Whispering Grass#Windsor Davies and Don Estelle version

{{Infobox song

| name = Whispering Grass

| cover =

| type = single

| artist = Windsor Davies and Don Estelle

| album = It Ain't Half Hot Mum

| B-side = I Should Have Known

| released = {{start date|1975|04|25}}

| recorded = {{start date|1975|01|25}}

| studio = Abbey Road Studios, London

| genre =

| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=6}}

| label = EMI

| writer = * Fred Fisher

• Doris Fisher

| producer = Walter J. Ridley

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title = Paper Doll

| next_year = 1975

}}

A version of "Whispering Grass" was recorded in 1975 by the British actors Windsor Davies and Don Estelle. Davies and Estelle played the characters of Battery Sergeant Major Williams and Gunner "Lofty" Sugden, respectively, in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum, which had begun the previous year and which centered on a British Armed Forces concert party stationed in Burma during the Second World War. The series proved extremely popular, and had made household names of Davies and Estelle. Estelle was a trained singer{{cite news |last=Barker |first=Dennis |title=Obituary: Don Estelle |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/aug/04/guardianobituaries.arts |newspaper=The Guardian |date=August 4, 2003 |access-date=July 2, 2024}} and wanted to use his new-found fame to launch a recording career, but producer Wally Ridley decided that it would be better to record an album capitalizing on the sitcom's success, featuring the cast of the show performing monologues and popular songs from the 1940s era.{{cite book |last1=Kutner |first1=Jon |last2=Leigh |first2=Spencer |author-link2=Spencer Leigh (radio presenter) |title=1000 UK Number One Hits |publisher=Omnibus Press |date=2005 |isbn=978-1-8444-9283-1}} Issued on EMI Records, the It Ain't Half Hot Mum album was recorded in a single day at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London on January 25, 1975.{{cite book |last=Estelle |first=Don |author-link=Don Estelle |title=Sing Lofty: Thoughts of a Gemini |publisher=Don Estelle Music Publishing |date=1999 |isbn=978-0-9537-3770-3}}

Davies and Estelle had been planning a cabaret act based on their characters from the TV show, and "Whispering Grass" was one of the songs that they had planned to include in their show. According to Estelle, when Ridley asked for suggestions for songs to include on the It Ain't Half Hot Mum record, Estelle put forward "Whispering Grass". As Davies did not have a good singing voice, the song was recorded in a semi-comedic style, with Estelle singing in a straight manner and Davies providing spoken word verses and interjections in character as Battery Sergeant Major Williams. Estelle told Record Mirror that with his looks it would have been impossible to sing a romantic song and be taken seriously, and said, "Without the comedy element, I doubt if the song would have taken off."{{cite magazine |last=Iles |first=Jan |title=Out to grass in Jersey |magazine=Record Mirror |page=6 |date=May 31, 1975}} The backing vocals on the track were by the Mike Sammes Singers, with Sammes himself providing the bass note vocals that Davies mimed along to in performances of the song.{{cite news |last=Clayson |first=Alan |title=Obituary: Mike Sammes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jun/21/guardianobituaries1 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=June 21, 2001 |access-date=July 2, 2024}}

Ridley saw the song's potential as a single, and "Whispering Grass" was released on April 25, 1975, with the full credit of "Windsor Davies as B.S.M. Williams and Don Estelle as Gunner Sugden (Lofty)". It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks from 7 June 1975.{{cite book

| editor-first= David

| editor-last= Roberts

| year= 2006

| title= British Hit Singles & Albums

| edition= 19th

| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited

| location= London

| isbn= 1-904994-10-5

| page= 187}} The single also reached the top five in Ireland, and was a minor hit in New Zealand in 1976 and in Australia in 1977, after It Ain't Half Hot Mum was broadcast in those countries.

• Don Estelle – vocals
• Windsor Davies – vocals
• The Mike Sammes Singers – backing vocals
• Richard Leonard – piano

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Weekly charts

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Year-end charts

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry |region=United Kingdom |type=single |artist=Don Estelle and Windsor Davies |title=Whispering Grass |award=Gold |relyear=1975 |certyear=1975 |id=8218-2017-1}}

{{Certification Table Bottom |nosales=true}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.theguitarguy.com/whisperi.htm Whispering Grass lyrics, as sung by the Ink Spots in 1940]
• [http://www.secondhandsongs.com/work/42446 Scondhandsongs.com]

{{The Ink Spots}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1940 songs

Category:1975 singles

Category:Dee Clark songs

Category:Songs written by Doris Fisher (songwriter)

Category:Songs written by Fred Fisher

Category:UK singles chart number-one singles

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