Washington Square- The Village Stompers- 1963

[swampcabbage52]

always a ses pool full of yankees around to keep the shit warm...

[MsChaisy]

Came to know tis music after watching korean drama 'New tales of gisaeng' love it so much.

[jimmatera]

If you really get into this song--don,t miss-the horn--put you're ear on it , the whole song,

Does this guy play a horn or what.

[ken63201]

love this song thanks for posting

[lease2coach1]

Interesting--a couple pix of Washington Square, and a whole lot from other places--some, I guess, supposed to be of the early 1960s, when this tune came out; others, perhaps, of the period it evokes?

Anyway, thanks for posting!

[Hadita1981]

Buenisimmooo. Esto es música de verdad.

[vince33x]

Think of all the great stuff the USA created before the heavy hand of government has seen fit to enter every aspect of our live...thanks mostly to a bunch of Left-Wing, Jewish busybodies.

[ElizabethGS]

@vince33x what a stupid, bigoted statement.

[vince33x]

@ElizabethGS Yet...dead on!

[vince33x]

@ElizabethGS Truth hurts...Eh?

[NaturalBornSkeptic]

I've been stuck on this song for a year or so in a game of "Name That Tune" that's always playing in my head. I'm glad I finally identified it.

[harryrag100]

This song has been haunting me for the past 45 years...thanx for posting it!

[kxsteve]

First record I ever had.

[ChromeGnome54]

always Loved this song haven't heard it in years..always wondered if there was words to it

[joetubealong]

I just woke up from a dream and this song was in my head. I dont know how cuz the last time I heard it it had to be in the 70s. Weird

[koprej]

When I listen to this song I always realise, how beatiful the life is...

[kellysempire]

what type of genre would you call this? i really love this sound

[pmnorris]

@kellysempire this is a folk pop instrumental....somewhat rare since most folk music of the era was vocal.....the banjo is the giveaway...

[ElizabethGS]

@kellysempire click on their video of Midnight in Moscow and you'll see what their own liner notes called their sound: "Some Folk, a bit of Country, and a WHOLE lot of Dixie" :)

To my ears they're much closer to that whole Dixieland Band procession playing in the streets' sound than anything else. They did a lot of good tunes in this same style.

[blkshepherd]

This is my Childhood back in Brooklyn NYC in the early early 60s..62? 63? all I know is I was about 5yrs old when I first heard it..I get a flood of memories and it makes my eyes weld with tears..now I go on google. put in 42nd street 8th ave. point the mouse at street level and walk down 42nd street while I have this playing in the background.

[DaveWollenberg]

The Stompers hit #2 in Billboard, 11-23-63. God bless ya, for postin' it. Thanx!

[OrezThegrey]

7 squares

[MrNorm1949]

Good folksy instrumental by the Village Stompers

[atrahan100]

Thanks for this great video. I still have the original LP of Washington Square.

[mkl62]

This hit by The Village Stompers was the 33rd #1 song on Billboard's newly formed chart that is now known as the Adult Contemporary charts.

[Jeangonzague]

Chinese man !

[squeezeflo]

Now I need to find it on vinyl!!! In good condition, of course.

[dmarti6835]

an oldie but a goodie! from a time when life was simple and things were so much better!

[dmcjordan]

Sounds like the theme song from "Dexter" on Showtime was plagiarized from this tune.

[henry8405]

So good!!

[TylerDurden89]

GREAT! Chinese Man's cover rocks aswell

[zynjan]

#69 best song of the 60s Washington Square- The Village Stompers

[anarchy295]

does anyyyyone know where i can find the version by The Attack with the VOCALS?? Ive been searching everywhere :(

[ekocentric]

@anarchy295 I'll bet that sounds good. I think that I'll look for it too. Happy hunting.

[RDK860]

This song hit Billboards Hot 100 List 9/21/63 and lasted there for 14 weeks, and peaking at no. 2 where it stayed for 2 weeks

[greatbighand]

A million years since I last heard it. thank you !

[jojopoop2323]

Sam Hui?!

[pgholdie]

i THOUGH THIS SONG WAS OUT IN END OF 62  WAS IT?????

[ippikilobo1]

I want to sit in Washington Square.....

[datoobster75]

★★★★★ I give this one 5 stars myself too...........and then some!

Great old stuff!!

[caseyjoanz]

Midnight in Moscow is listed right below this classic in 'related' - neither is available thru iTunes! I can't stand it!

[don1carter]

Someone sang "Amazing Grace" to this tune. It worked surprisingly well.

[JRMelyan]

This song was big before those Beatles invaded America! Ahhh to be a kid again.

[DancingSpiderman]

@bobyoung53 The Bosco mug is in the LEFT hand... the Beer mug in on my right...

[AnnihilationISTRUE]

★★★★★ Yes 5 stars for this "Golden Oldie" from the 'baby boomer' generation when this instrumental was listened to on the old analog radio. Glad to see this GR8 tune making the rounds now in the digital revolution. Memories abound~!

[DancingSpiderman]

I'm gonna turn this into a rap song  -- JUST KIDDING

This is a good song to drink Bosco and Beer to, a mug in each hand

[leoj78]

@DancingSpiderman hah. it already has a one. bugger.

[HotVoodooWitch]

Beatnik-Dixieland fusion! I was a little girl when this was popular and I STILL love it. Thanks for posting.

[BluezGuitarz]

@HotVoodooWitch What a great description - Beatnik-Dixieland fusion (with a touch of bluegrass banjo). They don't play this on the radio anymore, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

[allyouneedislove8791]

I remember hearing this tune or a tune similar on the Music Choice channels on Comcast. It was on the Sounds of the Seasons channel during Halloween time while they played Halloween music.

[hawleyjane1]

Awesome song, and I think the banjo is phenomenal--thanks 74!

[diego50001986]

colllllllllllllll

[MrJRichie]

This song makes me think of all the things that music and life in general have to offer us.

[Senorita1068]

My sister loves this piece of antique music....

[Samaritan8]

Simply beautiful..! Very nostalgic..!

[snowcool1]

This instrumental Washington Square was recorded in the unseasonably warm and dry oct 1963 .How appropiate the setting under the famous arch people watching and listening to that new orleans sound.

[whately47]

Just heard this song for the first time today. Pretty good song. I LOVE the dixieland part of it. Too bad no oldies stations play this. If anything...... only from some "way out there" independent radio station.

[alshouse]

This would never be on the radio now

[Tonithenightowl]

suzanna don't you cry i know the words to this someone get me the big knife lol

[verbaud]

This & "Green Fields" were the 1st songs I ever heard with a minor key. It drove me into a whole different direction.

[marylovebug]

Purchased the album around 1966 by the Village Stompers and this was the title song and I still have the album and occasionally I will listen to the album with a lot of great instrumentals!

[greatlakesfan]

Thanks for posting this. This is one of my favorite instrumentals.

[Fersomling]

We went to Macungie pool almost every day in 1963.

[Titov123]

Excellent Strumming. I love the part when the other instruments play at 1:32

[gmonet46]

I have a 1964 on air check of WABC and this was being featured as the "song you all know, that we are going to play for you now" which probably meant the on air personality forgot the name of the song..but it was a great tune on NYC air-waves like WABC and even WNEW!

[dragonzheartx]

I love this song. My dad always listened to it.

[madchops82]

I think this song bridges the gap between old and young and was popular during a very important time in America. It still sounds refreshingly "cool". My father played w/ the trombone player of this band. I love dixie, rock, and the banjo!!!

[tonyotonyito]

Memories of eating pancakes at my Grandmothers house. God I love this song

[whitedudenj01]

The main melody of that song sounds a LOT like 'Serenade To a Cuckoo', by Roland Kirk.

......or vice-versa.....

Still, it's a cool tune that brings back a lot of memories....

[Agrotope99]

@whitedudenj01 Absolutely right. This is almost a carbon copy of "Serenade to a Cuckoo" (or vice versa). Great in any case!

[sanspseudo5]

j'aime beaucoup le moment où les cuivres entrent en action.

Excuse me, british and american people but I don't speak well enough english to write it in your language.

[freddycupples]

@sanspseudo5 don't worry. Whatever your wrote, it looks very elegant and classy.

[JOYOUSONEX]

I love this tune. I remember very vividly hearing Dennis Day sing this tune on the Arthur Godfrey radio program in 1965. Thanks for posting, love the pics too!!

[blkshepherd]

Talk about imagery..when i was 7yrs old living in my native city Brookylyn, NY..we lived in a tenement and across from our building was none other than a theater..imagine being a 7yr old with access to a Huge screen..(the movies were actually the First wide screens in color or black an white that back in the 60s. it was the thing to do go to the movies.while waitin for the movie to begin. the screen would be dark..and This song would be playing..oh the memories.

[TimelordR]

They don't make music like that anymore! Thanks for sharing the memories.

[yogafan6500]

Everytime i hear this tune makes me wish i go back to 1963, the year of classic TV shows such as Bozo's Circus, &  The Three Stooges, with such rare stooges shorts like No Dough Boys, The Yolks on Me, I'll Never Heil Again, Uncivil Warbirds, & They Stooge To Conga. right here on WGN-TV Chicago. Thanks for posting such a classic tune.

[sonnyjomo]

when I was into dixieland I thought this was a great tune, also loved Sachmo's Ambassador Sach's Album. Thanks 74sodapop

[justinpandeng]

这是一首能带我穿越时空的曲子

[danzinnyman]

this is a really cool song thanks for the upload i actually heard this on cox cable radio n was like this is awesome n i found this video

[blkshepherd]

I was 7yrs old when this came out. living in brooklyn new york..whenever I went to the movies on a saturday they always always played this song before the movie began..just a blank screen ..dim lights..and waiting on the movie while eating popcorn and drinking pepsi.

[M4Morgul]

Simply amazing

[4orsaorsa]

this melody especially the banjo in the beginning and middle sort ob burnt in deeply in my memory -

i'm 10 years again - and amazed all the same again about the world and live like then!

[Rome41jm]

Nice to hear again from 1963, Does anyone have their second hit..FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

[sphinxcol]

This was the first album I ever bought. I was 11yrs old. Boy how time flies.

[duckvicious]

I love how all the istruments come together. Nice. reminds me of my childhood, my father played this for us.

[carajomaldision]

THE CLASSIC ONE

[hdwell]

Thank you so much for this song. I thought I would go nuts trying to remember. Yessir, it does bring back a lot of memories. Thanks again- just love it.

[sweeperdave1]

This song brings back a flood of memories of two things because it hit its peak on the charts the month JFK was assassinated and I was living in Japan at the time. Everyone remembers where they were when JFK was assassinated.

[ALANRLEAKE]

I was 11 when it was being played brand new via the radio. It stands out in my mind as one of the most popular songs when I began listening to brand new music on the radio.

In comparison to the audio, the video I would rate fair to good. The audio holds up better.

[krackmuch]

it's years I was searching for that

[angelhenzbl]

saludos a todos desde México, que lindo tema es este, me trae recuerdos de mi niñez

[mhlytle]

Hey can anyone out there post the Village Stompers doing "the bird of bleeker street" off the "Taste of Honey" LP they had out around 1965 ? I had that 45 when I was 10 and would love to hear it again. Mike in KC

[untakentim]

thanks 4 posting this lovely ditty...Slo NOLA all the way, this is part of my own dirge!!!

[Thanos56]

Old memories from Heraklion American radio station on 1963....

[RMSBraves013]

u r so racist, it is not

[AdrianCamus]

Great instrumental work !

I always relates this piece of musical work with the great Western movies...such as John Wayne,Kirk Douglas,Burt Lancaster films.

[Fersomling]

The car at 1:13 is a 1962 Chevrolet BelAir.

[MrChoper73]

Excelente tema de la musica que llego para quedarse...gratos recuerdos vienen a mi... un tributo a Don Armando Rascón Salmón de la gran estación 620 AM México.

[Thanos56]

Αξέχαστες ημέρες από την Αεροπορική βάση του Ηρακλείου Κρήτης το καλοκαίρι του 1964....

[MrNeilAlbert]

Most Definitely

[frereslumiere]

Wore out the grooves on this album. Antarblue is right: top 40 included just about everything then.

[sirgregory52]

ironically back in the sixties in evansville indiana, when this song came out, we got our first strip mall, guess what it was called. washinton square mall.

[6motion6]

That's a hilarious anecdote! I live in Bloomington, IN.

[sirgregory52]

i just checked my spelling. it was . Washington Square Mall. what a tune, what memories. this mall is slowly dying, cant compete with walmarts, kohls, etc.

[nickellodeon55]

I even liked the James Last choral remake in 1971.

[67badmoon]

This is going to be played at my funeral!

[DGA2000]

What memories. Thanks for a great post!

[Froggy19510]

If you like this you might try Midnight in Moscow by Kenny Ball. It's another great tune.Thanks for posting this. I have been looking for this with a good sound for years.

[tigermark64]

I live in Minnesota, and I also do remember a Shakey's Pizza restaurant in the Minneapolis- St. Paul area. The sign does look very familiar.

[tigermark64]

This instrumental was #2 on the Billboard charts in 1963, I think it should have been #1 because it was quite an enjoyable song. Real Dixieland sound from this instrumental.

[liverpoolishgirl]

I think it was #9 and it was based on sales, not on listenability, so to speak. Otherwise why would the Rhythm of the Rain and Blue Velvet have been rated higher? Surfin' USA was #1. Sugar Shack was #2.

[74sodapop]

Got to U.S. #2 Almost got to Number One.I don't know who held it off.

[lahore2vancouver]

I love 60,s era!

[Lelaina]

yessssss, it´s an encourage one... hhhhhhhh

[ItsAroundMidnight]

check out

Chinese man records - washington sqaure

Free the robots - yoga fire

Afroman - colt 45

[bigboyniko2]

Dude its the beat to Colt 45 (aka crazy rap) by Afroman.

[12Zwolf]

Thank You For Posting; and thank you for the reminders of what Americana fun is lost due to 'MultiCulturalism'.

Cheers!

Valkyrie Ziege Mourne

[y00sta]

not too fast  this is the real deal y00sta

[chessiejo]

counting crows has a good version too

but this one is cool

[fordude60]

Huge hit in 1963! Got all the way to #2.

[oceanbound222]

WILD  !!!!!!!!!!!

[gmkell59]

Folk Music meets Dixieland!! Was great when it came out and still is. cheers!

[PCMusic75]

In the mid-60s this melody was the jingle of the teenage movie at 17:15 every Sunday afternoons on the French 2nd channel. At that time, we had only 2 TV channel. That was pure magic every time I heard this beautiful melody. However it took me a long time till I knew it was played by Village Stompers because there were so many covers. But I knew its original sound by heart and could retrieve it in the 80s.

[LindsayLoving]

sounds like the dexter theme!!

[Painter13]

Love this song, love it , love it, love it, love it.  I also love bands like B.O.C., Foo Fighters, and Black Sabbath. That's how great this song is, if it can get me, a serious metal head case to love it, the talent is pure.

[74sodapop]

Definitely.I always loved So Rare,Jimmy Dorsey.From Cream To The Kinks To Jimmy Dorsey.

[breathholdchamp]

@74sodapop Jimmy was so awesome get his version of Ragmop it is awesome

[breathholdchamp]

@74sodapop Get Jimmy Dorseys version of Ragmop  some gal sings the solo but man does he ever jazz it up in the end *****

[MightySaturn5]

@Painter13 yeah Painter, if you get a chance check out their version of Midnight in Moscow -its the best version I've heard however its also very difficult to find here on youtube, I think you have to look for "Columbia Historical preservation society" (they used it as music for their model railroad video)

[oldcountrytunes]

Really like it. Thanks for sharing, Max.

[RoyFive]

This was some band! And some song!

[USABG58]

I was four or five when this was on the radio and this and Midnight in Moscow, Hello Dolly, et al was all very good music that still stands on its own today, unless you're brainwashed into limiting your musical horizons.

[1400deadwood]

Very nice photos which fit well with that great song.

[indigenous99]

Your turntable is a bit slow

[JayKay930]

perhaps yours is a bit fast... mine has the same problem.

[teddibearsworld]

Wow! I grew up on this. Memories of listening to my Grandfathers private jukebox. I still have that same 45 from that jukebox. Those were the days when there was real variety, and you could hear ten completely different styles on the radio in the same hour. What a great post. And sodapop, where do you get these warm, incredible pictures from?

[74sodapop]

Glad you like it Ted,1963 was wild.Weird pop and awesome variety.I have thousands of pictures,just gotta match em.

[Antarblue]

I remember when this was on the radio! A strange pre-Beatles thing; very eclectic. From Elvis to the Ronettes, Ray Baretto, Louis Armstrong, Beach Boys, Brill Bldg., singing nun, singing comics, all on the radio at the same time!

[laura060366]

This is another song I haven't heard in years. Love it!

[TimelordR]

Thanks for posting that wonderful & nostalgic tune.