Les Trois Cloches

"Les Trois Cloches"
Single by Edith Piaf & Les Compagnons de la chanson
Released1946
RecordedJuly 1946
GenreFolk, chanson
Length4:08
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Jean Villard

"Les Trois Cloches" (French pronunciation: [le tʁwɑ klɔʃ]) is a Swiss song written in French by Jean Villard.[1] Edith Piaf recorded the song a cappella with the French vocal group Les Compagnons de la chanson in July 1946.[2][3] The song became one of Édith Piaf's biggest hits, and when Piaf toured the US with Les Compagnons de la chanson, they introduced this song to an American audience. Tina Arena also recorded a hit version in 2000.

The song has also been recorded in many other languages. It was recorded by the Browns in 1959 in English as "The Three Bells" (with words adapted by Bert Reisfeld)."[4] Another English version titled "While the Angelus Was Ringing" was recorded by Frank Sinatra. Lys Assia and Wolfgang Sauer both had a hit version in Germany titled "Wenn Die Glocken Hell Erklingen" in 1959. Dutch singer/comedian André van Duin had a Dutch Top 40 number one hit in 1982 with his Dutch comedy version of the song titled "Bim bam".[5]

  1. ^ "TROIS CLOCHES LES". ACE Title Search. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  2. ^ Sforza, John (2021). Swing It! The Andrews Sisters Story. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813184272.
  3. ^ Looseley, David (2015). Édith Piaf: A Cultural History. Liverpool University Press. p. 75. ISBN 9781781384251.
  4. ^ "Show 11 - Tennessee Firebird. [Part 3], Big Rock Candy Mountain. [Part 1] : UNT Digital Library". Digital.library.unt.edu. 1969. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
  5. ^ "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 33, 1982". Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2009.