La novia

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Not to be confused with Wedding (song).
"La novia"
Cover of the 1961 Spain single
Single by Antonio Prieto
from the album A la novia
B-side"El milagro"
Released1961
Recorded1961
GenrePop
Length2:44
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Joaquín Prieto
Antonio Prieto singles chronology
"El reloj"
(1959) 		"La novia"
(1961) 		"El secreto"
(1961)

"La novia" (The bride) is a popular song by Chilean songwriter Joaquín Prieto, first recorded by his brother Antonio Prieto. Recorded in Mexico, it became an instant hit in that country and the brothers' native Chile.

After popularizing both in South America and Europe in its original form, it was recorded by British singer Julie Rogers in 1964 as "The Wedding" (sometimes credited as "The Wedding (La Novia)". The song was included on Rogers' extended play from 1964, which was also titled The Wedding, and has appeared on various compilation albums in the years since its release.

Background, original release and international success[edit]

Joaquín Prieto, a Chilean musician, wrote a song in Spanish in 1960 that he called "La novia" ("The bride").[1] It was inspired by an experience lived by his brother Antonio Prieto. In 1982, Antonio told Ecuadorian magazine Hogar "I was the boyfriend of a Chilean girl and I had to leave my country to make some money. When I returned, she was getting married". While Joaquín Prieto composed the song in Chile, Antonio recorded it in Mexico in 1961. It was distributed by RCA Victor, first in South America and later in Spain, Italy and other countries, where it became an instant hit.[2]

Soon later, in 1961, an Argentinian film based on the song, titled La novia was produced, with Elsa Daniel as the main role. Antonio Prieto was part of the cast. The Prieto brothers visited Spain in 1962 and were received enthusiastically by the local press and fans. By the next year, Joaquín was living between Italy and Spain, having signed a contract with RCA Victor as a songwriter.[2] Antonio's "La novia" reached number-one in the Spanish charts in the July 3 and 10, 1961 weeks,[3] while the original version of Prieto and cover versions by Domenico Modugno and Tony Dallara were the number one hit in Italy between the weeks of September 9 and December 16 (except the week of October 7).[4][5]

Both the original Spanish version, recorded by Joaquín Prieto's brother, Antonio in Argentina, and an English translation by Fred Jay soon became well known in Europe and the United States, and numerous artists recorded versions of the song during the early 1960s. Among artists who recorded versions of "The Wedding" during this time were Anita Bryant and Malcolm Vaughan. The song was also a major hit in Japan in a Japanese version by Peggy Hayama, under the original title of "La Novia." Irish singer Dickie Rock recorded a version of the song in 1988. The Daffodil Junior Australians children's choir recorded a version titled "The Wedding Song" on Troubadour Records in 1972.

Despite the enormous success of the song, songwriter Joaquín Prieto told Las Últimas Noticias in 1963 "I have to confess La novia is a song I do not like at all. [...] There is an impressive amount of [cover] versions I cannot see. The song is intrinsically a song for the populace, but it could be worse...".[2] Chilean Radio Minería chose, in 1966, La novia as "the most popular song in the last twenty years".[6]

Julie Rogers version[edit]

"The Wedding"
Single by Julie Rogers
from the album The Wedding
B-side"The Love of a Boy"
Released1964
Recorded1964
GenrePop
Length2:28
LabelMercury 72332
Songwriter(s)Joaquín Prieto (music and original Spanish lyrics)
Fred Jay (English lyrics)
Julie Rogers singles chronology
"It's Magic"
(1964) 		"The Wedding"
(1964) 		"Like a Child"
(1965)

Julie Rogers heard the song while working in Spain in the early 1960s, and by 1964 she was the featured singer with British bandleader Teddy Foster. After recording a version of the song "It's Magic", and releasing the latter as her debut single, Rogers suggested "The Wedding" as its follow-up, since it was a song she remembered fondly from her time in Spain. The single was released in the UK in August 1964 and marked her first appearance on the UK Singles Chart, steadily climbing the chart until it spent two weeks at number three in October and November of that year. Around this time Rogers' recording was released in the U.S., and "The Wedding" reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and logged three weeks atop the Billboard Middle-Road Singles (adult contemporary) chart in January 1965. The song also reached the top of the Australian Kent Music Report and was a hit in other countries as well. In the mid-1970s, it was estimated that over seven million copies of the song had been sold,[1] and for many years after its release, it was a popular selection at wedding ceremonies around the world.[1]

Charts and sales[edit]

Antonio Prieto's version
Chart (1961) Peak
position
Italy (FIMI)[7] 1
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[8] 1
Domenico Modugno's version
Chart (1961) Peak
position
Italy (FIMI)[9] 1
Tony Dallara's version
Chart (1961–62) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[10] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[10] 10
Italy (Musica e dischi)[11] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] 8
Julie Rogers' version
Chart (1964–65) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[citation needed] 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[12] 10
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 2
UK Singles (OCC)[14] 3
US Billboard Hot 100[15] 10
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[16] 1
West Germany (Official German Charts)[17] 16

Sales[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Argentina
Antonio Prieto version 		— 300,000[18]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), page 29.
  2. ^ a b c Ponce, David; Díaz, Iñigo; Leiva, Jorge; García, Marisol (January 1, 2021). Fundamentales de la música chilena (in Spanish). Hueders. ISBN 978-956-365-207-9.
  3. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  4. ^ SINGOLI – I NUMERI UNO (1959–2006) Archived January 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Hit Parade Italia
  6. ^ Rodríguez, Juan Pablo González; Vásquez, Oscar Ohlsen; Cruz, Claudio Rolle. Historia social de la música popular en Chile, 1950– 1970 (in Spanish). Ediciones UC. ISBN 978-956-14-2632-0.
  7. ^ "Antonio Prieto – La novia". Top Digital Download.
  8. ^ "Antonio Prieto – La novia" Canciones Top 50.
  9. ^ "Domenico Modugno – La novia". Top Digital Download.
  10. ^ a b c "Tony Dallara – La novia". hitparade.ch.
  11. ^ "Top Annuali Singoli 1961". Hit Parade Italia.
  12. ^ "Julie Rogers – The Wedding" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  13. ^ "Julie Rogers – The Wedding" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  14. ^ "Julie Rogers: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  15. ^ "Julie Rogers Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  16. ^ "Julie Rogers Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  17. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Julie Rogers – The Wedding" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see peak chart position, click "TITEL VON Julie Rogers"
  18. ^ "Argentinian News" (PDF). Cash Box. May 31, 1969. p. 78. Retrieved March 21, 2023 – via World radio History.

External links[edit]

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