'Ich steh' an der Bar und habe kein Geld' performed by the Belgian comedian and 'all-round artist' BOBBEJAAN SCHOEPEN (1925–2010). — ORIGIN, COVER VERSIONS, AND CHART POSITIONS:

Origin of the song (first recorded): "A Pub With No Beer" is the title of an Australian country song made famous in 1957 by country singer Slim Dusty (#1 Sydney, #1 Melbourne, #10 Brisbane, #2 Adelaide [5AD], #12 Perth, #3 UK)

Original source of the lyrics: a poem titled "A Pub Without Beer". This poem was written by Irish-born sugarcane farmer Dan Sheahan, published in a Queensland newspaper in 1943.
A Pub Without Beer was adapted for A Pub With No Beer by Gordon Parsons who apparently believed it was an anonymous work in the public domain. Dan Sheahan's contribution was later acknowledged by Slim Dusty.

Original melody: Beautiful Dreamer (1864)
Stephen Foster - USA
Often cited as the melody of A Pub With No Beer. It is unclear whether this was a case of intentional or unconscious borrowing. As Paul Byrnes at Australian Screen notes, No-one noticed until many years later that the tune is almost identical to ‘Beautiful Dreamer’.

Belgian entertainer Bobbejaan Schoepen recorded the song in several languages. His Dutch version ("Café zonder bier", lyrics: van Aleda and Louis Baret) debuted in 1959 and stayed 40 weeks in the Belgian (Flemish) charts. Peak position: #3.

Bobbejaan his German cover version 'Ich steh' an der Bar und habe kein Geld' was released in 1960 in Austria and in Germany. "The song reached the top in Austria first. Later it reached #4 in Germany.' (Source: The Cash Box - July 23, 1960) But https://www.chartsurfer.de says the song reached #9 in Germany with no positions in Austria, where charts were introduced years later).

"A Pub With No Beer" is also the theme song and title of a 1962 Belgian-English film starring Bobbejaan Schoepen, also known as At the Drop of a Head.

Source: https://poparchives.com.au/slim-dusty...

Bobbejaan Schoepen was a Belgian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and professional whistler. His career flourished from 1948 to the mid 1960s. His repertoire of 495 songs contains country, ballade, film score, chanson, parody, and folk. After fifteen years of worldwide touring, he was looking to settle down. In 1959 he bought a 30-hectare estate near Antwerp where he built his house and a 1,200-seat venue. Dec. 31, 1961 "Bobbejaanland" was opened by Bobbejaan and his wife Josée, who jointly developed the park into a life’s work.
To mention a few: Bobbejaan composed 'Ich hab Ehrfurcht vor schneeweißen Haaren' (covered by Heino, Camillo Felgen, James Last and others). He was also author of the Dutch version (1960). In 1964 he composed 'Je me suis souvent demandé', covered by Richard Anthony in French and Spanish, both number-one hits in France and Argentina in 1965 (Billboard and Cash Box). Meanwhile his 'music center' Bobbejaanland evolved into a successful theme park, as a result of which Schoepen’s musical career slowly took a backseat. In 1999 he was diagnosed with colon cancer, which fueled the idea to sell their life’s work in 2004. In the winter of his life, Bobbejaan focussed again on his musical roots, which resulted in a few, but authentic home records.
(more info: www.bobbejaan.be/de/biografie)

Video recorded in 1967 in Barrandov studios Prague. Edited by Vladimir Sis.

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