Which classic country song is this...Asian theme??

I heard a snippet of an old country song the other day on t.v. I guess the only way I could describe it is that it was sort of like Bowie/Pop's "China Girl", only it was country. The guy was singing about China, Japan, or the south seas or something....really cool guitar work. Anyone have ANY idea what this might have been?

 

Could it have been a snippet of Rick Nelson's "Travelin' Man"?

And my China doll down in old Hong Kong
Waits for my return

Pretty Polynesian baby over the sea
I remember the night
When we walked in the sands of the Waikiki
And I held you oh so tight

 

Two come to mind, although I'm sure there are others..."Geisha Girl" by Hank Locklin and "Fraulein" by Bobby Helms, both from the late 50s. But neither strikes me as having special guitar work, although the former has a simple guitar riff as it's main hook.

 

It could have been "Made in Japan" by Buck Owens. The guitar in that plays a three-stroke, two-string intro and solo in fifths (i.e., B-E, A-D, F#-B), in a style one associates with Oriental music. The chord progression is E-F#m-B-E, and that also gives the song an Oriental feel unusual for country music.

Lyrics (from memory, so they're probably wrong in spots):


MADE IN JAPAN
Buck Owens

My transistor radio comes from far away
And when it's night over here, over there it's a-breakin' day
I remember all the times I spent lyin' in the sand
With the beautiful girl that I met made in Japan

Well the beauty of her face was beyond my wildest dreams
Like the cherry blossoms bloomin' in the mountains in the early spring
As she smiled at me and softly took hold of my hand
That's when I fell deep in love with the girl made in Japan

When night would come we would lie on Tokyo Bay
And the singin' of the birds woke us up at the break of day
Her smiling eyes always seemed to try and understand
All the love in my heart for this girl made in Japan

My transistor radio comes from far away
And when it's night over here, over there it's a-breakin' day
She cried when she said she'd been promised to another man
That's when I left my heart with the girl made in Japan
Yes my heart will always be with the girl made in Japan


This song is often cited as evidence of Buck's decline in the 70s, but personally, I've always liked it.

 

Mike M. is right, it is Made In Japan by Buck Owens. I like the song as well.

 

If that's it, it's a nice play on words too. Sounds like a good song.

There's a slew of that music from the 50's on a recent Bear Family disk I just got. It's called Foreign Love Affair. Sweet stuff. Wish that Buck Owens number was on it too

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...02-3948618?v=glance&s=music&vi=samples#disc_1

 

It's definitely the Buck Owens song! Thanks!! However, the version I heard was someone else doing it. This was on the MTV show "Jackass" that I heard the song. Any ideas?


Also, can anyone tell me which Buck Owens album this originally appeared on? All I can find are hit comps.

 

I'm pretty sure it was a non-album single which made its LP debut on The Best of Buck Owens Volume 5 in 1974.

 

"Made in Japan" first appeared on Buck's album titled "In the palm of your hand" (Capitol ST-11136) which was released in January of 1973, long after the single had hit No. 1.

 

Helms never could figure out what a German girl was doing in the Orient, but he loved her just the same.