(Gene Raskin)
Chet Atkins
(RCA Victor 47-9725, WWKM-5066)( US promo 45)
This song written by Gene Raskin that was adapted from a traditional Russian melody called “Dorogoj Dlinnoyu” and after Paul McCartney had heard Gene Raskin and his wife perform it 2 years earlier at a club in London, he suggested to Mary Hopkin she record it in 1968.
It became a No. 1 hit in the UK and No. 2 in the US, and sold eight million copies worldwide after she had recorded it in 5 different languages. It was also the biggest selling hit for the Apple label outside Beatles’ recordings.
It has been recorded by many other artists including The Fifth Dimension, Engelbert Humperdinck, and the Three Tenors.
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