"Sailor" is the title of the English-language rendering of the 1959 schlager composition "Seemann (Deine Heimat ist das Meer)" originally written in German by Werner Scharfenberger (de) and lyricist Fini Busch (de): featuring lyrics in English by Norman Newell (writing as David West), "Sailor" would in 1961 afford Petula Clark her first UK #1 hit, simultaneously granting Top Ten success to Anne Shelton while also bringing her chart career to a close.
[2] Shelton had spent four weeks at #1 UK with "Lay Down Your Arms" in 1956 but had since only had one further chart record: "The Village of St. Bernadette" #27 in 1959, when her version of "Sailor" reached #10 in January 1961.
[7] In addition to the Peter Knight Orchestra and Chorus, the session personnel for Clark's recording of "Sailor" included guitarists Vic Flick and Big Jim Sullivan,[8] and also Harry Pitch whose harmonica playing was a striking feature of the track.
[3][15] Clark's "Sailor" became the third hit version of the song in the Low Countries reaching #13 in the Netherlands and - in a tandem ranking with "Seemann (Deine Heimat ist das Meer)" by Lolita - #12 on the chart for the Flemish Region of Belgium [16] where the Dutch-language rendering "Zeeman" had already been a Top Ten hit for Caterina Valente.
#1 in New Zealand and Israel in respectively March and September 1961, "Sailor" also afforded Clark a hit in Denmark (#9) and Spain (Top 20).
In South Africa "Sailor" would twice become a Top Ten hit for Clark, first reaching #2 in its original 1961 release and subsequently afforded a #9 chart peak via a local re-release in the summer of 1968.
[11][17] Besides the versions by Anne Shelton and Petula Clark detailed above, two other acts had UK single releases of "Sailor" in January 1961: veteran American vocal trio the Andrews Sisters and also American stage musical actress Eileen Rodgers, the latter version being entitled "Sailor (Your Home Is In sic The Sea)".
[19] In 1974 actor Peter Gilmore, then renowned for his sea-captain role in the BBC-TV series The Onedin Line, recorded the album James Onedin Songs of the Sea from which his rendition of "Sailor" - entitled "Sailor (Seemann)" - was issued as a single (the album was recorded and released in the Netherlands).