[Dixielandjazz] Rinehart

[Joe Carbery]

Dear Bill,

Thanks for your comments.
I agree that the lyrics to the 1958 "*Somebody.*.." are as you say. I have
the earlier (1940) version on CD and to my ears the words are clearly
"Rinehart's brokenhearted etc." The lyrics as originally written are "Her
brokenhearted lonesome etc." I could imagine Jimmy making a spoonerism but
it's a long shot to convert "her" into "Rinehart." I think his 1958 lyrics,
which he stumbles over a bit, are an attempt to dredge the original - as
written - lyrics up from the depths of his memory. I hasten to add that my
hearing may be faulty and selective!
Incidentally, the recording date I gave for *Harvard Blues *is from a
four-CD set compiled by Orin Keepnews and issued on Columbia/Legacy. I
wouldn't be surprised if it was incorrect because there are other
inaccuracies, such as saying that *Somebody Stole My Gal *was by the full
Basie band.
Anyhow, I'll continue to sing "Rinehart's brokenhearted etc...." and think
of J Rushing Esq as I do so.

Best Wishes,

Joe.


On Fri, Jul 17, 2015 at 1:29 PM, Bill Haesler <bhaesler at bigpond.net.au>
wrote:

> Joe Carbery wrote:
> > In the version of *Somebody Stole My Gal *recorded on 8th August 1940 by
> Jimmy Rushing with the Basie band, he sings "Rinehart's brokenhearted
> lonesome pal...."
> > I had long assumed that Rinehart had made his way into that song from
> the lyrics of *Harvard Blues *("Rinehart, Rinehart, I'm a most indifferent
> > guy....") Yet *Harvard Blues *was recorded by Basie and Rushing on 21
> January 1942 and an article in the Harvard Magazine (Sept-Oct 2002) says
> that George Frazier, who wrote the lyrics, "in 1941 regaled his friend
> Basie with a sadsack version of the legend."
> > If Basie first heard the lyrics in 1941, where did Jimmy Rushing hear of
> Rinehart?
>
> Dear Joe,
> The easy answer is that Jimmy Rushing didn't sing: "Rinehart's
> brokenhearted lonesome pal....".
> He sang "Find a brokenhearted lonesome pal....".
> Listen to the Count Basie Orchestra version issued on Columbia 35550:
>
> https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Jazz%2C+Count+Basie%2C+Somebody+Stole+My+Gal
>
> I also have a Jimmy Rushing recording of it from 27 February 1958, based
> on the Basie routine, where the subject lyric is much clearer:
>    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqqvNi-gLIQ
>
> However, you have opened up a proper can of worms here.
>
> •Jimmy Rushing recorded "Somebody Stole My Gal" with the Count Basie
> Orchestra (issued on Columbia 35550) on 20 March 1940.
> Where did your 8 August 1940 date come from?
>
> •I have Basie's "Harvard Blues" with its odd lyrics and vaguely recalled
> the Rinehart story; so went a-googling this morning.
>     http://harvardmagazine.com/2002/09/i-love-my-vincent-baby-html
> It was recorded on 17 November 1941 (not 21 January 1942).
> The copyright "Harvard Blues" was registered on 4 April 1942 by George
> Frazier, Tab Smith and Count Basie.
> Probably about the time the recording was released on Okeh 6564.
>
> There is also a Rinehart/Harvard Blues connection in Ralph Ellison's book
> 'Invisible Man', as you probably know.
>    http://intl-nq.oxfordjournals.org/content/54/2/181.extract
> that suggests we should really be looking for another Jimmy Rushing
> recording with the lyric:
>         Rinehart, Rinehart
>         It's so lonesome up here
>         On Beacon Hill.
> Very kind regards,
> Bill.
>
>
>
>
>