Once upon a time, when I was but a mere lad, I used to listen to the guy below my bedroom playing his records.- yes, it was a while back.
Along with Tom Jones, Herman's Hermits and the Beatles I would regularly hear an Australian guy who went by the name of Frank. That would be Mr. Ifield. The song was about a Swiss maid who taught him how to yodel. That is where it all began.
It must have remained on the back burner of my mind for a couple of decades or more while I grew up with all the other sounds of the 60s and 70s. I came back to it in the early 80s when I started to travel about myself. As I was, by then, heavily into much Germanic stuff (more of that later), I found myself traveling the length and breadth of Germany and along with sausage and beer found myself being strangely drawn back to cowbells, thigh slapping and yodels. Now, I am no purist when it comes to yodels, I like all sorts from pure tunes to the more commercially written songs with a yodel stuck in the middle. I even listen to the cowboy yodels if I need a fix. I understand that there are yodels from all corners of the globe but have yet to find the pygmy yodels and other lesser known brands.
To give you a flavour of what I'm really into you may want to cast your ears to the following three vids: Der Berg Ruft by K2 , Edelweiss by Edelweiss and the most beautiful yodel in the world above, the Erzherzog Johann Jodler. Until the next installment "Tschüß!"
And remember, comments are always welcome!
