Top 100", Cash Box, February 3, 1968. p. 4. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
"100 Top Pops", Record World, February 10, 1968. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
"The RPM 100 Top Singles of 1968", RPM, Volume 10, No. 19, January 06, 1969. Accessed July 29, 2016.
Top 100 Hits of 1968/Top 100 Songs of 1968, Music Outfitters. Accessed July 29, 2016.
"Top 100 Chart Hits of 1968", Cash Box, December 28, 1968. p. 14. Accessed July 28, 2016.
"American single certifications – Lemon Pipers – Green Tambourine". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
Back cover of Buddah BDM-1009/BDS-5009, released February 1968.
"Album Reviews", Billboard, March 2, 1968. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
"Wood Scouting for a Director, Plant for Label", Billboard, February 24, 1968. p. 3. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
Adult Contemporary - Lawrence Welk Green Tambourine Chart History, Billboard.com. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
"Billboard Top 40 Easy Listening", Billboard, April 6, 1968. p. 49. Accessed July 29, 2016.
"Record World's Top Non-Rock", Record World, April 6, 1968. p. 40. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
"Singles Coming Up", Record World, April 6, 1968. p. 22. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
"Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo - Status Quo | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
Ebert, Roger (2002). Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2003, Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 494. Retrieved April 24, 2018.

External links

v t e Robert Goulet
Studio Albums	Annie Get Your Gun
Singles	"What Kind of Fool Am I?" "My Love, Forgive Me" "You've Got a Friend in Me" "Green Tambourine"
Related	Discography

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