Li'l Liza Jane

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Li'l Liza Jane
Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band
publication 1917
Genre (s) Jazz , folk
Author (s) Countess Ada de Lachau
Label Victor Records
Cover versions
1917 Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band
1956 Huey Smith & his Rhythm Aces
1959 Fats dominoes
1960 Nina Simone

Li'l Liza Jane , partly Little Liza Jane or simply Liza Jane , is a song by American lyricist and songwriter Countess Ada de Lachau from 1916, was by her for the Broadway -Stück Come Out of the Kitchen written therein listed. The roots of the song rich will presumably further to a song black slaves in the fields of the southern United States, possibly consisting of short verses and a recurring refrain existing song as Work Song sang while working.

1917 was the first in a jazz version of tape Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz recorded and appeared at Victor Records as a 10-inch shellac - Single in the same year. Over the years the title has developed into a classic of American traditional jazz , bluegrass and folk music and has been recorded in numerous versions by various musicians and music groups.

Text and music

Cover of sheet music from 1916 with inset photo of Ruth Chatterton .

The song Li'l Liza Jane exists in both sung and purely instrumental versions and varies, depending on the recorded version, both in musical interpretation and in text. There are also versions in which the song itself is instrumental but the chorus is sung. The music and the lyrics were originally written by Ada de Lachau, but subsequently edited by numerous other musicians. The song is laid out in 2/4 time in D major and Allegretto .

  • Sheet music page 1

  • Sheet music page 2

The jazz arrangement is based on this template and transformed it into a version for a jazz band with a piano , a trombone , a cornet , a clarinet and a drum kit .

As the text for sung versions, there are several versions that have emerged over the years and each of which has been picked up by different musicians. In the original by Ada de Lachau as well as in numerous cover versions, the text and the basic melody are simple and consist of a short stanza and a refrain:

"I'se got a gal an 'you got none
Li'l Liza Jane
I'se got a gal an' you got none
Li'l Liza Jane
Ohe Liza, li'l Liza Jane
Ohe Liza, li'l Liza Jane"

Ada de Lachau's text is written in a southern dialect. Later versions use a text that is strongly based on the original and varies in the stanzas, Nina Simone, for example, swapped the “gal” or “girl” for a “beaux” (“beautiful”). Others, including Fats Domino , adopted the melody and rhythm as well as the chorus of the song and wrote new lyrics for the verses:

"Lets go out to the record house
Lil 'Liza Jane
Lets get there by eight o'clock
Lil' Liza Jane
Ooh lil 'Liza, lil' Liza Jane
Ooh lil 'Liza, lil' Liza Jane"

Background and publication

Single label from Li'l Liza Jane , Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band 1917

Li'l Liza Jane was written by the poet and songwriter Countess Ada de Lachau as backing music for the comedy Come out of the Kitchen , which was played at George M. Cohan's Theater on Broadway from October 1916 to May 1917 . The song is likely based on a traditional chant that the black slaves of the southern United States sang at work; older recordings and recordings are not known. 1919 the comedy was filmed as a silent film by John S. Robertson with Marguerite Clark in the lead role by Paramount Pictures and published.

Reception and cover versions

The song has been recorded in numerous versions by various music groups and musicians since it was first published and has developed into a classic of early jazz, bluegrass and folk music. It was already recorded by other music groups in the 1910s and 1920s and, especially in the 1940s to 1960s, numerous covers and reinterpretations were made.

On October 9th, the jazz band Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band recorded the song in a jazz version with vocals and released it on Victor Records on a shellac single in 1917. Victor Records wanted to build the band up as competition against the original Dixieland Jass Band who made the first ever jazz recording in 1917 with the Livery Stable Blues and the Dixie Jass Band One Step . In 1918 a version of Harry C. Browne & Peerless Quartet followed as a vocal number with banjo, which established the song in folk and early country music as well as in bluegrass .

In 1956 a version of the song appeared as Little Liza Jane in a rock 'n' roll style by Huey Smith , and in 1959 another by Fats Domino . Both made the song popular again and were also covered several times. The American jazz and blues singer Nina Simone also picked it up and recorded it first on her album Nina Simone at Newport in 1960 and then several times at live concerts. In 1961 Bing Crosby used the song for a medley on his album 101 Gang Songs and in 1964 the title Liza Jane was released by a band called Davie Jones with the King Bees; it was David Bowie's first single . In 1998 the band Alison Krauss & Union Station won the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for their cover version of the song.

Other bands and performers who released the song in a cover version include: u. a.

In total, cover.info lists more than 50 cover versions and secondhandsongs.com lists more than 65 versions of the song (as of September 2020).

supporting documents

  1. ^ A b Li'l Liza Jane , sheet music by Sherman, Clay & Co., 1916, Duke Universities Digital Collection; accessed on September 1, 2020.
  2. ↑ a b Earl Fuller's Famous Jazz Band - Li'l Liza Jane in the Discography of Historical American Recordings (DAHR); accessed on September 1, 2020.
  3. ↑ Nina Simone - Little Liza Jane , lyrics at lyrics.com; accessed on September 1, 2020.
  4. ↑ Fats Domino - Li'l Liza Jane , lyrics at lyrics.com; accessed on September 1, 2020.
  5. ↑ Come out of the Kitchen in the Internet Broadway Database; accessed on September 1, 2020.
  6. ^ A b c Ned Hémard: Li'l Liza Jane ... Newspaper Publisher , New Orleans Nostalgia, 2014; accessed on September 1, 2020.
  7. ↑ a b c Li'l Liza Jane on cover.info; accessed on September 1, 2020.
  8. ↑ a b Li'l Liza Jane on secondhandsongs.com; accessed on September 1, 2020.