Clap Yo 'Hands

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Clap Yo 'Hands is a pop song written by George Gershwin (music) and Ira Gershwin (lyrics) and released in 1926.

background

The Gershwin brothers wrote Clap Yo 'Hands for the musical comedy Oh, Kay! , which featured the song by Harland Dixon, Betty Compton, Paulette Winston, Constance Carpenter, and Jeanette Gilmore. The title does not appear in the song itself, where it says Clap-a yo 'hands , adapted to the music with two eighth and two quarter notes.

The song, written in F major in the form AABA ' , borrows from the spiritual ; What is remarkable about the chorus are the changing accents and the pentatonic theme, similar to the other songs (such as Do, Do, Do ) in Oh, Kay! , furthermore the blue notes (minor thirds and sevenths ). In the former music press Ira Gershwin line of text was in the sands of time you're just a pebble ( in the sands of time you are only a pebble criticized).

First recordings

The first musicians to record the song from 1926 onwards were Whispering Jack Smith (Victor 20372, 1927 at # 15 in the US music charts), Vincent Rizzo ( Okeh ) and Jack Hylton ( His Master's Voice ) The song became popular in the United States mainly through the version of Roger Wolfe Kahn and his orchestra ( Victor ).

Later cover versions

The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 40 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz , u. a. by Bob Chester , Lucky Millinder , The Hi-Lo's , Barbara Carroll , Sid Phillips , Chris Connor , Toots Thielemans , Pearl Bailey , Stéphane Grappelli , Joe Venuti and Ella Fitzgerald . Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson sang the song in the 1957 film musical A Sweet Face ; Liza Minnelli interpreted Clap Yo 'Hands in her stage show Liza's at The Palace .... .

Notes and individual references

  1. a b c d e Marvin E. Paymer, Don E. Post: Sentimental Journey: Intimate Portraits of America's Great Popular Songs . 1999, p. 91 f.
  2. ^ A b Tom Lord: The Jazz Discography Online. Lord Music