Gomen-nasai (song)

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"Gomen-nasai" is a 1951 song with music by Raymond Hattori, a Japanese conductor and musical director for Nippon Columbia, and lyrics by Benedict Mayers, a Roosevelt University professor serving in the U.S. Army.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

First recording

It became a hit first in Japan then in America when Richard Bowers, a U.S. Army GI stationed in the Far East during 1952, took part in a Tokyo recording session for Colombia with the Columbia Tokyo Orchestra.^[5]^[6] Bowers sang the song again in character as a US G.I. in the 1953 film Mission Over Korea.

Other recordings

Eri Chiemi, who would later become part of the Sannin Musume (Three Girls) trio along with Misora Hibari and Yukimura Izumi, toured the United States in 1953 appearing in a charity concert with the Harry James Orchestra in Los Angeles, and recorded "Gomen nasai" on Federal (catalog No. 12140; 7" vinyl) together with an anonymous "GI Joe" on guest vocals.^[7]^[8]
Eddy Howard and his Orchestra also recorded the song, reaching No. 17 on the US charts.^[9]
The song was also recorded successfully by Harry Belafonte, released in 1953 as his debut single.^[10] Belafonte's recording went to No. 19.^[11]

References

[1]
Billboard - 14 Feb 1953 - Page 43 "Ditty was penned by Raymond Hattori, musical director for Nippon Columbia, and Benedict Meyers [sic], then an Army sergeant, and now a professor at Roosevelt College in Chicago. The disk was brought to the U. S. about two weeks ago by a record-happy sailor and received a strong reaction when played by deejay Ralph Storey on his KNX, Hollywood, deejay show. Paul Weston, of Columbia Records, sent an acetate of the disk to the main offices here, and the diskery arranged with ...
[2]
Musical Leader - Volumes 84-85 - Page 16 1952 "Roosevelt College Professor Writes Japanese Song Hit When Benedict Mayers [correct], professor of political science at Roosevelt College, was serving as a sergeant in the occupation army in Japan, he wrote a poem called "Gomen Nasai" which means "Excuse Me." Raymond Hattori, a Japanese conductor, set the lyrics to music and immediately the song became a "hit." The Walt Disney " Music Co. won the American publishing rights. Record sales are running at about 4000 per month and ...
[3]
Newsweek Volume 41 - Page 55 1953 "Columbia Records discovered that the platter had been cut by its affiliate in Japan. Last week it was rushing copies to the American market. "Gomen-Nasai" has English lyrics by Benedict Mayers [correct], now teaching at Roosevelt College in Chicago. When he wrote them he was an Army sergeant in Tokyo. His song concerns an errant lover with "a butterfly heart." The music, American ballad-type with a few pseudo-Oriental touches to the arrangement, was written by Raymond Hattori, ...
[4]
Billboard - 7 Mar 1953 - Page 22 Vol. 65, No. 10 Memphis 2, Tenn. lite The Billboard classified «- ur RESULTS 1 FACULTY MAN IS LYRIC WRITER CHICAGO, Feb. 28. — The president of Roosevelt College here is boiling like a tea kettle. Edward J. Sparling, the prexy, complains, "What do I want with a song writer on my staff?" His assistant, Benedict Meyers [sic], wrote the lyrics to "Gomen Nasai," the Japanese ditty waxed by half a dozen record companies. Meyers has signed an American Society Composers, Authors and Publishers'
[5]
Jet (magazine)- 29 Oct 1953 - Page 66 Vol. 4, No. 25 - After his recording of the song Gomen Nasai ("Forgive Me" in Japanese) while stationed with the Army in Tokyo last year, Bowers received Columbia record and movie contracts and the song became a juke box sensation. He sang it in the movie, Mission Over Korea. Bowers' latest Columbia recordings are entitled Baby, Let Me Kindle Your „. , . D Flame and Teardrops in the Rain. ^hard Bowers Other Negroes appearing on radio and television this week include: Ethel Waters on the ...
[6]
Brian McAllister Linn Elvis’s Army 2016 - Page 292 0674973755 Army entertainers had a substantial impact on overseas musical tastes as well. The song “Gomen Nasai” that Leon Anderson heard on a record player at Fort Bragg was recorded in Japan by an American soldier. The song became such a success that it was released in the United States—truly a case of the army as a cross-cultural influence. Soldiers brought their dates to the NCO or other clubs to hear rock, country, or soul groups, and their dates took this music ...
[7]
Michael K. Bourdaghs - Sayonara Amerika, Sayonara Nippon: A Geopolitical Prehistory of J-pop 0231158742 2012 "Postwar performances in America by Japanese singers, especially female singers, helped promote this new, softer image. For example, Eri Chiemi, who would later become part of the celebrated Three Girls (Sannin Musume) trio along with Misora Hibari and Yukimura Izumi, traveled to the United States in 1953. While there, she appeared in a charity concert with the Harry James Orchestra in Los Angeles, recorded the orientalist song “Gomen nasai” ...
[8]
Shirley Jennifer Lim - A Feeling of Belonging: Asian American Women's Public Culture, 1930-1960 0814751938 2006
In 1953, the same year that Kinuko Ito wore her much-praised dress with rosebud spray, the members of Chi Alpha Delta performed the Japanese song “Gomen-nasai” for UCLA's annual Spring Sing. “Gomennasai” had been sung by a Japanese artist, Chiemi Eri, who was touring the United States and who had recorded it in Los Angeles for Capitol Records. Profiled in the September 1953 issue of Scene, Eri had performed in Western dress, and the Chi Alpha Deltas also decided to ...
[9]
Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 219. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
[10]
Genia Fogelson Harry Belafonte 0870677721 1980 Page 53 Belafonte starred in his first movie, acted in major roles in two theatrical productions of worth and continued to be a success in nightclubs. Belafonte at this time became a father for the second time, met the woman who was to be his second wife, and broke with his dedicated manager Jack Rollins. After 1954, Harry's career and life would move at a breakneck pace. Early in 1953 Harry was asked to record a Japanese folk-type song, "Gomen-Nasai." Although Belafonte did not feel this ..
[11]
Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 49. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.

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