[Dixielandjazz] Song Lyrics

[Scott Anthony]

I learned "My Little Bimbo" from listening to Clancy Hayes singing it with 
the Bob Scobey band from the 1950s I would guess. He sang "She's got a shape 
like a ukulele" in the first chorus and "She'd be a hit with Barnum and 
Bailey" in the second chorus. Is it true the two variations are not in the 
original sheet?

Often, it seems to me that new lyrics to tunes qualify them for copyright 
renewal. I have 3 versions of Irving Berlin's "I'll See You In C-U-B-A," a 
copy of the original from 1920 (verse in Dm, chorus in D), one from the '50s 
with Bing Crosby on the cover (can't remember the keys of the verse and 
chorus), and one from the Hal Leonard Irving Berlin Fakebook with verse in 
Am and chorus in C (ruining the "feel" of the harmony) and with completely 
changed lyrics that completely whitewash the original intent of the song as 
a Prohibition protest. I actually called Hal Leonard to complain and was 
told "tastes change." That may be, but I no longer trust any of the tunes in 
that fakebook to be original versions.

Scott Anthony

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Adrian Ford" <maggief at comcen.com.au>
To: <santh at comcast.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2012 9:41 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Song Lyrics


>     A question for the lyrically aware, When did the OKOM bands/vocalists 
> stop personalising their records. By this I mean altering lyrics to make 
> them funnier, more relevant or more personal to the band.
>     Two instances - "My little Bimbo" and "My Cutie's Due At Two To Two".
>     "She's got a shape like a ukelele" Is much more evocative than "She'd 
> be a hit with Barnum Bailey." (The & is not in the original music). My 
> Cutie has couplets that aren't in the sheet music. Many more examples 
> abound, ie "Tonight's My Night With Baby", "Yes We Have No Bananas" and 
> many other golden oldies that are in any self respecting OKOM bands 
> repertoire.
>     There are isolated instances over the years:- Melbourne Aust. based 
> Frank Johnson's replacement of "Rings inside her nose, Bells upon her 
> toes" with "Got a nose just like a banana and she's just one of the bunch" 
> which he rhymes later on with "She's got a kick like a steel mill punch." 
> In of course, the 6am milkman's favourite :-"Oh Gee Say Gee".
>     I do not include smut in this question or the complete rewriting of 
> songs. Where have all our poetic innovators gone?
> Adrian Ford
> //
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