Fine and dandy
Fine and Dandy is a pop song written by Kay Swift (music) and James Warburg (lyrics, under the pseudonym Paul James ) and published in 1930.
background
The composer and pianist Kay Swift wrote Fine and Dandy with her husband James P. Warburg (1896–1969) for the revue of the same name, which premiered on September 23, 1930 at Erlanger's Theater on 44th Street (now the St. James Theater ) , starring comedians Joe Cook and Dave Chasen and dancer Eleanor Powell. The two Swift James songs Fine and Dandy and Can This Be Love? ; in the 1930/31 season Fine and Dandy was one of the few hits. The song was a syncopated number, written in F major in the song form ABAC, with regular harmonic changes and the bass notes in the downbeats creating a steady drive .
First recordings and later cover versions
The musicians who covered the song from 1930 onwards included the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra (OKeh) and the Arden & Ohman Orchestra (Victor 22552, with Frank Luther, vocals). From the end of the 1930s, the song became a popular jazz standard (through recordings by Teddy Wilson , Art Tatum , Woody Herman , Les Paul , Django Reinhardt and Benny Goodman, among others ); The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 234 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz , of which the versions by Erroll Garner , Peggy Lee , Anita O'Day , Sonny Stitt and Dick Wellstood / Dick Hyman are to be highlighted among the recordings of the post-war period . The song was u. a. by Louis Armstrong , Charlie Parker, and George Wallington . recorded.
Kay Swift's composition should not be confused with the ragtime number of the same name by Charles L. Johnson (1908).
Notes and individual references
- ↑ a b Vicki Ohl: Fine and Dandy: The Life and Work of Kay Swift . 2008, p. 61.
- ^ David A. Jasen: Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song . 2004, page 201
- ↑ Tatum recorded the song in 1939, 1941, 1944 and 1953.
- ↑ Tom Lord: Jazz discography (online)
- ↑ Information at Jazzstandards.com
- ↑ : Pershing Hotel Ballroom Chicago, Ill, October 23, 1950 and 1947, with Barry Ulanov & His All Star Metronome Jazzmen