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“Lemon Tree” is a folk song written by Will Holt in the late 1950s. It was inspired by a Brazilian song, Meu limão meu limoeiro, originally written in 1930.
The tune is based on the Brazilian folk song Meu limão, meu limoeiro, arranged by José Carlos Burle in 1937 and made popular by Brazilian singer Wilson Simonal. The song compares love to a lemon tree: “Lemon tree very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet, but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.”
In 1965, Trini Lopez recorded the most successful version of the song, which hit number twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the BillboardMiddle Road Singles chart. “I remember meeting Trini Lopez,” Holt told Portland Magazine in 2013. “He was a sweet guy, really charming. I heard his version of ‘Lemon Tree,’ and I thought, that’s another take of the song.”
The song has also been recorded by:
- Peter, Paul and Mary (1962), this version marked the trio’s first appearance on the US Hot 100. It charted at #35.
- The Impressions
- Chad & Jeremy
- The Kingston Trio
- The Seekers
- The Wailers
- Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass (1965), on Whipped Cream & Other Delights
- Sandie Shaw
- Roger Whittaker.
- Low-Maintenance Perennials as “Lemon Peel Mmm (Live At Altamont)” on Jurassic Park: The Album
- Lord Bill Barnes (1966) on The Greatest Calypso Hits
