The Spotnicks - The Rocket Man (1962)

Swedish guitar-group The Spotnicks with The Rocket Man (1962). This song with its inspiring melody, which is restlessly driving on was adapted by Bo Winberg from old Russian melody “Polyushka Polye“ or “Polyushko-Pole“ (Cossack Patrol/Meadowland/Song Of The Plains/Oh My Fields/Cavalry of the Steppes). In 1934 Lev Konstantinovich Knipper wrote his “Symphony No.4 in D major, Opus 41 - Poem of the Komsomol Fighters“ (Komsomol was the Union of Communist Youth), which includes the famous song “Polyushko Pole“ with lyrics (dedicated to the Red Army Field Marshall Kliment Voroshilov) by Victor Gusev. The music became one of the Marching songs of the Red Army Choir and one of the primary Russian patriotic anthems, long outlasting in popularity both the symphony that introduced it and the regime for which it was created. “Polyushko Pole“ became also known as “Meadowlands“, “Song of the Plaines“, “Cavalry of the Steppes“, “O Field My Field“ and Western arrangements as “Cossack Patrol“. Some sources claim that the song was originally written during the Russian Civil War (1918) and was sung by the Red Army and a couple of anti-Soviet webpages even by White Army. Morton Gould addapted the song in 1945 in the USA as “The Red Cavalry Song“ and it was broadcoasted by The Glenn Miller Orchestra under direction of Jerry Gray early 1945. A recording as “Cossack Patrol“ was made by Ted Heath in England for Decca in February 1945. Bandleader Tex Beneke with The Glenn Miller Orchestra recorded their version in 1946 for RCA.