The Isle of Capri Song SilkyWilly

Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy. It has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic.

Many young people are not aware of this, but Capri became a hugely popular exotic tourist destination 2 generations ago, in the days before the bikini! William Silk remembers how the lyrics enchanted him, but he was very surprised when he saw what Capri Island is really like. Magnificent jagged coastline with high cliffs and view points all over the island make, it a photographers heaven. It is also a paradise for yachts and sun-bathers like and snorkeling in the Mediterranean waters. It is also high class resort and many glamourous models and dark beauties can be found hanging off the arm of some dandy.

William Silk sings a short heartfelt rendition of the very popular 1934 classic"Isle of Capri", music written by Hugh Williams, the lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy. This song was a huge world-wide hit, sung in countless arrangements and translations. The song's melody strongly resembles that of another popular standard, Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler's "Get Happy".

It was first recorded in the UK by Lew Stone and his Band with vocal by trumpeter Nat Gonella (1934). Ray Noble and his Orchestra with vocal by Al Bowlly (1934) and by Gracie Fields (1934) were other British recordings. The first US hit version of the song was by Freddy Martin's orchestra with vocal by Elmer Feldkamp (1934). Later hit versions were recorded by Wingy Manone in (1944), and later by The Gaylords and by Jackie Lee in 1954. Willam Silk first got to hear it from Frank Sinatra, where it appears in his "Come Fly with Me" album (1958).

English Lyrics
'Twas on the Isle of Capri that I found her
Beneath the shade of an old walnut tree
Oh, I can still see the flowers blooming 'round her
Where we met on the Isle of Capri

She was as sweet as the rose of the dawning
But somehow Fate hadn't meant her for me
And though I sailed with the tide in the morning
Still my heart's on the Isle of Capri

Summertime was nearly over
Blue Italian skies above
I said, Lady, I'm a rover
Can you spare a sweet word of love

She whispered softly
'Tis best not to linger
Then as I kissed her hand I could see
She wore a plain golden ring on her finger
'Twas good-bye to the Isle of Capri

Lyricist, Jimmy Kennedy - In a career spanning more than fifty years, he wrote some 2000 songs, of which over 200 became worldwide hits and about 50 are all-time popular music classics.
Until John Lennon and Paul McCartney, he had more hits in the United States than any other Irish or British songwriter. His first success came in 1931 with the "Barmaids Song" sung by Gracie Fields. "Red Sails in the Sunset" (1935) was inspired by beautiful summer evenings in his native part of the world, and "South of the Border" by a holiday picture postcard he received from Tijuana, Mexico. While serving in the British Army's Royal Artillery, where he rose to the rank of Captain, he wrote the wartime hit, "We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line" for the British Expeditionary Force. His hits also include "The Isle of Capri", "My Prayer", "Teddy Bears' Picnic" (music by John Walter Bratton), "Love is Like a Violin", "Hokey Cokey" and "Roll Along Covered Wagon". Many of Kennedy's songs were recorded by such artists as Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, The Platters, Vera Lynn, Petula Clark, Karl Denver, Paul Robeson, Perry Como, Fats Domino, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Glenn Miller and Elvis Presley.

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