"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)" (1963)
"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp) (1964 Version)" (1964)
Allan based the lyrics on letters of complaint which he received from his son Robert who was attending Camp Champlain, a summer camp in Westport, New York.[1]
In 2020, the song was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[2] The song's mention of "Leonard Skinner", a boy at the camp who "got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner", was an inspiration for the name of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, although the band's name was also inspired by a physical education instructor of the same name.[3]
Hello Muddah, hello Fadduh. Here I am at Camp Granada. Camp is very entertaining. And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining.
The lyrics go on to describe unpleasant, dangerous, and tragic developments, such as fellow campers going missing or contracting deadly illnesses. He asks how his "precious little brother" is doing, and begs to be taken home, afraid of being left out in the forest and fearing getting eaten by a bear, promising to behave, and even letting his aunt Bertha hug and kiss him. At the end, he notes that the rain has stopped and fun activities have begun (such as swimming, sailing, and baseball), and asks his parents to "kindly disregard this letter".
Success
The song scored No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 list for three weeks beginning on August 24, 1963. It was kept from No. 1 by both "Fingertips" by "Little" Stevie Wonder and "My Boyfriend's Back" by The Angels.[4] This song hit number 1 in Hong Kong, where there are no summer camps in existence, according to Alan Sherman in his book A Gift of Laughter (1965). Sherman wrote a new "back at Camp Granada" version, "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! 64",[5] for a May 27, 1964, performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Sherman began that version by giving a camp whistle, followed by his spelling Granada's name, and then sticks out his tongue. In that version, the narrator is back at camp, recovering from his compound fracture, where some things, like the food have improved, "because the little black things in it are not moving". However, no one knows where his bunk, trunk, or the skunk is. The narrator wishes that the showers, that have thin doors, were moved indoors. The narrator takes swimming lessons from an overweight woman. ("A Whale in a Bikini"). Lenny Bruce was scheduled to entertain there at the camp. The narrator loves the camp, missing the poker games, and requesting Unguentine. The narrator is taking care of his once homesick younger brother, who does not know how to blow his nose, and who has a bedwetting problem. This version was released as a single in 1964. Sherman wrote a third version for, and acted in, a 1965 TV commercial for a board game about Camp Granada, a "real rotten camp".[6] The original version also reached #9 on the Pop-Standard Singles chart.[7]
The song won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Performance.[8] It was played frequently on the Dr. Demento Show and is featured on the Rhino Records compilation album, Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection. It was played over the end credits of the 1993 film Indian Summer and was briefly heard in The Simpsons episode "Marge Be Not Proud" after Bart Simpson switches the family's answering machine cassette tapes, to which Homer got confused and assumed it was Lisa phoning from a summer camp. It was featured in the final scene of The King of Queens episode "Tube Stakes", during which main character Arthur Spooner performs his morning stretches.
The song remains a favorite at summer camps; despite Sherman largely being forgotten on oldies radio, the song has passed down through the oral tradition through parents and camp counselors, a rare example of a song maintaining popularity through means other than mass media.[9]
Variations of the song include adaptations in Swedish ("Brev från kolonien" by Cornelis Vreeswijk), Finnish ("Terve mutsi, terve fatsi, tässä teidän ihmelapsi") and Norwegian ("Brev fra leier'n" by Birgit Strøm). The Finnish version is included in the Finnish Boy Scouts' songbook. The Swedish version notably does not revolve around the camper hating the camp, but is about the kids running roughshod over it and having run off all the counselors, one of whom has committed suicide after they let a snake into the mess hall, and the organizer of the camp being arrested by police after the kids start a forest fire. The song begins with the boy writing the letter asking his parents to send more money, because he has lost all his pocket money playing dice with the other campers. The song then ends with the boy having to wrap up the letter as he is about to join the others in burning down the neighboring camp lodge.
The Hebrew version was translated by playwright Hanoch Levin, and performed by the IDF's Armored Corps band's lead singer Tiki Dayan. The girl camper, in this version, goes through similar situations to the English original, but the camp itself is hinted to be more like a prison (e.g. she is writing from "my cell"). The camper wishes she could be back in school with its abusive teachers and principal.
The Dutch version "Brief uit la Courtine" sung by Rijk de Gooyer is not about a children's summer camp, but about a soldier in the Dutch army camp at La Courtine, France.
The Austrian comedian Paul Pizzera presented a German interpretation with the title "Jungscharlager" in 2013.
The American Jewish singer/comedian Country Yossi sings a Yiddish version called "Camp Zlateh" on his 1988 album "Captured".
See also
Camp Runamuck, a sitcom (1965–66) loosely inspired by the song
Camp Granada, a 1965 board game inspired by the song
Sandra Gould, who released a response novelty recording, set to the same music, entitled "Hello Melvin (This Is Mama)".
Perrey and Kingsley did an instrumental version, called Countdown at 6, on The In Sound From Way Out. Like "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh", it is based on Amilcare Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours".
Downy used a parody version of the song in a 1985 commercial.
^Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 217.
^"Grammy Award Nominees 1964 – Grammy Award Winners 1964". Awardsandshows.com. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
^Ross, Sean (July 27, 2021). "Who's teaching your kids oldies? Radio, and you". Radio Insight. Retrieved July 27, 2021. Some songs have a long history of being passed down among generations long after their time on the radio had ended. Longtime music writer Chuck Eddy's 13-year-old recently "became obsessed" with Allan Sherman's "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" before going to summer camp for the first time, then discovered other Sherman songs.
^Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1963
External links
Lyrics of this song
"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)" at MusicBrainz (information and list of recordings)
Allan Sherman – Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh on YouTube
March 28, 2023
hello, muddah, hello, fadduh, letter, from, camp, novelty, song, recorded, allan, sherman, melody, taken, from, ballet, dance, hours, from, opera, gioconda, amilcare, ponchielli, while, lyrics, were, written, sherman, busch, single, allan, shermanfrom, album, . Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh A Letter from Camp is a novelty song recorded by Allan Sherman The melody is taken from the ballet Dance of the Hours from the opera La Gioconda by Amilcare Ponchielli while the lyrics were written by Sherman and Lou Busch Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh A Letter from Camp Single by Allan Shermanfrom the album My Son the NutB side Rag Mop Rat Fink ReleasedAugust 1963GenreNovelty songLength2 47LabelWarner Bros RecordsSongwriter s Amilcare Ponchielli Allan Sherman Lou BuschProducer s Jimmy HilliardAllan Sherman singles chronology The Twelve Gifts of Christmas 1963 Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh A Letter from Camp 1963 Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh A Letter from Camp 1964 Version 1964 Allan based the lyrics on letters of complaint which he received from his son Robert who was attending Camp Champlain a summer camp in Westport New York 1 In 2020 the song was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry for being culturally historically or aesthetically significant 2 The song s mention of Leonard Skinner a boy at the camp who got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner was an inspiration for the name of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd although the band s name was also inspired by a physical education instructor of the same name 3 Contents 1 The song 2 Success 3 Chart history 3 1 Weekly charts 3 2 Year end charts 4 Translations 5 See also 6 References and notes 7 External linksThe song EditThe song is a parody that complains about the fictional Camp Granada and is set to the tune of Amilcare Ponchielli s Dance of the Hours from the opera La Gioconda 1 The name derives from the first lines Hello Muddah hello Fadduh Here I am at Camp Granada Camp is very entertaining And they say we ll have some fun if it stops raining The lyrics go on to describe unpleasant dangerous and tragic developments such as fellow campers going missing or contracting deadly illnesses He asks how his precious little brother is doing and begs to be taken home afraid of being left out in the forest and fearing getting eaten by a bear promising to behave and even letting his aunt Bertha hug and kiss him At the end he notes that the rain has stopped and fun activities have begun such as swimming sailing and baseball and asks his parents to kindly disregard this letter Success EditThe song scored No 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 list for three weeks beginning on August 24 1963 It was kept from No 1 by both Fingertips by Little Stevie Wonder and My Boyfriend s Back by The Angels 4 This song hit number 1 in Hong Kong where there are no summer camps in existence according to Alan Sherman in his book A Gift of Laughter 1965 Sherman wrote a new back at Camp Granada version Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh 64 5 for a May 27 1964 performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Sherman began that version by giving a camp whistle followed by his spelling Granada s name and then sticks out his tongue In that version the narrator is back at camp recovering from his compound fracture where some things like the food have improved because the little black things in it are not moving However no one knows where his bunk trunk or the skunk is The narrator wishes that the showers that have thin doors were moved indoors The narrator takes swimming lessons from an overweight woman A Whale in a Bikini Lenny Bruce was scheduled to entertain there at the camp The narrator loves the camp missing the poker games and requesting Unguentine The narrator is taking care of his once homesick younger brother who does not know how to blow his nose and who has a bedwetting problem This version was released as a single in 1964 Sherman wrote a third version for and acted in a 1965 TV commercial for a board game about Camp Granada a real rotten camp 6 The original version also reached 9 on the Pop Standard Singles chart 7 The song won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Performance 8 It was played frequently on the Dr Demento Show and is featured on the Rhino Records compilation album Dr Demento 20th Anniversary Collection It was played over the end credits of the 1993 film Indian Summer and was briefly heard in The Simpsons episode Marge Be Not Proud after Bart Simpson switches the family s answering machine cassette tapes to which Homer got confused and assumed it was Lisa phoning from a summer camp It was featured in the final scene of The King of Queens episode Tube Stakes during which main character Arthur Spooner performs his morning stretches The song remains a favorite at summer camps despite Sherman largely being forgotten on oldies radio the song has passed down through the oral tradition through parents and camp counselors a rare example of a song maintaining popularity through means other than mass media 9 Chart history EditWeekly charts Edit Chart 1963 PeakpositionCanada CHUM Hit Parade 10 4Hong Kong 11 1New Zealand Lever Hit Parade 12 1UK Singles OCC 13 14U S Billboard Hot 100 14 2U S Cash Box Top 100 15 1 Year end charts Edit Chart 1963 RankU S Billboard Hot 100 16 82U S Cash Box 17 97Translations EditThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed March 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Variations of the song include adaptations in Swedish Brev fran kolonien by Cornelis Vreeswijk Finnish Terve mutsi terve fatsi tassa teidan ihmelapsi and Norwegian Brev fra leier n by Birgit Strom The Finnish version is included in the Finnish Boy Scouts songbook The Swedish version notably does not revolve around the camper hating the camp but is about the kids running roughshod over it and having run off all the counselors one of whom has committed suicide after they let a snake into the mess hall and the organizer of the camp being arrested by police after the kids start a forest fire The song begins with the boy writing the letter asking his parents to send more money because he has lost all his pocket money playing dice with the other campers The song then ends with the boy having to wrap up the letter as he is about to join the others in burning down the neighboring camp lodge The Hebrew version was translated by playwright Hanoch Levin and performed by the IDF s Armored Corps band s lead singer Tiki Dayan The girl camper in this version goes through similar situations to the English original but the camp itself is hinted to be more like a prison e g she is writing from my cell The camper wishes she could be back in school with its abusive teachers and principal The Dutch version Brief uit la Courtine sung by Rijk de Gooyer is not about a children s summer camp but about a soldier in the Dutch army camp at La Courtine France The Austrian comedian Paul Pizzera presented a German interpretation with the title Jungscharlager in 2013 The American Jewish singer comedian Country Yossi sings a Yiddish version called Camp Zlateh on his 1988 album Captured See also EditCamp Runamuck a sitcom 1965 66 loosely inspired by the song Camp Granada a 1965 board game inspired by the song Hello Muddah Hello Faddah book a 2004 children s book based on the song Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh musical a musical revue inspired by the song Sandra Gould who released a response novelty recording set to the same music entitled Hello Melvin This Is Mama Perrey and Kingsley did an instrumental version called Countdown at 6 on The In Sound From Way Out Like Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh it is based on Amilcare Ponchielli s Dance of the Hours Downy used a parody version of the song in a 1985 commercial K9 Advantix used a parody version of the song References and notes Edit a b Paul Lieberman August 16 2003 The Boy in Camp Granada Lifestyle Los Angeles Times Retrieved 2008 02 09 National Recording Registry Class Produces Ultimate Stay at Home Playlist Library of Congress March 25 2020 Retrieved March 25 2020 Joseph Hudak 30 May 2018 Lynyrd Skynyrd s New If I Leave Here Tomorrow Doc 10 Things We Learned Rolling Stone retrieved 18 January 2021 The Hot 100 Chart Billboard 2 January 2013 Retrieved Apr 1 2020 Kafejo com Camp Granada www kafejo com Retrieved Apr 1 2020 LikeTelevision Camp Granada by Milton Bradley liketelevision only better LikeTelevision Retrieved 2008 02 09 Whitburn Joel 1993 Top Adult Contemporary 1961 1993 Record Research p 217 Grammy Award Nominees 1964 Grammy Award Winners 1964 Awardsandshows com Retrieved 10 August 2019 Ross Sean July 27 2021 Who s teaching your kids oldies Radio and you Radio Insight Retrieved July 27 2021 Some songs have a long history of being passed down among generations long after their time on the radio had ended Longtime music writer Chuck Eddy s 13 year old recently became obsessed with Allan Sherman s Hello Muddah Hello Faddah before going to summer camp for the first time then discovered other Sherman songs CHUM Hit Parade September 2 1963 Kafejo com Camp Granada www kafejo com Retrieved Apr 1 2020 Flavour of New Zealand 3 October 1963 Official Charts Company Officialcharts com 1963 09 18 Retrieved 2022 03 21 Joel Whitburn s Top Pop Singles 1955 1990 ISBN 0 89820 089 X Cash Box Top 100 Singles August 31 1963 Musicoutfitters com Cash Box Year End Charts Top 100 Pop Singles December 28 1963External links EditLyrics of this song Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh A Letter from Camp at MusicBrainz information and list of recordings Allan Sherman Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hello Muddah Hello Fadduh A Letter from Camp amp oldid 1144593140, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
