The earliest known recording of the eastern Mediterranean folk tune — a Greek vocal, cut for Columbia in New York in July 1927.
Theodotos (“Tetos”) Demetriades recorded “Misirlou (Μισιρλού)” for Columbia in New York in July 1927 (matrix W205625; issued as Columbia 56073-F for the Greek market). He was an Ottoman Greek, born in Istanbul, who had arrived in the United States in 1921; the folk melody was already circulating among Arabic, Greek, and Jewish musicians. is often printed as composer from a later copyright; the contour is older than that credit.