I have recordings of the song Gomen Nasai by Harry Belafonte and Eddie Howard and noticed that both say the song is written by Benedict Mayers and Raymond Hattori and is published by Walt Disney Music Co. Does anyone know what the connection is from this song to Disney?
Walt Disney Music published Gomen-Nasai in 1951. There is no connection to any of the Disney films or theme parks. It it just one of the many outside songs that were sought after by Fred Raphael, who started Walt Disney Music in 1949. Walt gave Fred free reign to go after songwriters, performers, etc.
Here is some background on Gomen-Nasai for you...
Hit Song Changes Life of Former Army Draftee
By Bob Thomas
Hollywood, Feb. 26, 1953 (AP) — Home from a two-year stretch as an army draftee, Richard Bowers settled down last month to civilian life in his home town, Vaux Hall, N.J.
He got a job as a drill press operator in an electrical plant in the Newark suburb. He also applied for a civil service job with the government. Then things started popping.
One day he came home from work, and his sister excitedly reported that someone had telephoned him from California. Dick thought it was merely one of the army buddies he had known in Japan. But it turned out to be Fred Raphael of the Walt Disney music organization. After a few minutes' conversation, Dick was on his way to fame and fortune.
The 25-year-old Negro was lifted from obscurity because of a change happening on the other side of the continent. A chaplain's assistant named Dean Taylor stepped off a naval ship with a record he had picked up in Japan. It was called "Gomen-Nasai" ("Forgive Me.") The haunting, Japanese-shaded tune retells the tragic "Madam Butterfly" theme of an American serviceman who asks forgiveness from the Japanese girl he is deserting.
Taylor took the record to a Los Angeles disc jockey, Ralph Storey, who introduced it on the radio. The disc caused a stir and was replayed many times. It started a rush in the music industry to find out who owned the rights to the tune and who recorded it.
Investigators in Tokyo finally cleared up the mystery. The music was written by Raymond Hattori, a Japanese composer. The lyrics were the work of an ex-soldier, Benedict Mayers, now a professor of political science at Roosevelt College, Chicago. The voice on the record was that of Corp. Richard Bowers.
Columbia records, which made the disc in Japan, quickly waxed if for this country. Some 6,800 platters were sold in the first two days in Los Angeles. Variety reported the record "should clean up in the U.S. market."
When Bowers was finally located in New Jersey, he was instructed to report to the Disney office in New York. Disney's, which manages entertainers among its many other functions, signed him to a contract.
The handsome singer's future life began to shape up. He signed a pact with Columbia records for eight sides a year, unusual for a newcomer. Columbia Pictures flew him to Hollywood to sing "Gomen-Nasai" in a picture called "Mission over Korea." When I talked with him here, he seemed to be taking his new life in stride.
He is now caught up in a whirl of TV and radio appearances to plug the song. I asked if he would be singing in night clubs and theaters.
"If the song catches on nationally, I suppose I will," he replied modestly. "But that's up to Disney's."
He said that he had sung before only on an amateur basis. He spent 19 months in Japan as a clerk-typist in personnel. He recorded nine sides for Japanese labels, but never expected anything to come of them.
"Sure, I wanted to be a singer," he remarked. "But I figured it would be too tough to start in the business at my age."
Bowers was at a loss to describe his signing style, but said he generally likes to sing ballads. Raphael of Disney's gave a hint as to his appeal: "Dick has an intimate quality that makes it sound as though he's signing just for you."
