Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me)
Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don't Tease Me) is a jazz composition that Duke Ellington initially composed under the title Subtle Slough and first published in 1941. Lee Gaines wrote lyrics to the melody, which in later years became a popular jazz standard .
background
The title was created in preparation for the Afro-American revue Jump for Joy , which was performed in Los Angeles in 1941. In addition to the Duke Ellington Orchestra, vocalists such as Dorothy Dandridge , Ivie Anderson , Herb Jeffries and Big Joe Turner appeared. The songs on the show, which premiered at the Mayan Theater on July 10, 1941, included I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good , Take the "A" Train , Rocks in My Bed and the instrumental number Subtle Slough . Ellington did not register the copyright to the title Subtle Slough until 1945, and it was not until the following year that Lee Gaines added the lyrics, whereupon the composition was renamed Just Squeeze Me, but Please Don't Tease Me .
Just Squeeze Me, Don't Tease Me was played at concerts of the Duke Ellington Orchestra 1943-46 in Los Angeles and recorded for radio; in the studio the title was first recorded by the André Previn Trio (with Irving Ashby and Red Callender ) for the local Sunset label on March 25, 1946, by Ellington's orchestra for Victor Records on July 9, 1946 (Victor 20-1992); However, no chart success was achieved. This was achieved by the cover version of Paul Weston and His Orchestra with singer Matt Dennis ( Capitol Records ), who made it into the American charts for four weeks on December 28, 1946 and reached # 21. This was done again in 1952 by the vocal band The Four Aces (# 20). The Ellington musician Ray Nance was also successful with the title.
The song's melody is swinging, adapted to the fast tempo of Lee Gaines' simple, staccato lyrics. Just Squeeze Me is both a plea for love and a commitment to love in the absence of the loved one:
|
|
First recordings and later cover versions
Among the musicians who covered the song in the late 1940s were Benny Goodman , Hubert Rostaing and the Swedish Jazz All Stars (including Putte Wickman , Arne Domnerus , Alice Babs ). The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 733 (as of 2016) cover versions in the field of jazz , including recordings by Harry Allen , Harold Ashby , Ella Fitzgerald , Major Holley / Jay McShann , Barbara Lea , Peggy Lee , Junior Mance , Jane Monheit , Mark Murphy , Lou Rawls , Duke Robillard / Herb Ellis , Carol Sloane , Tierney Sutton , Clark Terry and Warren Vaché deserve special mention. Pop, soul and R&B vocalists such as Janis Martin (1957), Gloria Lynne (1958), Joanie Sommers (1960), Jo Stafford / Johnny Mandel (1960), Marvin Gaye / Mary Wells (1964) covered the title.