I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover

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I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover (That I Overlooked Before) is a song written by Harry MacGregor Woods (music) and Mort Dixon (lyrics) and released in 1927.

background

I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover is considered a typical Tin Pan Alley song that was popularized in the United States by versions of Nick Lucas , Ben Bernie, and performances by entertainers such as Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor . The verses of the song, written in an old-fashioned style ( form ABAC ), are in G major , the refrain in B major .

First recordings and later cover versions

In the United States, Nick Lucas (# 2), Ben Bernie (# 3) and Jean Goldkette (# 10, with Billy Murray ) were successful with their recordings of the song; Brad Gowans , Sam Lanin and Jack Hylton in England were among the other musicians who covered the song from 1927 . Around 1948 the song made a comeback when he u. a. by Russ Morgan (with The Ames Brothers ), Harry James , Kid Ory and the Revellers (Electrola 596), covered in Europe by Simon Brehm and Buddy Bertinat . Art Mooney's orchestra had a number one hit in the United States in 1948 with I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover . The title was one of the songs that appealed to the post-war attitude towards life; "The war was over and everyone was looking for the four-leaf clover that promised better times".

The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 71 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz , u. a. by Chris Barber , Gustav Brom , the Dutch Swing College Band , Pete Fountain , Tiny Hill , Art Hodes , Ove Lind , Sammy Rimington , Lalo Schifrin and Lou Stein . Al Jolson sang I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover as a vocal double for Larry Parks in the film Jolson Sings Again (1953), Danny Thomas interpreted the song in the remake (1953) of The Jazz Singer . In later years the song became a standard for banjo players and improvised singalong sessions.

Web links

  • Inclusion in the catalog of the German National Library: DNB 359411959

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Marvin E. Paymer, Don E. Post: Sentimental Journey: Intimate Portraits of America's Great Popular Songs . 1999, p. 111
  2. ↑ a b Tom Lord: Jazz discography (online)
  3. ↑ Melvin Brown: The Sanctamooja and Me . 2013, p. 9.
  4. ^ William Emmett Studwell: Lest we forget: a chronological historical survey of some of the most notable songs of the first half of the 20th century. 2001, page 44.