Jaromír Vejvoda (28 March 1902 – 13 November 1988) was aCzech composer. He is best known as the author of the "Beer Barrel Polka".
Vejvoda was born and died in Prague-Zbraslav. From 1936 to 1960, he lived inVrané nad Vltavou, after he married the local native Božena Zamrazilová.[1]
He learned to play thefiddle andflugelhorn in a band led by his father. Later he played these instruments in a military band. He started to compose in the 1920s while he worked as a bartender in a pub owned by his father-in-law. In 1929 he wrote theModřanská polka named afterModřany, a suburb ofPrague where it was played the first time. This catchy tune became a hit and allowed Vejvoda to pursue music as a full-time professional. It was published in 1934 with lyricsŠkoda lásky, kterou jsem tobě dala... Publishing houseShapiro Bernstein acquired the rights shortly before World War II and the polka, now the "Beer Barrel Polka" with the English lyrics "Roll out the barrel...", became the most popular song of the Allies in the West, although the original Czech lyrics have a very different meaning and do not speak about beer. After the war this polka became popular around the world, inGerman-speaking countries as "Rosamunde".
Vejvoda wrote many other hits, such asKdyby ty muziky nebyly ("If those bands did not exist") andJá ráda tancuju ("I love to dance") but none of them became popular outside of the Czech and German speaking countries.
Vejvoda had three sons: Jaromír, Jiří and Josef.Josef continues the family tradition of being musician, composer and bandleader. His granddaughterZuzana is amusical actress.
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1954:John Serry Sr. performed for accordion & ensemble for RCA Victor (SeeRCA Thesaurus)
1955:Larry Hooper withLawrence Welk and ensemble (video link)
