Moon Over Naples

"Moon Over Naples" is a 1965 instrumental composed and recorded by German bandleader Bert Kaempfert. The instrumental version reached No. 6 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. It won a BMI Award in 1968.

"Moon Over Naples"
Single by Bert Kaempfert
from the album The Magic Music of Far Away Places
B-side"The Moon is Making Eyes"
Released1965
Recorded1965
Length2:35
LabelPolydor
Songwriter(s)Bert Kaempfert
Bert Kaempfert singles chronology
"Three O'Clock in the Morning"
(1965)		 "Moon Over Naples"
(1965)		 "Holiday for Bells"
(1965)

Vocal versions of the song have been recorded as "Spanish Eyes" with lyrics by Eddie Snyder and Charles Singleton. The most notable of these was released by Al Martino, which topped Billboard's Easy Listening chart for 4 weeks in 1966.[1][2] It is one of the most recorded songs with over 500 versions released in various languages.[3]

Background

"Moon Over Naples" was composed by Bert Kaempfert. It was the first track on his album, The Magic Music of Far Away Places, for Decca Records. In 1968, "Moon Over Naples" earned Kaempfert one of five BMI Awards that year; the other awards were for his compositions "Lady", "Sweet Maria", "Strangers in the Night" and "The World We Knew (Over and Over)" with a posthumous BMI Award given September 16, 2003.[4]

Two different sets of lyrics were added to the tune by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. In one, "Moon Over Naples" was written as a Neapolitan song, and this vocal version was recorded by Sergio Franchi in 1965, but the song did not chart. In another set of lyrics, the composition became a song about a Mexican girl, and the song title was changed to "Spanish Eyes".[5] Both lyricists are credited in these two versions.[6][7]

Charts
Moon Over Naples
Chart (1965–1966) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[8] 2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] 4
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[10] 15
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[11] 18
US Billboard Hot 100[12] 59
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[13] 6
West Germany (Official German Charts)[14] 18

"Spanish Eyes"

The Austrian singer Freddy Quinn, a friend of Kaempfert who was involved in the production of Quinn's hit song "Die Gitarre und das Meer", first recorded "Spanish Eyes" in 1965 with English lyrics written by Eddie Snyder. It was released in the United States by Polydor, and as it was rising in the regional charts, the single by Quinn was pulled from the market due to a dispute over the rights to the song between Polydor and Kaempfert's label Decca.[15][3]

Al Martino version
"Spanish Eyes"
Single by Al Martino
from the album Spanish Eyes
B-side"Melody Of Love"
Released1965
Recorded1965
GenreEasy listening
Length2:45
LabelCapitol Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Tom Morgan
Al Martino singles chronology
"Forgive Me"
(1965)		 "Spanish Eyes"
(1965)		 "Think I'll Go Somewhere and Cry Myself To Sleep"
(1966)

"Spanish Eyes" was recorded by Al Martino and it became a hit single in 1966. The song was released in late 1965 in the United States, and it reached number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100[2] and spent four weeks atop the Billboard Easy Listening chart in early 1966.[16] This vocal version was also a hit in Europe, where it sold an estimated 800,000 copies in Germany[16] and made the UK Singles Chart twice, peaking at number 49 in 1970 and later reaching number five in August 1973.[17]

All subsequent English versions use the title of "Spanish Eyes", with both Singleton and Snyder credited as lyricists.

Charts
Chart (1965–66) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[18] 3
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[19] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[20] 47
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21] 13
UK Singles (OCC)[22] 49
US Billboard Hot 100[23] 15
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[24] 1
West Germany (Official German Charts)[25] 3
Chart (1973) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[22] 5

Other versions

Other language versions
  • Ivo Robić recorded a German version titled "Rot ist der Wein", which reached No. 14 on the West German chart in 1966.[29] Robić also recorded a version in Serbo-Croat.[3]
  • The song has been recorded in French as "Tes yeux" (Luis Mariano), "Tous ces voyages" (Lucky Blondo), and "Vivre au soleil" (Nana Mouskouri). It was recorded as "Occhi spagnoli" in Italian, and "Spanska Ögon" in Swedish.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Billboard Top 40 Easy Listening". Billboard. January 29, 1966. p. 18.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 401.
  3. Kraushaar, Elmar (2011). Freddy Quinn: Ein unwahrscheinliches Leben (in German). Atrium Verlag AG Zürich. ISBN 9783037920084.
  4. "Official Bert Kaempfert awards / charts". Archived from the original on June 23, 2008.
  5. Leigh, Spencer (2015). Frank Sinatra: An Extraordinary Life. McNidder and Grace Limited. ISBN 9780857160881.
  6. Library of Congress. Copyright Office (1967). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. p. 1824.
  7. Library of Congress. Copyright Office (1968). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. p. 631.
  8. "Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra – Moon Over Naples" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  9. "Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra – Moon Over Naples" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  10. "Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra – Moon Over Naples" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  11. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Bert Kaempfert" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  12. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. September 4, 1965.
  13. "top 40 Easy Listening". Billboard. August 28, 1958. p. 20.
  14. "Offiziellecharts.de – Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra – Moon Over Naples" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  15. Pan, Jon (2014). Strangers in the Night: Die wahre Geschichte eines Welthits (in German). neobooks. ISBN 9783847675297.
  16. Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), page 41.
  17. Official Charts Company info OfficialCharts.com. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
  18. "Al Martino – Spanish Eyes" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  19. "Al Martino – Spanish Eyes" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  20. "Al Martino – Spanish Eyes" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  21. "Al Martino – Spanish Eyes" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  22. "Al Martino: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  23. "Al Martino Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  24. "Al Martino Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  25. "Offiziellecharts.de – Al Martino – Spanish Eyes" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  26. Spanish Eyes lyrics and brief history at Deessongs.homestead.com
  27. Whitburn, Joel (2013). Hot Country Songs 1944–2012. Record Research, Inc. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-89820-203-8.
  28. noise11.com, ed. (December 22, 2013). "The Engelbert Humperdinck 2014 duets album has a new star act. Il Divo have re-recorded Engelbert's classic 'Spanish Eyes' with the legendary singer". noise11.com.
  29. "Ivo Robić - Rot ist der Wein". Deutsche Offizielle Charts.
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