Written and first recorded by Les Baxter (1952).
Hit version by Martin Denny (US #4/R&B #11 1959).
From the wiki: “‘Quiet Village’ is an Exotica instrumental that was written and first recorded by Les Baxter (‘Unchained Melody‘) in 1952. Seven years later, in 1959, Martin Denny added exotic sounds to the song, and his instrumental version made it to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #11 on the R&B charts. Arguably the creator of ‘world music’, Denny’s arrangements were a combination of ethnic styles: South Pacific, the Orient and Latin rhythms.
“It was during a mid-1950’s engagement at Honolulu’s ‘Hawaiian Village’ Shell Bar that Denny originally discovered what would become his trademark sound.
“The Shell Bar had a very exotic setting: a little pool of water right outside the bandstand, rocks and palm trees growing around, very quiet and relaxed. As the group played at night, Denny became aware of bullfrogs croaking. The croaking blended with the music and when the band stopped, so did the frogs. He thought it was a coincidence at first, but when he tried the tune again later, the same thing happened. This time, his bandmates began doing all sorts of tropical bird calls as a gag. The band thought it nothing more than a joke.
“The next day, someone approached Denny and asked if he would do the arrangement with the birds and frogs. He agreed. At rehearsal, he had the band do ‘Quiet Village’ with each doing a bird call spaced apart. Denny did the frog part on a grooved cylinder and the whole thing became incorporated into the arrangement of ‘Quiet Village’.”
Martin Denny, “Quiet Village” (1957, released 1959):