That's my weakness now

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That's My Weakness Now is a pop song written by Sam H. Stept (music) and Bud Green (lyrics) and released in 1928.

background

Helen Kane

The songwriting team Sam H. Stept (1897-1964) and Bud Green (1897-1981) wrote That's My Weakness Now for a revue at New York's Paramount Theater , in which Helen Kane presented the song. That's My Weakness Now made the singer with the squeaky voice known nationwide, who added a few boop-boop-a-doops to the verses , after which she was nicknamed The Boop-Boop-a-Doop Girl . The first verse of the song reads:

I never ate at automats
But he likes automats,
And that's my weakness now.
She likes raccoon coats.
I never wore a raccoon coat,
But she likes raccoon coats.
And that's my weakness now.
He's got a Chevrolet .
I never liked a Chevrolet
But he's got a Chevrolet,
And that's my weakness now .

First recordings and later cover versions

Kane's recording of the song was the most successful version of the song (Victor 21557; it hit # 5 on the US charts in 1928). Other musicians who covered That's My Weakness Now from mid-1928 were Paul Whiteman (Columbia, with Bix Beiderbecke ), vocals: The Rhythm Boys), Whispering Jack Smith , Harry Reser 's Jazz Pilots, BA Rolfe with his Palais d'or Orchestra (Edison 52343), the Arcadians Dance Orchestra (Zonophone 5202), The Harmonians (Harmony 667-H), Jack Kaufman ( Pathé ), Nat Shilkret (Victor, with Frank Marvin, vocals), Milt Shaw (Vocalion), Abe Lyman (Brunswick), Cliff Edwards (Columbia), Sam Lanin and His Troubadors (Romeo 670), also the vocal duo Stuart Ross and Joe Sargent and the duo of Billy Jones and Ernest Hare (Diva 2665-G), in London Betz Challis , Tommy Handley , Harry Hudson ’s Melody Men and Jack Hylton , in Paris and Berlin, respectively, Lud Gluskin (Pathé) and Jack Hamilton .

That's My Weakness Now was played by the Charly Gaudriot jazz orchestra in a German version under the title Apparently you love me ; The band singer was Hans Grünhut. In 1929 Barnabás von Géczy covered him . A Swedish cover version came from Ernst Rolf ( De 'Har Jag Pippi På ), accompanied by Béla Dajos .

In 1949 Russ Morgan gave the song a small comeback (# 17 on the US hit parade). The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 63 (as of 2016) cover versions in the field of jazz , from 1939 by Jan Savitt , Charlie and His Orchestra , Svend Asmussen , Pete Brown , Oscar Peterson / Ray Brown , Pearl Bailey , Bill Doggett , Kenny Ball , Bobby Short , Humphrey Lyttelton and the Pasadena Roof Orchestra . That's My Weakness Now was covered by numerous Dixieland bands in later years. The song was used in several soundies around 1930 and in the film musical Applause (1929).

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ a b c Don Tyler: Hit Songs, 1900–1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era . Jefferson, North Carolina & London, McFarland, 2007, p. 159
  2. ↑ Sam H. Stept in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  3. ↑ Bud Green in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  4. ^ Diane Holloway: American History in Song: Lyrics from 1900 to 1945 . 2001, p. 266.
  5. ↑ Consists of Bing Crosby , Harry Barris , Al Rinker
  6. ↑ Ben Selvin or Fred Hall is probably hiding behind the band name
  7. ↑ a b Tom Lord: Jazz discography (online)
  8. ↑ Born in Vienna in 1902, died in Amsterdam in 1979
  9. ↑ Odeon A 86028 (Mx. No .: Ve 1406)
  10. ^ Edwin M. Bradley: The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926-1931 . 2005, p. 545. See also Edwin M. Bradley: The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 through 1932. 2004