Alabamy Bound

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Alabamy Bound is a pop song written by Ray Henderson (music) and BG DeSylva and Bud Green (lyrics) and released in 1925.

background

The Tin Pan Alley song was first introduced by Al Jolson before Eddie Cantor performed it in the Kid Boots musical in New York City. Only the great success of the two songs Alabamy Bound and Dinah with the audience prevented the performance from ending; the song is said to have sold over a million sheet music copies.

The song is written in F major and has the structure AABA. The lyrics deal with returning home from the cities of the north and evoke the atmosphere of the American southern states ; typical of this is the broad march theme. The singer travels to Alabama by train ; thus one Alabamy Bound to the many songs that deal with traveling by trains.

“The title line I'm Alabamy Bound already tells the subject of the song; the rest of the lyrics are straightforward and exuberant. Not even the 'meanest ticket seller' who demands all the money from the young man for a better bunk can dampen his mood. The whistle of the train tells him that he will soon see land ( cover ground ); all that remains is the exuberant exclamation: Here I go / I'm Alabamy Bound . Ray Henderson's piece has a moving and train-like rhythm , and Buddy DeSylva's and Bud Green's lyrics indulge in the jargon of the time; the young man's frenetic Heebie-jeebies corresponds to the Choo-Choo sound of the train. "

Hot jazz band in New Orleans (with Tom Ebbert , trombone, among others ) 1993 while playing "Alabamy Bound"

First recordings

The musicians who first recorded the song in the United States from January 1925 onwards included the studio formation The Goofus Five (with Red Nichols and Adrian Rollini ), Fletcher Henderson , Paul Whiteman , Lucille Hegamin , Jimmy O'Bryant , Sara Martin ; in London it was recorded by Leslie Jeffries , in Berlin by Alex Hyde and Sam Wooding . The greatest success with Alabamy Sound had the mid-1920s, the vaudeville and Broadway singer and entertainer Blossom Seeley (1891-1974), as well as the orchestra of Isham Jones (Brunswick 2789).

Later cover versions

In later years the song was u. a. also recorded by Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt (1937), Cliff Edwards (1944), Yank Lawson (1953), Sonny Criss (1956) and Ray Charles (1960). In 1954, the vocal ensemble The Mulcays returned to the US charts. In recent times it has mainly been played in the area of Dixieland Jazz , u. a. by Benny Waters , Alex Welsh , Raymond Fonsèque , Bill Allred , Ken Colyer . The song was also covered by Van Morrison in 1998 , accompanied by Chris Barber and Lonnie Donegan . The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 92 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz .

The song was also used in several films, for example in The Great American Broadcast (1941), in which the Ink Spots presented it, and in Babes on Broadway and Broadway (both 1942), Everybody Happy? (1943). Eddie Cantor sang him in Show Business (1944) and With a Song in My Heart (1952).

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ a b c d Don Tyler: Hit Songs, 1900–1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era . 2007, p. 137 f.
  2. ↑ Sheet Music by Alabamy Bound: performed by Al Jolson, Paul Whiteman, Fletcher Henderson and others, by Ray Henderson, BG de Sylva, Bud Green. Shapiro, Bernstein & Co.
  3. ^ A b Marvin E. Paymer, Don E. Post: Sentimental Journey: Intimate Portraits of America's Great Popular Songs . 1999, p. 46.
  4. ↑ Philip Furia, Michael Lasser: America's Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood . 2006.
  5. ↑ Alex Hyde - Alabamy Bound (Alabama Klänge), Foxtrot (B.Green, B.deSylva, R.Henderson) Grammophon 20 234 (Matr. 1945 at), aufgen. May 1925, to be heard on youtube.com
  6. ↑ Sam Wooding Orchester - Alabamy Bound, Jazz-Foxtrot (B. Green, B. deSylva & R.Henderson) Vox * 01890 (Matr. 2359 A), add. July 1925, to be heard on youtube.com
  7. ↑ a b Tom Lord: Jazz discography (online)