Editing Stranger on the Shore (section)

{{About|the musical piece|the BBC television series|Stranger on the Shore (TV serial)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox song
| name          = Stranger on the Shore
| cover         = Stranger on the Shore.jpg
| alt           = 
| type          = single
| artist        = [[Acker Bilk|Mr. Acker Bilk]] and the [[Leon Young (musician)|Leon Young]] String Chorale
| album         = 
| B-side        = "Take My Lips" (UK)<br/>"[[Cielito Lindo]]" (US)
| released      = [[1961 in music|October 1961]]
| recorded      = 
| studio        = 
| venue         = 
| genre         = 
* [[Jazz]]<ref name= "Breihan 2018">{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones: Mr. Acker Bilk's "Stranger On The Shore"|website= [[Stereogum]] |date= April 24, 2018 |url= https://www.stereogum.com/1992890/the-number-ones-mr-acker-bilks-stranger-on-the-shore/columns/the-number-ones/|quote= As far as jazz goes, ["Stranger on the Shore" is] so fluffy and inoffensive that it really only barely qualifies.|accessdate= June 10, 2023}}</ref>
* [[easy listening]]<ref name="Doggett 2015">{{cite book|title= Electric Shock: From the Gramophone to the iPhone - 125 Years of Pop Music|first=Peter|last=Doggett|date= 1 January 2015|chapter= Revolution in Reverse|page= 310|publisher=[[The Bodley Head]]|location= London|isbn=978-1-847-92218-2
|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Electric_Shock.html?id=guSsCAAAQBAJ|access-date= 20 February 2025}}</ref>
* [[Pop music|pop]]<ref name="Molanphy 2025">{{Cite podcast|url=https://slate.com/podcasts/hit-parade/2025/03/kyu-sakamoto-the-singing-nun-and-forgotten-hits-of-the-1960s|title=Singing Nuns and Green Tambourines Edition|website=Hit Parade {{!}} Music History and Music Trivia|publisher=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|last=Molanphy|first=Chris|date=March 15, 2025|access-date=March 23, 2025|quote=...period-accurate 1960s pop songs, like...British clarinetist Mr. Acker Bilk, with his smash instrumental "Stranger on the Shore}}</ref>
| length        = {{Duration|m=2|s=52}}
| label         = [[Columbia Graphophone Company|Columbia]] DB4750 (UK)<br/>[[Atco Records|Atco]] 45-6217 (US)
| writer        = [[Acker Bilk]]
| producer      = [[Denis Preston]]
| prev_title    = [[The Stars and Stripes Forever|Stars and Stripes Forever]]/Creole Jazz
| prev_year     = 1961
| next_title    = [[Frankie and Johnny (song)|Frankie and Johnny]]
| next_year     = 1962
}}
"'''Stranger on the Shore'''" is a piece for [[clarinet]] written by [[Acker Bilk]] for his young daughter and originally named "Jenny" after her.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2170 | title = Stranger On The Shore by Mr. Acker Bilk | access-date = 2009-05-29 | last = Wade | first = Anne | publisher = Songfacts | quote = Originally named "Jenny" (after his daughter) on his LP Sentimental Journey, the song's name was changed when Bilk played it as the theme song for a new children's TV show, Stranger On The Shore.}}</ref> The tune was written on a single scrap of paper by Bilk and handed over to arranger [[Leon Young (musician)|Leon Young]] who crafted the string arrangement, including the characteristic harmonic shifts at the very end.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.robertfarnonsociety.org.uk/index.php/legends/leon-young|title=Robert Farnon Society - Leon Young|website=www.robertfarnonsociety.org.uk}}</ref>

The recording was subsequently used as the theme tune of a [[BBC One|BBC]] TV drama serial for young people, ''[[Stranger on the Shore (TV serial)|Stranger on the Shore]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/sots.htm |title=Stranger on the Shore &#124; A Television Heaven Review |access-date=2006-08-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060916012418/http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/sots.htm |archive-date=16 September 2006 |df=dmy }}</ref>  It was first released in 1961 in the UK, and then in the US, and reached number 1 on both the US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] and the [[UK singles chart|UK Singles Chart]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicvf.com/song.php?id=29699 |title=Stranger on the Shore (song by Mr. Acker Bilk) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts |website=Musicvf.com |date=1962-03-17 |access-date=2016-09-26}}</ref>

In May 1969, the crew of [[Apollo 10]] took "Stranger on the Shore" on their mission to the [[moon (Earth)|moon]]. [[Gene Cernan]], a member of the crew, included the tune on a cassette tape used in the command module of the Apollo spacecraft.