Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron
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| “Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Single by The Royal Guardsmen | ||
| Released | 1966 | |
| Recorded | Charles Fuller Productions studio, Tampa, Florida | |
| Genre | Rock, Novelty | |
| Label | Laurie Records
LR 3366 |
|
| Writer(s) | Phil Gernhard and Dick Holler | |
"Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" is a novelty song written by Phil Gernhard and Dick Holler and recorded in 1966 by the Florida-based rock band The Royal Guardsmen. The song was recorded at the Charles Fuller Productions studio in Tampa, Florida, and was released as a single on Laurie Records. The single made number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1966, number 6 on the UK charts in February 1967 and number one in Australia for five weeks from February 1967.
"Snoopy Vs The Red Baron" was inspired by the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz, which featured a recurring storyline with Snoopy in the role of a World War I airman fighting the Red Baron. The Royal Guardsmen went on to record several other Snoopy-themed songs, including "Return of The Red Baron" and "Snoopy for President".[1]
"Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" was released only four weeks after the first Sunday Peanuts comic strip featuring Snoopy fighting the Red Baron was issued. However, Mr. Schulz and United Features Syndicate sued the Royal Guardsmen for using the name Snoopy without permission or an advertising license. UFS did win, but the penalty was that a percentage of the profits made by the single would go to them. Mr. Schulz did allow the group to write more Snoopy songs.
The original Canadian single was retitled "Squeaky Vs. The Black Knight" to avoid legal issues prior to getting approval from Charles Schulz.
Phil Gernhard had previously produced the original version of "Stay" by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs, and later became the producer of singer-songwriter Lobo. Holler's other big writing success - a notably marked contrast of styles to "Snoopy Vs The Red Baron" - was the tribute song "Abraham, Martin & John", a 1968 hit for Dion.
In 1973, a group called Hotshots reached number 4 in the UK singles chart with a cover version of the song, performed in a ska style.
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