Kings Of Mississipi – Delta Queen (Original Stereo)

In Australia, this French outfit is sometimes confused with ‘Mississippi’, a local band operating during the same period in 1972 (perhaps understandable, for, despite the different spelling, the vocals and musical style on this ‘Delta Queen’ track do seem to resemble those of the Melbourne based combo).

Apparently, the first recording of this Terry Tasserberg composition was cut early in 1972 by a South African studio band, ‘Proudfoot’ (although their single was never released in Australia).

Just one of what would eventually be many covers of the Tasserberg song, the ‘Kings of Mississipi’ version received some airplay over the Australian summer of 1972/1973. However, the disc failed to crack the Go-Set pop newspaper’s top 40 singles listing (at that time the only point of reference for many national chart aficionados).

Some years later, after analysing available retail sales, the ‘Australian Chart Book’ officially placed the recording at a peak position of #85 during a short chart run of 5 weeks.

This is the stereo mixed single at the original (3.21) running time. A shorter ‘edit’ version was released on the 1973 ‘Majestic Records’ compilation LP album, ’20 Happening Hits Vol. 3’.

Australia release: Late 1972.