Ken Tsumura/Naomi Chiaki -- Shanghai Gaeri no Lil（上海帰りのリル）

 

Well, no, the above isn't Shanghai but Yokohama's Chinatown...just thought it would be nice to add some atmosphere somehow.

A few hours ago, I watched the Tuesday night episode of NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン） and vocal group Junretsu（純烈）was up once more to sing an old kayo from 1951. The year alone caught my attention since I knew that none of us had written anything from that year since my article on Teruko Akatsuki's（暁テル子）"Minnesota no Tamago Uri"（ミネソタの卵売り）back in 2017.

But at the same time, listening to Junretsu's rendition of "Shanghai Gaeri no Lil" (Shanghai Lil), it was nice to hear that old sing-song melody from way back so I decided to track it down on YouTube and J-Wiki, if possible. And sure enough, it was possible. The original was first recorded in June 1951 by singer Ken Tsumura（津村謙）who had debuted in 1943 under his birth name of Tadashi Matsubara（松原正）for Teichiku Records but was soon drafted into the war.

In 1946, he made another debut under his new stage name of Ken Tsumura but didn't register any hits until "Shanghai Gaeri no Lil" which was released for sale a month after its recording. A kayo about searching for a lost love, it became a huge hit written by Jusaburo Tojo（東條寿三郎）, (partially) composed by Masanobu Tokuchi（渡久地政信）and arranged by Isao Hayashi（林伊佐緒）as a tune with a tango twist.

According to the J-Wiki article for "Shanghai Gaeri no Lil", the title, the lyrical content and the intro for the kayo were straight from the theme song "Shanghai Lil" for the 1933 American movie "Footlight Parade" starring James Cagney and Joan Blondell. The original song was written by Al Dubin and composed by Harry Warren.

With the success of "Shanghai Gaeri no Lil" (by 1954, it would sell over 300,000 records), Tsumura was given his invitation to join the 2nd Kohaku Utagassen which was broadcast on radio on January 3rd 1952 followed by a movie based on the song that was released in April. There would even be successful sequels to "Shanghai Gaeri no Lil" with the same singer and songwriters providing listeners with "Lil wo Sagashite kurenai ka"（リルを探してくれないか...Won't You Find My Lil?）in that same year and then "Kokoro no Lil yo Naze Tooi"（心のリルよなぜ遠い...Lil of My Heart, Why So Far Away?）in 1953. Apparently for a little while, there were quite a few different songs involving a very busy Lil including the debut of actress/singer Miki Sanjo（三条美紀）with "Watashi ga Lil yo"（私がリルよ...Hey, I'm Lil!）in 1952. And no, I'm not joking about this.

"Shanghai Gaeri no Lil" has been covered by a number of artists over the decades including actress/singer Chieko Baisho（倍賞千恵子）. She gives an even more tangoesque take on the number although I couldn't find out when she recorded her version.

However, I did find this contemporary 1985 bossa nova cover by Naomi Chiaki（ちあきなおみ）from her album "Minato ga Mieru Oka"（港が見える丘...The Hill Overlooking the Harbor）. It still brings in the tango, though.

As for Tsumura, he would appear on the Kohaku a grand total of eight times between 1952 and 1958. He would continue to come up with the hits for the duration of the 1950s but in November 1961, he was coming home late one night from a round of mah jongg and not wanting to wake up his family, he decided to sleep it off in his car while in the garage. The strange thing to me was that he had left the engine running and although he was rushed to the hospital, he died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 37.