Sonny Boy (song)

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Sonny Boy is the title of a slow fox song that the American composers Buddy DeSylva and Ray Henderson and the songwriter Lew Brown wrote in 1928 for the sound film "The Singing Fool" by Lloyd Bacon . In the film and subsequently also on the shellac record , it was performed and popularized by the entertainer Al Jolson , who a year earlier had ushered in the age of the sound film with “ The Jazz Singer ” .

background

After the success of the sound film The Jazz Singer (1927) with Al Jolson , Warner Brothers worked on a second film, The Singing Fool (1928, directed by Lloyd Bacon ). a. I'm Sitting on Top of the World . When DeSylva was in Atlantic City with Ray Henderson and Lew Brown, he received a surprise call from Al Jolson. The singer needed a new song from him within a very short time; DeSylva then asked how old the child actor in the new film was, Jolson replied: “He's three and stands on my knee.” DeSylva then presented him with his song idea:

Climb upon my knee, sonny boy;
although you're only three, sonny boy .

Henderson, Deylva and Brown actually took the assignment to write the song for the singer as a joke; they knew that Al Jolson liked sentimental ballads that he knew how to dramatize and add a rolling R to. The sentimental song, a tear jerker ( schmaltz ), was created in a single session in a hotel room in Atlantic City. Henderson, Deylva and Brown wrote the worst possible song from their point of view, but which they were sure would hit Jolson. After he agreed, the songwriting team spent the whole night writing Sonny Boy to sing to the singer on the phone the next morning. Jolson agreed; his record of Sonny Boy , recorded on August 20, 1928 for Brunswick , was then the biggest hit of his career; In 1928 the song was number 1 on the US charts for a total of 19 weeks.

The sheet music was published by DeSylva, Brown & Henderson Inc. Music Publishers in New York by the authors' music publishing house , and for Germany by the Berlin music publishing house Alberti.

First recording of the song

The Brunswick record 4033 with "Sonny Boy", recorded on August 20, 1928 in Los Angeles, was the first with a film song , which was sold over a million times in the United States. On the B-side you can hear the second hit from the film, "There's A Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder", written by Jolson, Billy Rose and Dave Dreyer , with a whistle solo by Jolson.

Early recordings and later cover versions

Richard Tauber in front of the Brandenburg Gate , 1932

In the version by Henry Kiselik, the song was also available as a piano roll for electric pianos. Musicians who recorded the song from 1928 onwards in the United States included Ruth Etting ( Columbia 1563), Jesse Crawford ( Victor 21728), Gene Austin (Victor 21779), John McCormack / Nat Shilkret , Gracie Fields , Layton & Johnstone (Columbia 5198), Frank Ferera's Hawaiian Trio with Annette Hanshaw , Corrine deBert and Jan Garber's orchestra .

The film came to Germany in 1929 under the title The Singing Fool . Here the 'Song of the Boy' “Sonny Boy” was performed by prominent artists on the vocal stage such as Richard Tauber , Franz Völker (with the Paul Godwin artist orchestra, gramophone B42944), Hans Heinz Bollmann and Wilhelm Gombert , but also by performers from Germany the cabaret like the actor and cabaret artist Oskar Karlweis and the chansonnier Paul O'Montis . Robert Gilbert and Ernst Neubach wrote the German text “Sleep and dream sweet, Sonny Boy” . It was also played as a dance music number, often arranged in a jazzy way, by well-known bands such as Sam Baskini , Dajos Béla or Marek Weber .

In Austria, the refrain singer Otto Neuman (n) recorded the title with Columbia. Entertainers like Karel Hašler in Czechoslovakia, Cyril Ramon Newton in Great Britain, Fred Gouin in France and the 'Revuekönig' Ernst Rolf in Sweden made recordings of “Sonny Boy” all over Europe .

Fred Gouin sang a French version ( Mon petit , Odeon 166.283, with the Orchester André Cadou), Daniele Serra an Italian; Matti Jurva interpreted the song in Finnish .

Even after the Second World War the popular German tenor Rudolf Schock sang it on an LP .; The baritone Heinz Maria Lins , accompanied by the Wilfried Krüger Orchestra, recorded it in 1964. It has now become an evergreen .

Furthermore, it was Sonny Boy end of the 1920s recorded by many jazz musicians, so of Henry Kiselik , Irving Kaufman (Okeh), Rube Bloom (Pathe), Lee Sims (Brunswick), the original Wolverines ( Vocalion ) in Berlin from Lud Gluskin , Stefan Weintraub , Bernard Etté and Sam Baskini , in Paris the Orchester David Bee and His Red Beans and Grégor et ses Grégoriens (among others with Alix Combelle , Michel Warlop , Stéphane Grappelli ). The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 137 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz , u. a. by Thore Ehrling , Svend Asmussen , Slim Gaillard , Leo Watson / Vic Dickenson , Mel Tormé , Oscar Pettiford , Jack Dieval , Albert Mangelsdorff , Cal Tjader , Jimmy Forrest , Rob Pronk , Toots Thielemans , Henri Crolla , Howard McGhee , Chet Baker , Sonny Rollins , Ted Heath , Ike Quebec , Red Garland and Sonny Stitt . In 1949, Al Jolson sang Sonny Boy again as a vocal double for Larry Parks in the film Jolson Sings Again .

The episode of how the three musicians compose the song and its later showing in a cinema are part of the film adaptation of the collaboration between Henderson, DeSylva and Brown in the 1956 musical Fanfares of Joy (The Best Things in Life Are Free) .

song lyrics

  1. English lyrics by Lew Brown © Warner / Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
  2. German text by Gilbert & Neubach:
  • Preface

"Sleep and dream sweetly, Sonnyboy,

close your eyes, sun boy

your love holds me

the world turns around you,

all happiness is yours, sonny boy.

  • Refrain

Shining stars

shine in the distance,

light up for you, sun boy.

Bells ring out

a thousand birds sing,

sing for you, sonny boy;

but only one heart

always beats for you

and this is my heart.

Who loves you like me

Oh believe me

more than a lifetime

I want to give for you

I would give for you, sonny boy.

The text by Gilbert and Neubach was also distributed on song postcards with the permission of the Alberti music publisher. There is also a text variant whose refrain begins with the line “Can you please me”

reception

The writer Arno Schmidt quoted the text of “Sonny Boy” in a story.

The writer Walter Kempowski wrote of himself in 1983: "I am the Sonny Boy of contemporary German literature."

The lyricist, essayist, biographer, editor and translator Hans Magnus Enzensberger quotes the refrain from 2012 in his book My Favorite Flops .

Web links

  • Cinema poster from Austria (Kino Lustspieltheater am Prater) with the advertising line “Al Jolson sings and speaks ...”
  • Cinema poster for the Kammer-Lichtspiele Kiel, with an advertising line “Al Jolson [...] with his heartbreaking Sonny Boy”
  • Advertisement of the “Lichtspiele” in Kleve with an advertisement for the “Song of Songs” Sonny Boy

literature

  • Rudolf Arnheim: The Singing Fool. In: Reviews and essays on the film. Verlag Hanser, 1977, p. 65.
  • Frank Bell, Alexandra Jacobson, Rosa Schumacher: pioneers, inventors, illusions: cinema in Bielefeld. Verlag Westfalen, 1995, ISBN 3-88918-084-1 , p. 93.
  • Dietz Bering: Foreign and foreign in proper names (= contributions to name research: New series. Volume 30). Verlag C. Winter, 1990, p. 45.
  • Herbert Birett: Silent film music. A collection of materials. Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin 1970.
  • Heiko Bockstiegel: Schmidt-Boelcke conducts. A musician's life between art and the media landscape . Grimm Musikverlag, 1994, ISBN 3-9802695-1-5 , p. 51.
  • Cornelia Fleer: From Kaiser Panorama to Heimatfilm: cinema stories from Bielefeld and the province of Westphalia. With e. Preface v. Klaus Kreimeier. Verlag Jonas, 1996, ISBN 3-89445-197-1 , p. 84.
  • Franz Grafl: Praterbude and Filmpalast: Viennese cinema reading book . With contributions from Reinhard Tramontana, Florian Pauer and Karl Sierek. Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-85115-169-0 , pp. 46, 67-68.
  • Malte Hagener, Jan Hans: When the films learned to sing . Ed. Text + Review, 1999, ISBN 3-88377-614-9 , p. 38
  • Herbert Ihering, German Academy of the Arts in Berlin: 1924–1929 (= From Reinhardt to Brecht: Four decades of theater and film. Volume 2). Aufbau-Verlag, 1961, p. 571.
  • Herbert Ihering, Karin Messlinger: Herbert Ihering: film critic . Munich, Verlag ET + K, Edition Text + Criticism, 2011, pp. 133, 135–136.
  • Jennifer M. Kapczynski, Michael D. Richardson: A New History of German Cinema. Boydell & Brewer Publishing House, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England 2014, ISBN 978-1-57113-595-7 , p. 201 Notes 2 and 3. (English)
  • Hanne Knickmann, Rolf Aurich: Kurt Pinthus, film journalist . Edition Text + Critique, 2008, p. 260, 263.
  • Lutz Peter Koepnick: The Dark Mirror: German Cinema Between Hitler and Hollywood . University of California Press, 2002, pp. 26–27 [advertisement from the 1929 Film-Kurier] and p. 276 note 11. (English)
  • Monika Lerch-Stumpf: For a ten to paradise. Munich cinema history 1896 to 1945. Dölling and Galitz, Munich / Hamburg 2004, pp. 171, 183.
  • Thomas J. Saunders: Hollywood in Berlin: American Cinema and Weimar Germany . University of California Press, 1994, ISBN 0-520-91416-3 , pp. 225 f., 308. (English)
  • Michael Schaudig: Positions in German Film History (= Discourse Film: Munich Contributions to Film Philology. Volume 8). Diskurs Film-Verlag, 1996, ISBN 3-926372-07-9 , p. 120.
  • Monika Sperr: The big hit book: German hits 1800-today. Verlag Rogner & Bernhard, 1978, p. 117

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Rudolf Arnheim in his review of the film: "... this person [Jolson] turns a silly touching piece into a tearful tragedy" (in: Reviews and essays on the film, publisher Helmut H. Diederichs, Munich / Vienna, 1979, p. 65– 66), and Karl Kinndt in his poem “Der singende Narr”, which appeared on the occasion of the premiere of the film in the magazine Jugend in 1929 (printed by Birett, Stummfilmmusik, p. 12): "And it is getting wetter / in rank as well as in the parquet / the ladies howl snot and water / the "singing fool" brings his dying child to bed "
  2. ↑ tsort.info
  3. ↑ Fig. Of the note title at wordpress.com
  4. ↑ cf. Sonny boy [shining stars ...]; Foxtrot; from the sound film "The Singing Fool"; (The singing fool) (Author: Al Jolson; Buddy DeSylva; Lew Brown; Ray Henderson; Arr. Von Heinz Landmann) Alberti's Schlager series. Alberti Music Publishing House, Berlin 1929.
  5. ↑ cf. wordpress.com : "Brunswick 4033 was the first record of a film song in history to sell more than one million copies."
  6. ↑ cf. wordpress.com : “The B-side recording is Jolson again, including a 'whistling chorus' by the performer, in the song' There's A Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder', also from The Singing Fool. 'Rainbow' was written by Jolson, Billy Rose (1899-1966), and Dave Dreyer (1894-1967). It runs 2 minutes and 36 seconds. " - Image of the sheet music title from staticflickr.com accessed on November 26, 2015.
  7. ↑ cf. Orchestrion Roll Welte Y-75402 (1928)
  8. ↑ Ampico Lexington 210903-F
  9. ↑ It was first performed on June 3, 1929 in the Gloria-Palast in Berlin, cf. chroniknet.de
  10. ↑ so the Odeon advertising, cf. Fig. D. Lindström advertisement
  11. ↑ Columbia D-31196 Sonny boy - Foxtrot. Neuman was born in Vienna on April 21, 1891 and died there on December 28, 1956. He was with Columbia in Vienna from the mid-twenties, cf. grammophon-platten.de
  12. ↑ Recording by HMV, republished in 2006 on the CD Až Já Půjdu Do Nebe (When I go to heaven), cf. redmp3
  13. ↑ Newton tries hard to imitate Jolson's presentation: “I doubt that the term 'cover version' was around at the time, but delivery in both songs plagiarises Jolson who was a sensation at the time” comments the user who wrote this 8- inch broadcast label discontinued
  14. ^ Recte Hippolyte Eugène Frédéric Gouin, 1889–1959. For this artist cf. dutempsdescerisesauxfeuillesmortes.net
  15. ↑ track B 5 on "A Song Goes Around The World: Twelve World Successes, Sung by Rudolf Schock". Label Eurodisc 74 565 IE, cf. discogs.com , listen to on youtube
  16. ↑ Bertelsmann Record Ring No. 36 537: “Komm In Meine Liebeslaube - The most beautiful hits of the last 50 years 1910-1934”, compilation with 12 vinyl singles 45 rpm. in box. Here: No. 9, page A 2, cf. discogs.com
  17. ↑ a list of the recordings made so far can be found at coverinfo.de
  18. ^ Piano Roll , Welte Y-75402 (1928)
  19. ↑ With Mike Durso (tb), Maurice Bercov (cl, as), Dick Voynow (p, dir), Dick McPartland (g), Basil Dupree (b), Vic Moore (dr).
  20. ↑ Tom Lord: Jazz discography (online)
  21. ↑ reproduced at lyricsmania.com
  22. ↑ quoted from buettner.de and beepworld.de
  23. ↑ cf. viewskarten.de (accessed November 26, 2015)
  24. ↑ by the author "Roxy", cf. to Electrola EG 1123 and Derby blue DO5597 a - according to MK in ÖML, however, behind this is the team of authors Ernst Neubach and Robert Gilbert, cf. Austrian Music lexicon (last updated: 2014/11/06 08:54:20)
  25. ↑ cf. Roland Burmeister: The music passages at Arno Schmidt: chronological list of positions on the complete works of Arno Schmidt with explanations and comments. Verlag Häusser, 1991, ISBN 3-927902-57-8 , here p. 306.
  26. ↑ cf. Gerhard Henschel in taz.de from October 6, 2007.
  27. ↑ in his story of the three wise men from the Orient visiting Berlin, in “Meine Kino-Flops” - unfortunately with incorrect author information (Ray Andersen , Al Johnson ). See Hans Magnus Enzensberger: My favorite flops, followed by an ideas magazine. Suhrkamp Verlag, 2012. ISBN 978-3-518-77830-2 .