These songs are a part of our musical history. The first song was written by George M. Cohan and a snippet of it was sung in the 1942 biopic "Yankee Doodle Dandy". The snippet did not include several of the words that are in the song. They're not "dirty" words but they are words that would be unacceptable in today's society. It's a snappy and fun song, if you put it in it's historical context. Belle of the Barber's Ball It was written about 1898 (one of Cohan's earliest works; he was only 20 years old) and this recording was made in 1911 by Billy Murray and Ada Jones, a popular duet of the time.
This song puts down poor little New Jersey. It proves that there's nothing new about dissing Jersey. The song was from a Broadway play. New Jersey is a beautiful state. It's, after all, called the Garden State. A resident said that others are just jealous. :) It was love at first sight when I visited it in 1996. I moved here in 2002 so please take this song in the good humor in which it is presented. It is sung by Billy Murray, one of the top recording artists of the early 20th century. This song was recorded in 1907 or 1908. Notice the topical reference to President Taft. BTW James G. Blaine had run against Grover Cleveland in 1886. That is why the line would be so funny. And lost to Cleveland. Which is why the line would be even funnier. The political references were not part of the original song lyrics. As often happens, the powers that be decided to make a good thing better. ;) Over On The Jersey Side
Here's a place where you can find "the sweetest little 'oh, my, oh'". Down By The O-Hi-O It's sung by Billy Murray and Victor Roberts and was recorded in 1920.
Billy Murray sang a great number of drinking songs (he sang a great number of songs, period, over 5000!) though he was a teetotaler. This is one of his lesser known songs. Pardon the atrocious quality. It was a combination of being an old worn recording and poor playback. It was recorded in 1904. I'm On The Water Wagon Now.My mother liked and sang this song to me when I was growing up. They Go Wild, Simply Wild, Over Me recorded by Billy Murray in 1918. One of the lines in it is "Once I kissed a girl named Nell, now she's in a padded cell She went Wild Simply Wild Over Me". BTW my nickname is Nell. ;)
Here's a fun song from the 1920s by an artist I've never heard of, Percival Mackey, but I'm glad I found this. Thanks For The Buggy Ride. My favorite line is "It was a wonderful treat To hear the patter of horsey feet."
I did a search for Percivial Mackey and found out he was a British composer and orchestra leader but didn't find much else. There's a little bit of info on him on the Internet Movie Database: Percival Mackey.Here's a song that was used in the 1950 version of "Cheaper by the Dozen" (Internet Movie Database) with Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy. It was used in the school dance sequence when Frank Gilbreth (Clifton Webb) was dancing with his daughter Anne (Jeanne Crain) and is called "The Vamp". It's a very bouncy and catchy song. It's done by the Joseph C. Smith Orchestra with Harry MacDonough and Billy Murray doing the vocal. It was recorded in 1919. The dance sequence in the movie takes place in 1924.
Thank you, Steve and everyone who has helped me. :)
