"Juanita Banana" is a novelty song adaptation from Mexican folk music by Tash Howard and Murray Kenton.
[1] The song, which tells the story of a Mexican banana farmer's daughter with operatic ambitions and whose chorus is an adaptation of "Caro Nome" from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto, was originally released in the United States in 1966.
The original release of "Juanita Banana" was performed by The Peels, a studio group assembled by co-writer Tash Howard, who also co-produced the single.
The Peels consisted of Gail Allan (22), Bill Spilka (25), Harvey Davis (23), and Harold Swart.
[citation needed] Henri Salvador, Luis Aguilé, Los Tres Sudamericanos [es], Paola Neri, Het Cocktail Trio [nl], Los Yaki, Quartetto Cetra and Bukasový Masív were among the many artists who recorded non-English cover versions of the song.