"Wonderful Land" | ||||
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Single by The Shadows | ||||
B-side | "Stars Fell on Stockton" (Welch, Harris, Marvin, Bennett) | |||
Released | February 1962 | |||
Genre | Instrumental Rock | |||
Length | 2:08 | |||
Label | Columbia Graphophone Company DB 4790 | |||
Writer(s) | Jerry Lordan | |||
Producer(s) | Norrie Paramor | |||
The Shadows singles chronology | ||||
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"Wonderful Land" | ||||
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Single by Mike Oldfield | ||||
from the album QE2 | ||||
B-side | "Sheba" | |||
Released | 28 November 1980 | |||
Recorded | Denham, 1980 | |||
Label | Virgin Records | |||
Producer(s) | Mike Oldfield David Hentschel |
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Mike Oldfield singles chronology | ||||
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"Wonderful Land" is an instrumental piece written by Jerry Lordan recorded and released as a single by the Shadows in 1962. It stayed at No. 1 for eight weeks in the UK Singles Chart; more weeks than any other single during the whole of the 1960s.
Lordan had previously written the hugely successful "Apache" for the Shadows in 1960, and "Wonderful Land" was recorded in May 1961 by the Shadows' original line up of Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan. The strings were added later by producer Norrie Paramor. By the time of the song's release, Tony Meehan had left the group to be replaced by Brian Bennett who co-wrote the B-side "Stars Fell on Stockton". The group was in a period of transition and whilst the song was at No. 1 Jet Harris left to be replaced by Brian Locking.
The instrumental was released in February 1962 and reached number 1 in the UK Chart where it remained for the next 8 weeks. a feat only the Shadows & Elvis Presley managed in the whole of the '60s - including all the number one singles released by the Beatles. It was also released in the U.S. on the Atlantic Records label but did not reach the Billboard Top 100.
"Wonderful Land" has been covered by a number of artists including Mike Oldfield, Mark Knopfler and Tony Iommi. Iommi's version appears on Twang! - A Tribute to Hank Marvin & the Shadows.
English musician Mike Oldfield covered "Wonderful Land" on his 1980 Virgin Records album, QE2. Oldfield's version was also released as a single and as the B-side for his "Sheba" single; in some countries, "Wonderful Land" was the A-side. The Shadows later covered one of Oldfield's songs, "Moonlight Shadow".