Sweet Georgia Brown
| "Sweet Georgia Brown" | |
|---|---|
 Later recording by Brother Bones and His Shadows (1949) | |
| Song by Ben Bernie | |
| Written | 1925 |
| Released | 1925 |
| Composer(s) | Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard |
| Lyricist(s) | Kenneth Casey |
"Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard and pop tune composed in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, with lyrics by Kenneth Casey.
Reportedly Ben Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the accredited lyricist – after meeting Dr. George Thaddeus Brown in New York City: Dr. Brown, a longtime member of the State House of Representatives for Georgia, told Bernie about Dr. Brown's daughter Georgia Brown and how subsequent to the baby girl's birth on August 11, 1911 the Georgia General Assembly had issued a declaration that she was to be named Georgia after the state, an anecdote which would be directly referenced by the song's lyric: "Georgia claimed her – Georgia named her."
The tune was first recorded on March 19, 1925, by bandleader Ben Bernie, resulting in a five-week number one for Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra.[1]
One of the most popular versions of "Sweet Georgia Brown" was recorded in 1949 by Brother Bones and His Shadows and later adopted as the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team in 1952.
Renditions
- Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra, 1925[2]
- Ethel Waters, 1925[2]
- Shortly after the song debuted in 1925, the California Ramblers recorded their version.
- Cab Calloway, 1931[2]
- Bing Crosby recorded the song on April 23, 1932 with Isham Jones and his Orchestra[3] and it is assessed as reaching the No. 2 spot in the charts of the day.[4]
- Earl Hines, September 12, 1934.
- Coleman Hawkins with Benny Carter and Django Reinhardt, 1937[2]
- Django Reinhardt, 1938[2]
- Harry James, Brunswick, 1939
- George Formby included a version on his "Swing it George" medley in 1939.
- Ella Fitzgerald, Whisper Not.
- Nat King Cole and his trio recorded an instrumental version in the late 1940s.
- Art Tatum, 1941[2]
- Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, 1943[2]
- The version used by the Globetrotters is a 1949 instrumental by Brother Bones and His Shadows with whistling and bones by Brother Bones. It was adopted as the Globetrotters theme in 1952.
- Bud Powell, 1950[2]
- Red Norvo with Charles Mingus and Tal Farlow, 1950[2]
- Anita O'Day, Jazz on a Summer's Day, 1958[2]
- Ray Charles, Dedicated to You, 1961
- Damita Jo recorded a version in 1961.
- The song was covered by The Beatles while working as a backup band for singer Tony Sheridan. Two versions exist; the first was recorded on May 24, 1962 in Hamburg, Germany, using the original lyrics.[5] The second (but the first version released) was released in 1964 during the wave of Beatlemania with Sheridan having re-recorded the vocals with notably more tame lyrics and the additional verse "in Liverpool she even dares / to criticise the Beatles' hair / with their whole fan-club standing there / oh Sweet Georgia Brown."[6] Roy Young played the piano.
- Trini Lopez included a sing-a-long version on his album The Sing Along World of Trini Lopez (Reprise Records).
- Sergio Franchi, Women in My Life, 1963
- Nancy Sinatra, Sugar, 1966
- Gentle Giant covered the song on their live album Playing the Fool, 1977.
- Oscar Peterson, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, and Ray Brown performed the song live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1977
- Count Basie Band recorded "Sweet Georgia Brown" on Prime Time, 1977.
- Oscar Peterson, Live at the Blue Note, 1990[2]
- Denny Zeitlin, Slickrock, 2003[2]
In animated cartoons
- Caricatures of Fats Waller and the Mills Brothers sing a scat-style rendition of the song in the cartoon "The Isle of Pingo Pongo" from the Merrie Melodies series.
- The robot Bender of TV science fiction cartoon Futurama harbors a desire to join the Harlem Globetrotters, and often whistles "Sweet Georgia Brown" in the episode "Time Keeps on Slippin'".
- The Simpsons have made references to "Sweet Georgia Brown" on three occasions:
- "Homie the Clown": The music can be heard during the part where Krusty is watching the Globetrotters vs. Washington Generals match.
- "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily": Skinner uses "Sweet Georgia Brown" as an oath when he finds Bart and Lisa disheveled and suspects that it has something to do with Homer and Marge neglecting them at home.
- "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson": The music can be heard in the couch gag where the family, dressed as Harlem Globetrotters, pass a red, white, and blue basketball to each other (with Maggie dunking the ball in the basket above the couch and hitting Homer in the head with it) as they run to the couch.
- In the Drawn Together episode "Nipple Ring-Ring Goes to Foster Care", the character Ling-Ling, after being given 21 shots of liquor (for his 21st birthday), is given "the traditional 21 doses of Sweet Georgia Brown," according to Spanky Ham.
- Bugs Bunny sings it in the Merrie Melodies shorts, "To Hare is Human" and "Hare Trigger".
See also
Notes and references
- ↑ CD liner notes: Chart-Toppers of the Twenties, 1998 ASV Ltd.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 415. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.
- ↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, US: Record Research Inc. p. 103. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
- ↑ Craig Cross, Beatles-Discography.com, iUniverse, 2004, p. 46. ISBN 978-0-595-31487-4.
- ↑ "Polydor NH 52-906". Dmbeatles.com. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
External links
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