"Kon-Tiki" is an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

tune by British group

the Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

, released as a single in September 1961. It was the group's fifth hit and their second to top the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Background and release

"Kon-Tiki" was written by Michael Carr, who had previously written "

Man of Mystery "Man of Mystery" is a song by the Shadows, released as a single in November 1960. It peaked at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart. Background and release "Man of Mystery" was written by Michael Carr for the theme tune for the film series '' Eg ...

" for the group. It refers to the raft used by Norwegian explorer

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000& ...

on his 1947 ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition. It was released with the B-side "36-24-36", which was written by the four Shadows members.

Track listing

7": Columbia / DB 4698 # "Kon-Tiki" – 1:51 # "36-24-36" – 1:42

Personnel

Hank Marvin Hank Brian Marvin (born Brian Robson Rankin, 28 October 1941) is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the ba ...

– electric lead guitar *

Bruce Welch Bruce Welch (born 2 November 1941 as Bruce Cripps) is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer, singer and businessman best known as a founding member of the Shadows. Biography Welch's parents (Stan Cripps and Grace Welch) moved him to 15 B ...

– acoustic rhythm guitar *

Jet Harris Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus ...

– electric bass guitar *

Tony Meehan Daniel Joseph Anthony Meehan (2 March 1943 – 28 November 2005), professionally known as Tony Meehan, was a founder member of the British group the Drifters, with Jet Harris, Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch, which would evolve into the Shadows. ...

– drums

Charts

References

{{authority control 1961 singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Songs with music by Michael Carr (composer) Rock instrumentals 1961 songs Song recordings produced by Norrie Paramor Columbia Graphophone Company singles The Shadows songs 1960s instrumentals Thor Heyerdahl