High on a hill was a lonely goatherd, Lae Ee Od Lay Ee Od Lay Hee Hoo – The Sound of Music
And who hasn’t yodelled when they’ve found themselves in the foothills of the Alps? I know I hodelay-hodelay-hodelayhee-have.
Although we couldn’t get superstar septuagenarian and amateur yodeller Brigitte to clear her throat when she took us walking above Interlaken in Switzerland.
Yodel eh? In Austria
We did though get awesome octogenarian Arthut, or Ehrwald Presley as I coined him, doing his verbal gymnastics last year on our Top Flight for Schools trip.
Before the night ascended into an Irish wedding-type hooley.
Now your favourite music on our travels column has been over yodelling before in this series.
But on the occasion of 60 years of the Irish Austrian Society which we’ll celebrate tonight let’s explore how yodelling was carried on the wind around the world.
Gene genie
If you’re of a certain age, or if you’re versed in cowboy movies, you’ll know all about Gene Autry.
The Singing Cowboy, who hit the heights from the Thirties through to the Sixties.
And became such a big star that he even bought himself a baseball team in 1961, the Angels, who in their current iteration are the LA Angels.
Gene may be 22 years gone (an angel for ever now) this month.
But not, nor will he ever be forgotten, in Anaheim
There is a shrine to him at Angels stadium which you can visit ahead of a game.
The Angels held Gene in such high regard that they added him to the roster and then retired the No.26 number.
Hodelayhee-Home Run.
Yodelling meets Blues
Yodelling may have its roots in the Alps but the Americans bluesed it up with the likes of Jimmie Rogers.
And as we all know America, and particularly the Deep South us where music went into a big melting pot.
It gave us, Jazz, Blues, Country, Elvis and Soul.
And, to think it all started with a lonely goatherd, hee-hoo.
