| "Jesamine" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single byThe Casuals | |
| B-side | "I've Got Something Too" |
| Released | August 1968 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:30 |
| Label | Decca |
| Songwriter(s) | Frere Manston,Jack Gellar |
"Jesamine" is a song written byMarty Wilde andRonnie Scott, published under the pseudonyms Frere Manston and Jack Gellar. Initially recorded by Welsh bandthe Bystanders as "When Jezamine Goes", the version by English bandthe Casuals became a hit when it was released as a single in August 1968. It reached number two on theUK Singles Chart in October 1968.[2]
Marty Wilde andRonnie Scott wrote "Jesamine" in January 1968.[3] Scott initially conceived "when Rosemary goes" as the first line of the chorus; Wilde suggested the name be changed to Jesamine, the name of a cafe inHuyton,Merseyside, where his mother-in-law lived.[3] The songwriters used the pseudonyms of Frere Manston and Jack Gellar.[4] Wilde, who had been ateen idol, was keen to "know what reaction there was to the song" before disclosing his identity.[3]
The song was originally recorded by the Bystanders, a band managed by Scott, and released under the title "When Jezamine Goes" onPye Records.[5][6] The song, however, failed to make any impact on the chart. The song was then recorded by the Casuals based largely on the Bystanders' arrangement, and released as "Jesamine". This version was successful in many countries; in the UK it reached number two, kept off the number one spot byMary Hopkin's "Those Were The Days".[7] A recording by Wilde appears on his albumDiversions (1969).[8]
Paul Weller has described "Jesamine" as one of his favourite records.[7] It was one of the songs in his record collection that he discussed on the 8 February 1998 BBC Radio One edition ofAll Back to Mine, describing it as "a beautiful record", that he loved the melody, and found it "sad", "nostalgic" but "really inspiring".[9] He included it in the 2003 compilation of songs that influenced him,Under the Influence.[10]
Robin Carmody ofFreaky Trigger praised the song's "charming, sun-kissed flight" and grouped it among other early Britishbubblegum pop songs, likethe Love Affair's "Everlasting Love" (1967) andthe Tremeloes' "Suddenly You Love Me" (1968) for their emerging sense of optimism, "not in a cloying or false way, but appealingly (and unreachably) pre-ironic."[1]
In 1969, "Jesamine" received theIvor Novello Award for Most Romantic Song of the Year.[11]
| Chart (1968–69) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Go-Set)[12] | 21 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[13] | 5 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[14] | 28 |
| France[15] | 62 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[16] | 3 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[17] | 8 |
| New Zealand (Listener Chart)[18] | 1 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[19] | 6 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[2] | 2 |
| West Germany (GfK)[20] | 9 |
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)