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"The Three Bells"
#1 weeks: 4
weeks: 1959-08-24, 1959-08-31, 1959-09-07, 1959-09-14
artist: The Browns

"The Three Bells", also known as "Jimmy Brown" or "Little Jimmy Brown", is a song made popular by The Browns in 1959. The single reached number one on the U.S. country and pop charts, . outperforming a competing version by Dick Flood. The version by The Browns also hit number ten on the Hot R&B Sides chart. . It was based on the 1945 French language song "Les trois cloches" by Jean Villard and Marc Herrand. The English lyrics were written by Bert Reisfeld and first recorded by Melody Maids in 1948. The song was a major 1952-53 hit by Edith Piaf and Les Compagnons de la Chanson.

Among the many artists who covered the song are Edith Piaf and Les Compagnons de la chanson (who recorded the original French version), Tina Arena, Brian Poole and The Tremeloes, Ray Charles, Nana Mouskouri, Roy Orbison, Floyd Cramer, Daniel O'Donnell, Chet Atkins, Elaine Paige, Sha Na Na and Alison Krauss & Union Station. It was also recorded in Dutch, as "De drie klokken" and "Bim bam", and in Italian, as "Le Tre Campane" by Schola Cantorum.

With lyrics in Swedish by Britt Lindeborg, Kikki Danielsson covered the song in 1979 on her debut album, Rock'n Yodel, as "Och vi hörde klockor ringa" ("And we heard bells ringing").

Jim Ed Brown, one-third of the Browns, released a cover in 1969.