Breakdancing & Rapping In The Mills Brothers' Film Clip "Caravan" (with a transcription of that "rap")

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post provides information about The Mills Brothers and showcases their film clip "Caravan" film clip. Particular attention is given to the "breakdancing", rapping", and beatboxing" that is found in this film clip.

My transcription of the spoken words in the beginning of this film clip is included in this post along with selected comments from the discussion thread of that video (movie clip). Brief explanatory comments with hyperlinks are also included after some of these comments.

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The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to The Mills Brothers for their musical legacies. Thanks also to all those who were associated with this video. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to SbrPL for publishing this video on YouTube.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Mills Brothers - Caravan



SbrPL, Dec 17, 2007

The Mills Brothers "Caravan"

Donald Mills
Harry Mills
Herbert Mills
John Sr. Mills

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MY TRANSCRIPTION OF THE WORDS THAT ARE SPOKEN AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS FILM CLIP*

[One of the Mills Brothers]
Look here children
Now how come
This here barbecue looks so glum?
Speak up, Sister
You ain't dumb.

[Individually spoken by two other members of The Mills Brothers]
How come?
How come?

[The first Mills Brother who had previously spoken]
How come?

[The last member of The Mills Brothers]
How come?

[Woman speaks]

We were dancing for de cup.*
But de band done stood us up.*

[The first Mill Brother]
No jive?
And no jumpin?
Well, I guess this calls for somethin'.

[Group begins singing]
-snip-
Additions and corrections are welcome.

-snip-
*Thanks to Anonymous February 8, 2020 at 2:23 PM for their transcription.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE MILLS BROTHERS
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mills_Brothers
"The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an African-American jazz and pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and garnered at least three dozen gold records.

The Mills Brothers were the first African-American artists to have their own show on national network radio, on CBS in 1930[1], and the first to have a #1 hit on the Billboard singles chart, with Paper Doll in 1943. They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998

[...]

They honored Duke Ellington with a swing version of his "Caravan," and then produced a series of classic recordings; "South of the Border", which they performed in a tour of South America, along with "Ain't Misbehavin'", "It Don't Mean a Thing", "Jeepers Creepers", "Three Little Fishies", and "Basin Street Blues"."...

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
Most of these comments are about the "rapping", "breakdancing", and "beatboxing" that is done in this film clip. I've added brief explanatory remarks and hyperlinks after some of these comments.

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

1. STEPASAUR, 2008
"Beautiful! BBoys(breakdancers) will cream over this, the guy does(what BBoys call) 'swipes' at 1.55 I'd be interested what they were called back then, and the guys name if anyone knows?"

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2. jzzlvrmee, 2009
"Nice vocal version of the old Duke Ellington tune."
-snip-
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Ellington for information about African American American composer, pianist, and leader of a jazz orchestra Duke Ellington.

" "Caravan" is an American jazz standard that was composed by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington and first performed by Ellington in 1936. Irving Mills wrote lyrics". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravan_(Juan_Tizol_and_Duke_Ellington_song)

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3. Kosmos Withak, 2009
"YO! the 1st girl was taking her spot light! She woke it up, I mean she was sexy, intensely on beat. This puts MTV, BET to shame.

Can't help but notice that the dances, the vibe of this video transcends time- I see some 1970''s, 80's break'n', I see hip hop battles, even some house dance moves, a lil reggae, Jump' n' Jive - Damn! This vids got it all!!!"

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4. Soulsdeep, 2009
"Before watching this vid, I thought break's been an invention of later decades, but WOW, I was wrong! :D

Also the immitation of the instruments is brilliant!"

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5. djbigsmooth, 2009
"real dancing from the soul, allowing the music to touch the very fiber of your being and you letting loose your best moves on the dancefloor. this is beautiful and inspiring. just wonderful and a joy to watch and hear."

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6. digitalwavemusic, 2010
"see 1:40 old school breakdance"

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7. SkateYourOwnStyle, 2010
"very cool !!! I like the "breakdancing" from 1:50 to 2:02"

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8. jasobres, 2011
"Nice to see the Mills Brothers singing WITHOUT the guitar!"

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9. cowgirlmoon, 2011
"OMG.... This is so GREAT! Classic 40's-50's. What great talents, they were."

REPLY

10. RapOet, 2011
"@cowgirlmoon yes you're right - they performed beyond the 40s and 50s (and this clip is from 1942 like @ajringen) - I'm just making the point that they came up in the 20s (before they were world famous) including John Jr. who passed away in the late 30s. I'm glad they were able to become famous and sustain careers though it didn't happen overnight"
-snip-
Several other comments in this compilation give other dates for this film clip.

This YouTube sound file gives the date for another recording of the Mills Brothers "Caravan" (with a guitar) as 1938: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM-z-Ot8n_Y.

A dailymotion video of this same dancing film clip dates it as "1946". https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1jy90

Duke Ellington's "Caravan" was composed in 1936, so this film clip had to be filmed after that date. John Mills Jr. died in the beginning of 1936 [as per Wikipedia]. John Sr.'s appearance in this film clip [as per the video summary] means that this film was made after John Jr's passing. But when was it produced and who produced it?

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11. bigjayrules, 2011
"Holy crap these guys invented beat boxing and break dancing 50 years before anyone else"

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12. Rory Litwin, 2012
"This is from the 1943 movie Chatterbox, by Joseph Santley"

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13. Luc Breli, 2012
"This was recorded and filmed in 1937."

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14. Supa Nova, 2013
"Did this guy really just do some" breaking flares in the 1940s?"

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15. Wuhoo, 2013
"of course the guy at the end is eating watermelons"
-snip-
Black people eating watermelons is a common stereotype.

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16. nikkvideos, 2014
"All that comes from somewhere, it isn't just outa nowhere. This stuff has style that is amazing. Thank goodness for YouTube!"

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REPLY
17. Joren Van Eyken, 2018
"And check them rapping too. Hip hop din't invent anything. It is an artistic movement that reunited and redefined many things that have been around in African oral tradition forever!"

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REPLY
18. Anders Lind, 2018
"Al Minns said about break dancers in 1984, that the only thing he had not seen before, was the head spins."
-snip-
"Al Minns (1 January 1920 – 24 April 1985), was a prominent American Lindy Hop and jazz dancer. Most famous for his film and stage performances in the 1930s and 1940s with the Harlem-based Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, Minns worked throughout his life to promote the dances that he and his cohorts helped to pioneer at New York's Savoy Ballroom."... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Minns

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19. Robert Funke, 2014
"Accord weirwildrealm-dot-com , this is part of a short film directed by Josef Berne of 1942, where Mills Bros also performed "Paper Doll" and "Old Rockin chair". Interesting EARLY B-BOY."

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20. Muhammad Smith, 2014
"my favorite is the guy at 1:45, but my favorite move he does is at 2:01"

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21. Mayme Clayton, 2014
"The 1st version of break dancing and soul train line!"
-snip-
" "Soul Train is an American music-dance television program which aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 27, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, dance/pop, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists also appeared...

...the popular "Soul Train Line" (a variant of the 1950s fad then known as The Stroll), in which all the dancers form two lines with a space in the middle for dancers to strut down and dance in consecutive order. Originally, this consisted of a couple—with men on one side and women on the other. In later years, men and women had their own individual lineups"...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Train

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22. Guy Schneider, 2015
"I love it! Especially the head-jerk at 1:48 and 1:50! Totally cool-hype!"

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23. Greg B, 2015
"I remember reading somewhere that this was made in 1943.
And it makes me wonder if this is the first time something like this was recorded. And that's where the guy starts cutting it up @ 01:44, and then proceeds to show breakdancers how it's done, way back then style."..."

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24. mrdoopey, 2016
"Is it me, or was the first 30 seconds the dopest rap? following with breakdancing?"

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25. johndrobcuny, 2016
"This was the Mills Brothers' version of Duke Ellington's "Caravan", but where Duke used an orchestra, the Mills Brothers used only their mouths. There is NO band or orchestra accompanying them on this song. Their "gimmick" in the early part of their career was the "vocal orchestra", where they could imitate trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and of course the bass and tuba. After the oldest brother, John C., died in 1936, their father, John H., took his place as the bass/tuba. And yes, during the various musicians' strikes, the union did look into it to make sure that they were not using unauthorized musicians. It was called talent."

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REPLY
26. wtnomad, 2017
"+johndrobcuny
thank you for that information.
i watched this clip a couple of times elsewhere and didn't realise they were making the music themselves.
this info makes the clip and the MILLS BROS even MORE impressive."

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REPLY
27. BRESLAU, 2017
"At 2:01 I think that guy imitates chicken"

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28. mrstep2me, 2016
"What would Dougie Fresh think of this?"
-snip-
Doug E. Fresh Hip Hop icon, "known as the "Human Beatbox" is considered the pioneer of 20th century American beatboxing". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_E._Fresh

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29. Watson Unlimited, 2017
"Elements of hip-hop 30yrs before Herc. Rhyming, Beatboxing (try and tell me that isn't beatboxing), Dancing.."
-snip-
Here's information about DJ Kool Herc" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_Kool_Herc:
"Clive Campbell (born April 16, 1955), better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican–American DJ who is credited with helping originate hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in the 1970s....[He is] "Known as the "Founder of Hip-Hop" and "Father of Hip-Hop""...

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30. OGxBUCCWEET, 2017
"To all my hip-hop heads, add this one to the archives! Rapping and breakdancing in the 40's... Nice!"

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31. aaasssddd zzzxxxccc, 2017
..."The Mills bros. started this when one day a teenage Harry forgot to bring his Kazoo to the boys street corner singing gig and then played his famous mouth trumpet. Later, each of the boys learned to blow different horns and winds. Watch for this in several vids. Its real and its good."

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32. eric echols, 2018
"There's an old 1920's film were a black guy is break dancing, bustin windmills in the dirt. Here you get, rappin, beatboxin, soultrain dance line, & break dancin! Awesome!!! Is the first lady, that gets up, off the floor & proceeds to dance, Dorothy Dandridge? I know, she played in a movie with the Mill Brothers in 1942 called Paper Doll. She had a dance sequence, in the movie."

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33. zontar3x23, 2018
"I wonder what the Mills Bros thought of that jivey dialogue and hokey costumes. They were high-class gentlemen. I hope they were paid well."

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34. Running, 2018
"Even saw a little bit of C Walking at 1:12!"
-snip-
"C Walking" = "crip walking"; a 1970s dance move which "originated" from the Los Angeles, California Crips gang. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crip_Walk

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