♫ Greatest All-
2002 GREATEST ALL-
Inducted 2002
“FLOWER OF LOVE WALTZ”
Music: Slovenian Folk Song
Lyrics: Anna Vadnal, Art Yaspan
Hit Recording:
Johnny Vadnal Orchestra
Vocals: Vadnal Trio and Carroll Sisters-Sally, Jane & Joyce
78 rpm, single
RCA Victor 25-1138
Time: 2:53
Other Recordings:
Johnny Vadnal – Polka Specials – 1964
Bob Kravos – The Boys In The Band – 1998
Key of C and G
Musicians on Hit Recording:
Johnny Vadnal – accordion
Frank Vadnal – guitar
Tony Vadnal – bass
Ed (Slejko) Slagle – clarinet
Earl Newman – piano and organ
Joe Stradiot – drums
The “Flower of Love” waltz is synonymous with Johnny Vadnal. He learned the song from his mother, Anna. It was the Slovenian folk song “Tam U Dolu Roza Raste,” on which the waltz is based. Johnny recalls that his mother translated the Slovenian words into English. The Vadnal family band, which included his sister Valeria, played the song for the first time in 1937, at the Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland.
The Johnny Vadnal orchestra recorded “Flower of Love,” with English lyrics, initially in 1949, on its sixth single for the RCA Victor label. The other side of the record was the polka “Oh! Jeanette.” The band released another version of the waltz in 1964, on the album “Polka Specials,” adding the Slovenian lyrics.
The familiar sound of Tony and Frankie, with Ed Slejko, is hear on the vocal, as the trio sings alternate lines of the lyrics with the Carroll Sisters. The RCA Victor recording lists the composer and lyricists as being Al Russ, Art Yaspan, and Johnny Vadnal. Johnny said Al and Art were songwriters with whom he collaborated on his early recordings and song publishing.
In a garden, in a bower,
Blooms a strange, enchanted flower.
Casts its spell with magic power.
Search your heart, you’ll find it there.
You may find this magic flower,
In some far off happy hour.
In a garden, in a bower,
Blooms a flower of love divine.