Rivers Of Babylon / Brown Girl In The Ring

First release in Germany, on April 3rd, 1978.
"Rivers Of Babylon" is one of Boney M.'s biggest hits. In the UK, it stayed at the no. 1 position for five weeks. Five months after "Rivers" had topped the charts, the B-side "Brown Girl In The Ring" made it all the way to no. 2. Subsequently, many later Boney M. singles were released as Double A-sides. The single remains in the top ten all-time best-selling singles in the UK to this day. "Rivers Of Babylon" was the group's only significant US chart entry, peaking at no. 30 in the Pop charts.
On many editions "Rivers Of Babylon" is credited to Frank Farian and George Reyam, although the track is a cover version of the track by The Melodians (opens in a new tab), credited to Brent Dowe and James McNaughton, and the lyrics are adapted from the Hebrew Bible.
Similarly, "Brown Girl In The Ring" is credited to Frank Farian only, although it is a traditional children's song from the West Indies. Previous versions of the track include that by Exuma (opens in a new tab), credited to "Trad./Exuma" and that by Malcolm's Locks (opens in a new tab), credited to "Trad./Malcolm Magaron".
Several versions of German 7", Hansa 11 999 AT, all with 'Made in Germany' and 'GEMA' on labels, are known to exist. They can be told apart by printed durations, A-side writers, A-side publishers, and pressing plant info (from matrices):
#1 (opens in a new tab) - 4:40 / 4:00 - no writers - Copyright Control - 047 [EMI Electrola GmbH]
#2 (opens in a new tab) - 4:40 / 4:00 - no writers - Copyright Control - 002 / Manufactured in Germany [Teldec-Press GmbH]
#3 (opens in a new tab) - 4:40 / 4:00 - F. Farian/Reyam - Far-Musik - No "002" or "047" in matrices [Sonopress]
#4 (opens in a new tab) - 4:16 / 4:03 - F. Farian/Reyam - Far-Musik - No "002" or "047" in matrices [Sonopress]
#5 (opens in a new tab) - 4:40 / 4:00 - F. Farian/Reyam - Far-Musik - 002
#6 (opens in a new tab) - 4:40 / 4:00 - F. Farian/Reyam - Far-Musik - 002 / Manufactured in Germany [Teldec-Press GmbH]
#7 (opens in a new tab) - 4:40 / 4:00 - F. Farian/Reyam/Dowe/McNaughton - Far-Music/Blue Mountain - No "002" or "047" in matrices [Sonopress]
#8 (opens in a new tab) - 4:40 / 4:00 - F. Farian/Reyam/Dowe/McNaughton - Far-Music/Blue Mountain - 002 / Manufactured in Germany [Teldec-Press GmbH]
#9 (opens in a new tab) - 4:16 / 4:00 - F. Farian/Reyam/Dowe/McNaughton - Far-Music/Blue Mountain - 002 / Manufactured in Germany [Teldec-Press GmbH]
#10 (opens in a new tab) - 4:16 / 4:03 - F. Farian/Reyam/Dowe/McNaughton - Far-Music/Blue Mountain - 002 / Manufactured in Germany [Teldec-Press GmbH]