Song: Spanish is the Loving Tongue

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Music written by

Bill Simon

Lyrics written by

Badger Clark

Publication date

1907

Language

English

Comments

This song is often misattributed as "traditional". It originally was published as "The Border Affair" in the June, 1907 issue of "Pacific Monthly". It was rebublished in 1915 by Chapman & Grimes as port of a compilation of Clark's works entitled "Sun and Saddle Leather". The song ended up with several variant lyrics.

Although there is some controvery about whether Bill Simon actually composed the tune, that is the consensus at this time. Simon heard the poem, thought it would make a good song and worked out a tune while riding the range as a cowboy. Some wenty to thirty years later, somebody added a bridge to the music, which is how it is now typically played but, as with the lyrics, there is variation in the tune.

Versions

	Title	Performer	Release date
1	Spanish is a Loving Tongue	Glenn Yarbrough	1957
2	Spanish is the Lovin' Tongue	Richard Dyer-Bennet	1958
3	Spanish is the Loving Tongue	The Gateway Singers	1959
4	Spanish is the Loving Tongue	Pete Seeger	July 1960
5	Spanish is a Loving Tongue	Ian & Sylvia	July 1963
6	Adios Mi Corazon (Spanish is the Loving Tongue)	The Limeliters	1963
7	Spanish Is the Loving Tongue	The Crew Cuts	1963
8	Spanish is a Loving Tongue	Marianne Faithfull	May 1965
9	Spanish is the Loving Tongue	Paul Clayton	1965
10	Spanish is the Loving Tongue	Bob Dylan	June 1971
11	Spanish is the Loving Tongue	Judy Collins	August 25, 1976
12	Spanish is a Loving Tongue	Bill Staines	1977
13	Spanish is a Loving Tongue	Emmylou Harris	1981
14	Spanish is the Lovin' Tongue	Michael Martin Murphey	1990
15	Spanish is the Loving Tongue	The Blackeyed Susans	1991
16	Spanish is a Loving Tongue	Lesley Schatz	1993