A Swingin' Safari


"A Swingin' Safari" is a 1962 instrumental composed by Bert Kaempfert, using his alias, Bernd Bertie. It was recorded by Kaempfert on Polydor Records and released in the United States on Decca Records. The song features a distinctive main theme played on the tin whistle and a trumpet solo by Manfred "Fred" Moch. Despite its popularity, the single failed to chart.

''A Swingin' Safari'' (album)

The song was the title track of an LP consisting of orchestrations of the South African kwela style of penny-whistle music popular in the 1950s. The album was credited to "Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra".
This album was first released in the U.S. in August 1962 under the title That Happy Feeling and had climbed to Number 14 in the charts by September of that year. It was then released on the European market with the title A Swingin' Safari in autumn of the same year.

Tracklist

The tracklist for the album was:
  1. "A Swingin' Safari" - Written by Bert Kaempfert
  2. "That Happy Feeling" - Written by Guy Warren
  3. "Market Day" - Written by Kaempfert
  4. "Take Me" - Written by Kaempfert and Helmut Brüsewitz
  5. "Similau" - Written by Arden Clar and Harry Coleman
  6. "Zambesi" - Written by Anton de Waal, Bob Hilliard & Nico Carstens
  7. "Afrikaan Beat" - Written by Kaempfert
  8. "Happy Trumpeter" - Written by Kaempfert
  9. "Tootie Flutie" - Written by Kaempfert
  10. "Wimoweh" - Written by Paul Campbell & Roy Ilene
  11. "Black Beauty" - Written by Kaempfert & Cedric Dumont
  12. "Skokiaan" - Written by August Msarurgwa & Tom Glazer

    Billy Vaughn version

In 1962, the same year as the release of the original, Billy Vaughn recorded the song "A Swingin' Safari" as a cover; his version reached #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Easy Listening chart that summer. On Cash Box, the song peaked at #11.

Use in media