Jazz began to «swing» as musicians began to adopt swing eighths, the string
bass, high hat cymbals, and a looser, more rhythmic feeling . . . ⇒
This change occurred gradually starting in the twenties notably with Louis Armstrong, and continued on into the 40’s. A lot of the music that came out of this period was played by bands of ten musicians or more. Because of this the swing era is also often known as the big band era.
01 – Glenn Miller Orchestra: ‘In The Mood’
02 – ‘Chattanooga choo choo’
(Hey there Tex, what you say?)
Step aside partner, it’s my day
Bend an ear and listen to my version
(Of a really solid Tennessee excursion)
Pardon me boy, is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?
(Yes yes, track 29)
Boy, you can give me a shine
(Can you afford to board Chattanooga Choo Choo?)
I’ve got my fare (And just a trifle to spare)
You leave the Pennsylvania station ‘bout a quarter to four
Read a magazine and then you’re in Baltimore
Dinner in the diner, nothing could be finer
(Then to have your ham and eggs in Carolina)
When you hear the whistle blowin’ eight to the bar
Then you know that Tennessee is not very far
Shuffle all the coal in, gotta keep it rollin’
(Whoo whoo, Chattanooga, there you are)
There’s gonna be a certain party at the station
Satin and Lace, I used to call funny face
She’s gonna cry until I tell her that I’ll never roam
(So Chattanooga Choo Choo)
Won’t you choo choo me home (Chattanooga, Chattanooga)
Get aboard (Chattanooga, Chattanooga)
All aboard (Chattanooga, Chattanooga)
Chattanooga Choo Choo – Won’t you choo choo me home
03 – Charlie Barnet Orchestra: ‘Cherokee’
04 → Benny Goodman Orchestra: ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’ ⇓
• Lindy Hop scene from ‘A Day at the Races’ (1937). Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers dance to the song → ‘All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm’ ⇐
¤ JAZZ JUKEBOX
Splendid account of the swing era through ‘soundies’ & jukeboxes, which then served the same purpose as our end of century’s videoclips.
In 1934, Fats Waller (below) introduced his humorous vocal jazz style, and three years later, Glenn Miller began leading orchestras in his distinctive style of swing.
∇ Fats Waller ⇓ ‘Your feet’s too big’
Way up in Harlem at a table for two
There were four of us, me, your big feet and you
From your ankles up, you sure look sweet
From there down there’s just too much feet
Yes, your feet’s too big
Can’t stand ya ‘cause ya feet’s too big
Can’t tolerate ya ‘cause ya feet’s too big
Where did ya get ‘em?
Your girl she loves you, she thinks you’re nice
She claims you got everything to take you to be to paradise
She likes your loving – she likes your ring
But man oh man and things are too big
Yeah your feet’s too big
Don’t wantcha ‘cause ya feet’s too big
I can’t tolerate you ‘cause your feet’s too big
My goodness, [Incomprehensible], shiff shiff shiff
. . . Oh play that doll house music… I love it . . .
Oh, your peddelic extremities are colossal
But to me you ain’t nothing but an old fossil
Yes you got me walkin’, talkin’ and squarkin’
‘Cause your feet’s too big, yeah
Yes, your feet’s too big – Can’t stand it ‘cause …
I can’t tolerate you. I really hate you ‘cause your feet’s too big
In fact, your peddelic extremities are a bit obnoxious
Where did you get them from? Where did you get them on?
One never knows do one?
∇ Ain’t Misbehavin’ ⇓ ( F. Waller)
No one to talk with, all by myself
No one to walk with, but I’m happy on the shelf
Ain’t misbehavin’, I’m savin’ my love for you.
I know for certain the one you love
I’m through with flirtin’, it’s just you I’m thinkin’ of
Ain’t Misbehavin’, I’m savin’ my love for you.
Like Jack Horner in the corner
don’t go nowhere, what do I care
Your kisses are worth waitin’ for . . . Believe me.
I don’t stay out late, don’t care to go
I’m home about 8, just me and my radio
Ain’t Misbehavin’, I’m savin’ my love for you.
∇ Dorothy Dandridge ⇓ ‘My Heart Belongs to Daddy’ (C. Porter)
≈
Hi-Di-Ho & Other Movies (dir. Josh Binney) ⇒
Features a total of 16 of the performer’s most popular songs, such as «Hi-De-Ho» , «Minnie the Moocher,» and more.
•→www.battleofthebigbands.com/cab-calloway ⇐
∇ Cab Calloway & the Nicholas Brothers ⇓ ‘Jumpin’ Jive’
÷ ÷ ÷ ÷
◊ Billie Holiday ⇓ ‘Now Baby or Never’
Hey baby make up your mind
‘Cause I’ve been waiting such a long, long time
Now baby or never ‘cause I been so good to you
Now baby or never ‘cause I’ve been so lonesome, too
Now baby or never if I mean anything to you
Now baby or never ‘cause you wasted so much time
Now baby or never ‘cause you can’t make up your mind
Now baby or never and it ain’t no fault of mine
◊ Billie Holiday ↓ ‘When You’re Smiling’
When you’re smiling – When you’re smiling
The whole world smiles with you
When you’re laughing – When you’re laughing
The sun comes shining thru
But when you’re crying, you bring on the rain
So stop your sighing – be happy again
Keep on smiling ’cause when you’re smiling
The whole world smiles with you
÷ ÷ ÷ ÷
∞ Peggy Lee & Frank Sinatra ⇒ ‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’ ⇐ [George & Ira Gershwin]
Holding hands at midnight ‘neath a starry sky…
Oh that is nice work if you can get it – And you can get it if you try.
Strolling with the one boy – Sighing sigh after sigh…
Oh nice work if you can get it – And you can get it if you try.
Just imagine someone waiting at the cottage door.
Where two hearts become one…
Who could ask for anything more?
Loving one who loves you, And then taking that vow…
Nice work if you can get it, And if you get it —
Won’t you tell me how?
Never know how much I love you – Never know how much I care When you put your arms around me, I get a fever that’s so hard to bear You give me fever, when you kiss me – Fever when you hold me tight – FEVER! in the mornin’, a fever all through the night Sun lights up the day time – Moon lights up the night I light up when you call my name and you know I’m gonna treat you right You give me fever, when you kiss me – Fever when you hold me tight – FEVER! in the mornin’ – A fever all through the night Everybody’s got the fever – That is somethin’ you all know Fever isn’t such a new thing – Fever started long ago Captain Smith and Pocahontas had a very mad affair When her daddy tried to kill him – She said, «Daddy oh don’t you dare» He gives me fever with his kisses – Fever when he holds me tight – FEVER! I’m his missus and daddy won’t you treat him right? Now you’ve listened to my story – Here’s the point that I have made Chicks were born to give you fever – Be it Fahrenheit or Centigrade They give you fever when we kiss them – Fever if you live and learn Fever till you sizzle – Oh what a lovely way to burn What a lovely way to burn . . .
You had plenty money 1922
You let other women make a fool of you
Why don’t you do right like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too
You’re sitting down, wondering what it’s all about
If you ain’t got no money, they will put you out
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too
If you had prepared twenty years ago
You wouldn’t be wanderin’ now from door to door
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too
I fell for your jivin’ and I took you in
Now all you got to offer me’s a drink of gin
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too
Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?
Like some other men do
÷ ÷ ÷ ÷
A song written in 1936 by Irving Berlin for the film Follow the Fleet, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and featured in a celebrated dance duet with Ginger Rogers.
∇ Ella Fritzgerald ⇓
♦ Nat King Cole ↓
feat . . . Rita Hayworth – Fred Astaire – Gene Kelly – Cyd Charisse – Ava Gardner – Sophia Loren – Deborah Kerr – Gary Grant – Ginger Rogers – Katharine Hepburn – Jimmy Stewart
There may be trouble ahead
But while there’s music and moonlight and love and romance
Let’s face the music and dance
Before the fiddlers have fled
Before they ask us to pay the bill and while we still have the chance
Let’s face the music and dance
Soon we’ll be without the moon, humming a different tune and then
There may be teardrops to shed
So while there’s moonlight and music and love and romance
Let’s face the music and dance
♥ ‘L.O.V.E.’ ⇓
· · · Nat King Cole ↓ ‘How High The Moon’ [1957]
Somewhere there’s music – How faint the tune
Somewhere there’s Heaven – How high the moon
There is no moon above when love is far away too
if it is true that you love me and I love you
Somewhere there’s music – That’s where you are
Somewhere there’s Heaven – How near, how far
The darkest night would shine if love’ll come to me soon
And if you will, be still my heart – How high the moon
» . . . I love my ceiling more
Since it is a dancing floor
Just for my love»
♥ Ella Fitzgerald ⇓ ‘All The Things You Are’ (Hammerstein / Kern)
♥ Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love) ⇓ [C. Porter]
∞ ‘They can’t take That away from me’ ⇓ [George & Ira Gershwin_1937]
The way you wear your hat – The way you sip your tea The memory of all that – No, no, they can’t take that away from me The way your smile just beams – The way you sing off key The way you haunt my dreams – No, no, they can’t take that away from me We may never, never never meet again on the bumpy road to love Still, I’ll always, always keep the memory of The way you hold your knife – The way we danced till three The way you changed my life – No, no, they can’t take that away from me No, they can’t take that away from me [scat . . .]÷ ÷ ÷ ÷
♦ ◊ ♦ Jammin’ The Blues ↓ [1944]
featuring… Lester Young, Red Callender, Harry Edison, Marlowe Morris, Sid Catlett, Barney Kessel, Jo Jones, John Simmons, Illinois Jacquet, Marie Bryant, Archie Savage and Garland Finney.
• «On the Sunny Side of the Street» ↑
Grab your coat, get your hat
Leave your worries on the doorstep
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street
Can’t you hear the pitter-patter?
That happy tune is your step
Life can be sweet
On the sunny side of the street
I used to walk in the shade
Kept my blues on parade
But now I’m not afraid
‘Cause my rover crossed over
And if I never had a cent
I’d be rich like Rockefeller is
Got gold dust round my feet
On the sunny side of the street
+ Lester Young (ts) + Bill Harris (tb) + Hank Jones (p) + Ray Brown (b) + Buddy Rich (d) ⇓ ‘Pennies From Heaven’ [1950]
÷ ÷ ÷ ÷
∇ Ella Fitzgerald & F. Sinatra ⇓ ‘Can’t We Be Friends’Now it seems this is how the story ends
He’s gonna turn me down and say
«Can’t we be friends?»
Not for long! This is how the story ends
She’s gonna turn me down and say
«Can’t we be friends?»
And through with men
They play their game without shame
And who’s to blame?
What a bust! This is how the story ends
He’s gonna turn me down and say
«Can’t we be friends?»
∇ Frank Sinatra ↓ ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ (‘In Other Words’)
Fly me to the moon – Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like on a-Jupiter and Mars
In other words, hold my hand
In other words, baby, kiss me
Fill my heart with song and let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for – All I worship and adore
In other words, please be true
In other words, I love you
[instrumental-first verse]
Fill my heart with song – Let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for – All I worship and adore
In other words, please be true
In other words, in other words
I love [3 piano notes] you
÷ ÷ ÷ ÷
∞ Rosemary Clooney & Tony Pastor ⇓ ‘Movie Tonight’ [1947]
Movie tonight – I’m takin’ baby to the movie tonight
We’re gettin’ groovie in the movie tonight – Baby and me!
Up on the screen – when you know who is [. . . ?]
You find another couple stealin’ the scene – Baby and me!
Munchin’ on a popcorn bowl or a candy bar
We won’t see that show at all – ‘cause baby is my favourite movie star
It’s movie tonight – We’re sittin’ cosy and we’re doin’ all right
Nobody’s nosy in the movie tonight – Just baby and me!
We had the code around the comet you will picture show
‘cause we’re goners when the lights are low – In the balcony.
We’d only [. . . ?] when we’re sittin’ in the very last row
and we’ll even sit to see the same show – Just baby and me!
Dean and Frankie are a smash in a magazine
We’ll be worth a lot of cash if only be lookin’ [. . . ?]
Movie tonight – The show was over when they turned on the light
We looked around and there was no-one inside – Just baby and me!
In the movie, with the groovie – Just baby and me.
÷ ÷ ÷ ÷
∞ Ben Webster & Coleman Hawkins ⇓ ‘Prisioner of Love’
+ Oscar Peterson (Piano) + Herb Ellis (Guitar) + Ray Brown (Double Bass) + Alvin Stoller (Drums)
÷ ÷ ÷ ÷
¤ ‘Put the blame on Mame’ ⇓
Originally written by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher for the film Gilda in 1946, it was sung by the title character, played by Rita Hayworth with the singing voice of Anita Kert Ellis dubbed in.
In keeping with the film character Gilda, being «the ultimate femme fatale«, the song sung by her at two scenes facetiously credits the amorous activities of a woman named «Mame» as the true cause of three well-known cataclysmic events in American history: The Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Great Blizzard of 1888 in New York City and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
When Mrs. O’Leary’s cow
Kicked the lantern in Chicago town
They say that started the fire
That burned Chicago down
That’s the story that went around
But here’s the real low-down
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
Mame kissed a buyer from out of town
That kiss burned Chicago down
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
Remember the blizzard, back in Manhattan
In eighteen-eighty-six
They say that traffic was tied up
And folks were in a fix
That’s the story that went around
But here’s the real low-down
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
Mame gave a chump such an ice-cold «No»
For seven days they shovelled snow
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame . . .
. . . When they had the earthquake in San Francisco
Back in nineteen-six
They said that Mother Nature
Was up to her old tricks
That’s the story that went around
But here’s the real low-down
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
One night she started to shim and shake
That brought on the Frisco quake
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
They once had a shootin’ up in the Klondike
When they got Dan McGrew
Folks were putting the blame on
The lady known as Lou
That’s the story that went around
But here’s the real low-down
Put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
Mame did a dance called the hoochy-coo
That’s the thing that slew McGrew
So you can put the blame on Mame, boys
Put the blame on Mame
•→Peggy Lee: ‘Put the blame on Me’←
… When emperor Nero started to fiddle, the Romans gathered round
until his friends [ . . . ? ] burned Rome to the ground.
That’s the story that History tells, but the history books are wrong
Put the blame on me, boy – Put the blame on me
The conflagration began when he got fever, being around with me.
So you can put the blame on me!
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