Les trois cloches

"Les trois cloches" is a Swiss song written in French by Jean Villard Gilles.^[1] Edith Piaf and Les Compagnons de la chanson started their US tour in 1945/46 with this song, which was one of Piaf's greatest hits. The song was covered by The Browns in 1959 in English as "The Three Bells" (with words adapted by Bert Reisfeld)."^[2] 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".^[3]

Tina Arena version

"Les trois cloches"
Single by Tina Arena
from the album In Deep
Released	January 21, 2000
Format	CD single
Genre	Pop
Length	3:50
Label	Sony
Producer(s)	Christophe Battaglia, J. Kapler
Certification	Gold (France)
Tina Arena singles chronology
"Aller plus haut" (1999) "Les Trois Cloches" (2000) "Live (For the One I Love)" (2000)

Australian singer Tina Arena released her version of the song as a single from her 1997 album In Deep. The song became a huge hit in Belgium (Wallonia) where it topped the chart for three weeks and remained in the top 40 for 20 weeks, and in France, where it charted in the top ten for 13 weeks and peaked at #4 for 2 weeks. The single was certified gold by the SNEP.

Track listing

1. Les trois cloches 3:50
2. Burn (version acoustique) 5:34

Charts

Chart (2000)	Peak position
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart	1
European Hot 100 Singles	15
French Singles Chart	4
Swiss Singles Chart	49

End of year charts

End of year chart (2000)	Position
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[4]	17
French Singles Chart[5]	28

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
France (SNEP)[6]	Gold	270,000[7]
^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Other versions

• The Browns went to the top of the charts with "The Three Bells" in the United States, in 1959.^[2]
• Micheline Calmy-Rey who is a member of the Swiss Federal Council and was President of Switzerland in 2007.
• Ben Keith recorded an instrumental version for "Seven Gates: A Christmas Album by Ben Keith and Friends" in 1994. The album was reissued in 2008 under the title "Christmas at the Ranch" but with a new recording of the song with vocal by Neil Young and Pegi Young, which also appeared two years later on the Christmas album "Gift Wrapped II: Snowed In (2010)".

See also

• The Three Bells
• While the Angelus Was Ringing

References

1. "TROIS CLOCHES LES". ACE Title Search. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
2. "Show 11 - Tennessee Firebird. [Part 3], Big Rock Candy Mountain. [Part 1] : UNT Digital Library". Digital.library.unt.edu. 1969. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
3. "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 33, 1982". Retrieved March 15, 2009.
4. 2000 Belgium (Wallonia) Singles Chart (Retrieved April 19, 2009)
5. 2000 French Singles Chart (Retrieved April 19, 2009)
6. "French single certifications – Tina Arena – Les trois cloches" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
7. Infodisc.fr "InfoDisc : Les Certifications (Singles) du SNEP (Bilan par Artiste)" Check |url= value (help). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2013-11-09.

• A History of the Song (Italian)

External links

• Edith Piaf and the compagnons de la chanson in 1956
• Micheline Calmy-Rey sings "Les trois cloches"
• André van Duin "Bim bam" music video