Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post presents some online excerpts about the history of "the Moonwalk" dance.
The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
EXCERPTS ABOUT THE MOONWALK DANCE
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes.
Excerpt #1:
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonwalk_(dance)
"The moonwalk is a dance move in which the dancer moves backwards while seemingly walking forwards.[1] A popping move, the moonwalk became popular around the world after Michael Jackson performed it during a performance of "Billie Jean" on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, broadcast May 16, 1983.[2] It became his signature move.[3][4]
Technique
An illusion is involved in creating the appearance of the dancer gliding backwards. Initially, the front foot is held flat on the ground, while the back foot is in a tiptoe position. The flat front foot remains on the ground but is slid lightly and smoothly backward past the tip-toe back foot. What is now the front foot is lowered flat, while the back foot is raised into the tiptoe position. These steps are repeated over and over creating the illusion that the dancer is being pulled backwards by an unseen force while trying to walk forward. Variations of this move allow moonwalking to appear to glide forward, sideways, or even in a circle.
History
There are many recorded instances of the moonwalk; similar steps are reported as far back as 1932, used by Cab Calloway.[5] In 1985, Calloway said that the move was called "The Buzz" when he and others performed it in the 1930s.[6][7]
In 1944, Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien featured something like the move in their performance of "Under the Bamboo Tree" in Meet Me in St. Louis, though their performance lacks the illusion created by the genuine moonwalk.[8]
In the 1950s, Dick Van Dyke performed a similar variation of the moonwalk and camel walk in his comedy routine called "Mailing A Letter On A Windy Corner".
In 1955, it was recorded in a performance by tap dancer Bill Bailey. He performs a tap routine, and at the end, backslides into the wings.[9] The French mime artist Marcel Marceau used it throughout his career (from the 1940s through the 1980s), as part of the drama of his mime routines. In Marceau's "Walking Against the Wind" routine, he pretends to be pushed backwards by a gust of wind.[10]
In 1958, Mexican dancer-comedian Adalberto Martinez "Resortes" also performed the moonwalk in the film Colegio de Verano (Summer School).
[...]
Michael Jackson popularized and named the moonwalk in 1983."...
****
Excerpt #2:
From https://blackamericaweb.com/2015/07/20/little-known-black-history-fact-the-first-moonwalk/ Little Known Black History Fact: The First Moonwalk by D.L. Chandler [no publishing date given]
"The late Michael Jackson immortalized the “Moonwalk” during his performance at Motown 25 in 1983, with breakdancing and pop locking-influenced dance moves that dazzled the world. However, the moonwalk might have been a later incarnation of a dance move allegedly invented by tap dancer Bill Bailey.
[...]
As a singer, dancer and entertainer, Bailey performed with his sister, Blanche Calloway, sister of Cab Calloway, and was a fixture at the world famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Bailey also acted in a handful of films, including Cabin In The Sky, the first recorded version of the moonwalk move. Recently, a 1955 video of Bailey performing at the Apollo and executing what he reportedly called the “Backslide” has surfaced.
Other tap dancers emulated the move in their own fashion, with some writers saying that Calloway himself did a version of the move in the ’30’s, then known as “The Buzz.” Actresses Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien performed the dance in the movie, Meet Me In St. Louis and it showed up in other places throughout the years.
As breakdancing and pop-locking became more advanced in the late ’70’s and early ’80’s, the dance took on the form of the smooth and graceful style that Jackson used. After Motown 25 The Moonwalk became Jackson’s best known dance maneuvers and was associated with the superstar from that point forward."
****
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AMoonwalk_%28dance%29 Talk:Moonwalk (dance)
"Michael Jackson did not invent the moonwalk, it was being done way before he did it and was generally called the back slide. However it probably should be noted that MJ did perfect the move and increased its popularity immensely." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.107.235.182 (talk) 20:04, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
"Not only did Michael Jackson not invent the backslide, I don't even agree that he first popularised it worldwide. Jeffrey Daniels was widely seen and imitated performing the move as part of his pop-locking routines while touring with Shalamar at the peak of their fame. This was from 1980 onwards. Similarly, he did not 'perfect' the move. I witnessed youths in Nigeria performing sophisticated versions of the backslide in 1981 (before Michael Jackson first publically performed it). As opined above, MJ increased its popularity immensely. To see convincing argument that backsliding was popular as a streetdance in urban California and New York even further back, see section below:
#The_Missing_History_of_the_Moonwalk" Centrepull (talk) 07:16, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
"Thank You for referencing my material #The_Missing_History_of_the_Moonwalk stating that Micheal Jackson did not invent the Moonwalk because I know this because i was a pop locker and was doing the moonwalk years before that and many other African American kids were doing it years before me. This is not something that i read from a book it's what I have lived and I was just one of the thousands of contributors to the dances original popularity because upon returning to the east coast coming from the west coast in 1980-81 I exposed it to lots of people who had never seen it nor Pop Locking before at that time. Keep in mind that at that time the dance was not even nationally known let alone globally. Video evidence also confirms that before that it was indeed called the Backslide and was done first as far as we know by tap dances of the 20's and 30's I believe which was new information for me upon watching a Spike Lee Joint where he included a clip during the closing credits. I also agree that there were semi popular moonwalkers before MJ who had achieved a level of popularity that never existed in urban America before.
However, I disagree that MJ was not the one who popularized it and exposed it to the nation and to the world. Having been a Pop Locker and Moonwalker I was quite in tune with what was going on in the urban dance world at that time and I lived through MJ exposing it to the world although a lot of people were already familiar with it expecially in inner city African American urban America. In fact the dance was all but a passing fad beginning to die out by the time MJ revived it in 1983. He did in fact perfect and popularized the dance nationally eventually globally although in the general urban environment it was already popular there and was no need for his influence for it to be popular there. And I believe so even though I had seen with my own eyes much better moonwalkers than the king of Pop that were NOT caught on tape in the streets of L.A.. But the urban environment has its own (usually ignored by mainstream media) market of talent, innovators and fans that usually don't make into mainstream media until they are close to dying out and urban innovators have begun to move on to bigger and better things in their world. This is where the term "Ghetto Superstar" comes from. MJ by NO MEANS invented, pioneered nor co-invented or even modified the dance, but he does get the credit from this old school Pop-Locker/Moonwalker for perfecting and "Popularizing" it nationally and Globally. (J.Parham Old School Pop Locker/Moonwalker (1978-1984)) Please don't misunderstand my comments because I have great admiration of Micheal Jackson and Like all of us grew up with him as part of my life. I don't remember a time without MJ. I also admired his ability and desire to stay in touch with the urban environment and incorporated those dances into his dance style. They say immitation is the highest form of flattery and I believe the was Mikes way of showing how much he admired unrecognized urban talent through imitation. This is a part of MJ's phylosopy and legacy that has been forgotten but growing up I heard him say many times how he studied and admired street dancers and other talents.
P.S. I quit Pop Locking and Moonwalking at the ripe old age of 18 in 1984 because I felt I was "TOO OLD" for it and it was time to move on to bigger and better things which for me was music and college. Besides except for Micheal Jackson doing it the Pop-Lock/Moonwalk trend had actually died out in mainstream urban America and unbenounced to me had gone deep underground after that only to resurface in the 90's although still not to its original popularity even till now in 2010"(J.P) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.211.16.50 (talk) 00:25, 21 February 2010 (UTC)
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
These videos are presented in chronological order based on their publishing date on YouTube with the oldest dated video given first.
Video #1: Origins of the Moonwalk
broallen25, Published on Jul 2, 2009
****
Video #2: The First Moonwalk - Bill Bailey - The Apollo Theatre - New York - 1955
SuperGold 70, Published on Dec 12, 2010
This is one of the first ever moonwalks on film
Bill Bailey tapping to a rather quiet instrumental version of the Larks' hit "The World is Waiting for Sunrise" performed by the Paul Williams Quartet.
He's the brother of singer Pearl Bailey, but he has nothing to do with her signature song "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" which is a very old standard dating back to 1902.
Bill's frequently credited with "inventing" the "moonwalk" because of a tapdancing move called "backslide" which he does in this filmed performance.
-snip-
Note that some people say that the earliest documented dance that is like "the moonwalk" was in 1932 (Cab Calloway's "The Buzz").
****
Video #3: michael jackson - billie jean live first time moonwalk
Dennis Lau, Published on Feb 13, 2011
Michael Jackson first time singing and dancing to Billie jean live plus a the moonwalk
****
Video #4: Michael Jackson STOLE The Moonwalk?
CooleyJaxsonFan, Published on Jan 7, 2012
Why did Michael Jackson never give any credit to the people who taught him to moonwalk? Why did Michael never thank Cooley publicly and why did he refuse to name-check Cooley in his Moonwalk biography? Instead, Michael says in his book that "3 kids" taught him to Moonwalk.
-snip-
Here are some comments from this video's discussion thread, with numbers added for referencing purposes only:
profwaldo, 2013
"He never said he invented it. And as a matter of fact it's been around at least since the 30's... check out some of Cabb Calloway's stuff and other early artists... way before CooCoo Cooley."
**
REPLY
Jordan Wilson, 2015
"1. Michael never said he invented the moonwalk, he just commercialized it.
2. The back slide/ moonwalk was a dance everyone was doing, where is it in the entertainment rule book that says just because he was MJ, that he couldn't do the dance that everyone was doing too. he did it the best I ever seen and gave it a cooler name"
-snip-
The dance name "moonwalk" references astronauts landing and walking on the moon (although these dance steps aren't really how astronauts walked on the moon.)
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label Cab Calloway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cab Calloway. Show all posts
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Excerpts From Various Online Articles Describing Zoot Suits (with A 1944 Film Clip Of Jazz Singer Cab Calloway Wearing A Zoot Suit)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post is part of an ongoing series on the fashion attire known as "zoot suits".
This post showcases a 1944 film clip of Jazz band leader/singer Cab Calloway wearing a zoot suit.
This post also provides excerpts from five online articles that describe zoot suits.
The Addendum to this post showcases a 1944 Tom & Jerry cartoon entitled "The Zoot Cat".
The content of this post is presented for cultural, educational, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to Cab Calloway and his band for their musical legacy and thanks to the publishers of these two embedded YouTube videos.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/02/two-examples-of-1942-song-zoot-suit-for.html for a 2014 pancocojams post entitled "Two Examples Of The 1942 Song "Zoot Suit (For My Sunday Gal).
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Cab Calloway & his Band - Geechy Joe - Stormy Weather (1943)
Bessjazz, Published on Apr 21, 2010
http://www.bojazz.com/ http://bjazz.unblog.fr/
Cab Calloway & his Band - Geechy Joe (Cab Calloway, Jack Palmer & Andy Gibson), with Lena Horne, dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, drummer Zutty Singleton, bassist Slam Stewart, Trumpeter Benny Carter...
in "Stormy Weather" (1943) by Andrew L. Stone, for Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
Song: Geechie Joe (from the film Stormy Weather)
Artist: Cab Calloway
Album: The Hi-De-Ho Man
-snip-
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah
“The Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina, in both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. They developed a creole language, the Gullah language, and a culture rich in African influences that makes them distinctive among African Americans.
Historically, the Gullah region extended from the Cape Fear area on North Carolina's coast south to the vicinity of Jacksonville on Florida's coast. Today, the Gullah area is confined to the Georgia and South Carolina Lowcountry. The Gullah people and their language are also called Geechee, which may be derived from the name of the Ogeechee River near Savannah, Georgia."...
****
EXCERPTS DESCRIBING ZOOT SUITS
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
EXCERPT #1
"A zoot suit (occasionally spelled zuit suit[1]) is a men's suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. This style of clothing became especially popular among the Latino, African American, Italian American, and Filipino American communities during the 1940s.[2][3]
Some observers claim that the "Edwardian-look" suits with velvet lapels worn by Teddy Boys in Britain are said to be a derivative of the zoot suit.[4]
Zoot suits were first associated with African Americans in urban communities such as Harlem, Chicago, and Detroit, but were made popular by jazz musicians in the 1940s. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "zoot" probably comes from a reduplication of suit. The creation and naming of the zoot suit have been variously attributed to Harold C. Fox, a Chicago clothier and big-band trumpeter;[5] Charles Klein and Vito Bagnato of New York City;[6] Louis Lettes, a Memphis tailor;[7] and Nathan (Toddy) Elkus, a Detroit retailer.[8][9]
"A Zoot Suit (For My Sunday Gal)" was a 1942 song written by L. Wolfe Gilbert and Bob O'Brien.[10]
Cab Calloway frequently wore zoot suits on stage and in the 1943 film Stormy Weather, including some with exaggerated details, such as extremely wide shoulders or overly draped jackets.
In 1943 during World War II there were a series of anti-Mexican youth riots in Los Angeles known as the Zoot Suit Riots. Norris J. Nelson, Los Angeles City Council member, proposed outlawing zoot suits after the Riots.The suits worn by many of the youth were seen by some as unpatriotic because of the amount of fabric they used, and in time, zoot suits were prohibited for the duration of the war,[11] ostensibly because of their wastefulness of cloth.[12]
Pachuco was a style of Mexican-American dress and culture, is which was associated with the zoot suit."...
****
EXCERPT #2
From http://cdispatch.com/robhardy/article.asp?aid=15572 "Drape Shape and Reet Pleats" by Rob Hardy, February 9, 2012
....“There is much that is not known about the zoot suit, such as the true story of its origins. Different tailors or performers have been credited with being the inventor of the zoot suit, but it cannot be attributed to any one source. It did have antecedents. Voluminous pants were called "Oxford Bags" and had been a British University fad in the 1920s. The "English drape" style of jacket became popular in the 1930s, with wide shoulders and roomy armholes. Clark Gable's long frock coat with loosely draped trousers in Gone with the Wind may have played a role; Cab Calloway himself punned that sharp dressers "were so impressed with Gable's long coat that they just 'followed suit.'" One story of the outfit's origins is that a Beale Street tailor in Memphis lengthened the coat so as to hide the shine in the seat of the pants. Custom tailors were always ready to make suits with measurements to order, and when the style was eventually settled upon, ready-to-wear versions were available at department stores.
The design of the suit had many modifications, and came in all colors, but it consisted basically of "the long killer-diller coat with a drape shape and wide shoulders; pants with reet-pleats, billowing out at the knees, tightly tapered and pegged at the ankles; a porkpie or wide-brimmed hat; pointed or thick-soled shoes; and a long, dangling keychain." It took the idea of a suit and stretched it almost to caricature. In one way it was a practical garment. A regular suit during the forties would have been too confining for the gymnastic movies of swing and jitterbug. The zoot suit's roomy pants accentuated leg movement, and pegging them at the ankles meant that they didn't get tangled with the clothes of other dancers."...
****
EXCERPT #3
From https://people.howstuffworks.com/zoot-suit1.htm "How Zoot Suits Work"
BY CHRIS WARREN
"History of Zoot Suits
[...]
Although a number of tailors around the country claimed to be the first designers of the suit, no credible evidence points to a single individual being responsible for the look. According to Kathy Peiss, a professor of American history at the University of Pennsylvania and author of "Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style," zoot suits were an exaggerated version of what was known as a drape suit -- zoot suits were called "extreme drapes," in fact, and were advertised as such in African-American newspapers at the time.
Made initially out of wool -- and later rayon, as rationing for World War II kicked in -- zoot suits had a number of defining characteristics. Suit pants were worn high on the waist and very tight; below the waist, the pants billowed like parachutes around the thighs and knees before being tied tight at the ankles. Zoot suit jackets also had exaggerated contours, with wide shoulders and sleeves that reached the wearer's fingertips [source: Unger]. Many zoot suiters also donned hats adorned with feathers, wore pointy shoes and sported key chains that dropped all the way to the knees to complete the look."...
****
EXCERPT #4
From https://www.thoughtco.com/zoot-suit-history-4147678
"A Cultural History of the Zoot Suit" by Bob Strauss, Updated August 07, 2017
"In the 1944 Tom & Jerry short "The Zoot Cat"—only the thirteenth cartoon ever made starring that famous duo—Tom's would-be girlfriend lays it on him straight: "Boy, are you corny! You act like a square at the fair, a goon from Saskatoon. You come on like a broken arm. You're a sad apple, a long hair, a cornhusker. In other words, you don't send me!" The sad cat goes out and buys himself some new duds from Smiling Sam, the Zoot Suit Man, prompting his wide-eyed gal pal to do a one-eighty.
"You're really a sharp character! A mellow little fellow. Now you collar my jive!"
Around the same time on the American scene—but, culturally speaking, light-years away—a young Malcom X, then known as "Detroit Red," also sang the praises of the Zoot Suit, a "killer-diller coat with a drape shape, reet-pleats and shoulders padded like a lunatic's cell." (Apparently, people in the 1940's liked to rhyme more than they do today.) In his widely read autobiography, Malcolm X describes his first Zoot Suit almost in religious terms: "Sky-blue pants thirty inches in the knee and angle narrowed down to twelve inches at the bottom, and a long coat that pinched my waist and flared out below my knees...hat angled, knees drawn close together, feet wide apart, both index fingers jabbed toward the floor." (We won't even mention Cesar Chavez, the famous Mexican-American labor activist who wore Zoot Suits as a teen.)
What was it about Zoot Suits that united such disparate cultural icons as Malcom X, Cesar Chavez, and Tom & Jerry? The origins of the Zoot Suit, characterized by its wide lapels, padded shoulders, and baggy pants tapering down to narrow cuffs--and usually accessorized with a feathered hat and a dangling pocket watch—are shrouded in mystery, but the style seems to have coalesced in Harlem nightclubs in the mid-1930's, and then worked its way out into the wider urban culture."...
****
EXCERPT #5 [Added October 8, 208]
From https://penntoday.upenn.edu/2011-04-07/research/zoot-suit-all-american-fashion-changed-history "The zoot suit: an all-American fashion that changed history" published on Penntoday on April 7, 2011
"With jacket arms that reached the fingertips and pants worn tight at the waist, bulging at the knees and choked at the ankles, it was nearly impossible to ignore a man wearing a zoot suit.
Accessorized with a key chain that extended to the knees and a fedora-like hat with a feather attached, the fashion certainly said something about those who sported it. But what statement were those who were donning the look in the late 1930s and early 1940s trying to make?
That’s one of questions Kathy Peiss explores in her new book, “Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style.” In the book, Peiss, the Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of American History in Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, examines the fashion phenomenon that became so politically polarizing it played a part in sparking a vicious uprising in California, known as the Zoot Suit Riots.
“I argue that people [wore] it for a whole range of reasons,” she says. “It had many different meanings, including the pleasure of looking sharp and being part of a group of young people in the war years. The zoot suit should not be looked at solely as a costume that conveys political resistance.”
Peiss traces the creation of the zoot suit to Harlem in the mid to late 1930s, when tailors began making them out of wool or colorful varieties of rayon. Although its exact origin is unknown, the term “zoot suit” appears to have come from the rhyming slang, or jive, spoken in the African-American community at the time, Peiss says.
“They were generally worn by young men of African-American descent, initially,” Peiss says. “Mexican-American and white working-class men also would wear them. Typically they would buy them at local clothing shops and have them tailored to this oversized style.”
The suit’s rise in popularity coincided with the emergence of the jitterbug and other forms of swing dance music. The flowing look of the suit was particularly flashy on the dance floor, and young people took note. Their parents, however, were not quite as smitten by the style."...
****
ADDENDUM: Tom And Jerry Cartoon The Zoot Cat
Joshua D. Jennings, Published on Jan 7, 2017
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This pancocojams post is part of an ongoing series on the fashion attire known as "zoot suits".
This post showcases a 1944 film clip of Jazz band leader/singer Cab Calloway wearing a zoot suit.
This post also provides excerpts from five online articles that describe zoot suits.
The Addendum to this post showcases a 1944 Tom & Jerry cartoon entitled "The Zoot Cat".
The content of this post is presented for cultural, educational, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to Cab Calloway and his band for their musical legacy and thanks to the publishers of these two embedded YouTube videos.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/02/two-examples-of-1942-song-zoot-suit-for.html for a 2014 pancocojams post entitled "Two Examples Of The 1942 Song "Zoot Suit (For My Sunday Gal).
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: Cab Calloway & his Band - Geechy Joe - Stormy Weather (1943)
Bessjazz, Published on Apr 21, 2010
http://www.bojazz.com/ http://bjazz.unblog.fr/
Cab Calloway & his Band - Geechy Joe (Cab Calloway, Jack Palmer & Andy Gibson), with Lena Horne, dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, drummer Zutty Singleton, bassist Slam Stewart, Trumpeter Benny Carter...
in "Stormy Weather" (1943) by Andrew L. Stone, for Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
Song: Geechie Joe (from the film Stormy Weather)
Artist: Cab Calloway
Album: The Hi-De-Ho Man
-snip-
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah
“The Gullah are African Americans who live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of Georgia and South Carolina, in both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. They developed a creole language, the Gullah language, and a culture rich in African influences that makes them distinctive among African Americans.
Historically, the Gullah region extended from the Cape Fear area on North Carolina's coast south to the vicinity of Jacksonville on Florida's coast. Today, the Gullah area is confined to the Georgia and South Carolina Lowcountry. The Gullah people and their language are also called Geechee, which may be derived from the name of the Ogeechee River near Savannah, Georgia."...
****
EXCERPTS DESCRIBING ZOOT SUITS
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
EXCERPT #1
"A zoot suit (occasionally spelled zuit suit[1]) is a men's suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. This style of clothing became especially popular among the Latino, African American, Italian American, and Filipino American communities during the 1940s.[2][3]
Some observers claim that the "Edwardian-look" suits with velvet lapels worn by Teddy Boys in Britain are said to be a derivative of the zoot suit.[4]
Zoot suits were first associated with African Americans in urban communities such as Harlem, Chicago, and Detroit, but were made popular by jazz musicians in the 1940s. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "zoot" probably comes from a reduplication of suit. The creation and naming of the zoot suit have been variously attributed to Harold C. Fox, a Chicago clothier and big-band trumpeter;[5] Charles Klein and Vito Bagnato of New York City;[6] Louis Lettes, a Memphis tailor;[7] and Nathan (Toddy) Elkus, a Detroit retailer.[8][9]
"A Zoot Suit (For My Sunday Gal)" was a 1942 song written by L. Wolfe Gilbert and Bob O'Brien.[10]
Cab Calloway frequently wore zoot suits on stage and in the 1943 film Stormy Weather, including some with exaggerated details, such as extremely wide shoulders or overly draped jackets.
In 1943 during World War II there were a series of anti-Mexican youth riots in Los Angeles known as the Zoot Suit Riots. Norris J. Nelson, Los Angeles City Council member, proposed outlawing zoot suits after the Riots.The suits worn by many of the youth were seen by some as unpatriotic because of the amount of fabric they used, and in time, zoot suits were prohibited for the duration of the war,[11] ostensibly because of their wastefulness of cloth.[12]
Pachuco was a style of Mexican-American dress and culture, is which was associated with the zoot suit."...
****
EXCERPT #2
From http://cdispatch.com/robhardy/article.asp?aid=15572 "Drape Shape and Reet Pleats" by Rob Hardy, February 9, 2012
....“There is much that is not known about the zoot suit, such as the true story of its origins. Different tailors or performers have been credited with being the inventor of the zoot suit, but it cannot be attributed to any one source. It did have antecedents. Voluminous pants were called "Oxford Bags" and had been a British University fad in the 1920s. The "English drape" style of jacket became popular in the 1930s, with wide shoulders and roomy armholes. Clark Gable's long frock coat with loosely draped trousers in Gone with the Wind may have played a role; Cab Calloway himself punned that sharp dressers "were so impressed with Gable's long coat that they just 'followed suit.'" One story of the outfit's origins is that a Beale Street tailor in Memphis lengthened the coat so as to hide the shine in the seat of the pants. Custom tailors were always ready to make suits with measurements to order, and when the style was eventually settled upon, ready-to-wear versions were available at department stores.
The design of the suit had many modifications, and came in all colors, but it consisted basically of "the long killer-diller coat with a drape shape and wide shoulders; pants with reet-pleats, billowing out at the knees, tightly tapered and pegged at the ankles; a porkpie or wide-brimmed hat; pointed or thick-soled shoes; and a long, dangling keychain." It took the idea of a suit and stretched it almost to caricature. In one way it was a practical garment. A regular suit during the forties would have been too confining for the gymnastic movies of swing and jitterbug. The zoot suit's roomy pants accentuated leg movement, and pegging them at the ankles meant that they didn't get tangled with the clothes of other dancers."...
****
EXCERPT #3
From https://people.howstuffworks.com/zoot-suit1.htm "How Zoot Suits Work"
BY CHRIS WARREN
"History of Zoot Suits
[...]
Although a number of tailors around the country claimed to be the first designers of the suit, no credible evidence points to a single individual being responsible for the look. According to Kathy Peiss, a professor of American history at the University of Pennsylvania and author of "Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style," zoot suits were an exaggerated version of what was known as a drape suit -- zoot suits were called "extreme drapes," in fact, and were advertised as such in African-American newspapers at the time.
Made initially out of wool -- and later rayon, as rationing for World War II kicked in -- zoot suits had a number of defining characteristics. Suit pants were worn high on the waist and very tight; below the waist, the pants billowed like parachutes around the thighs and knees before being tied tight at the ankles. Zoot suit jackets also had exaggerated contours, with wide shoulders and sleeves that reached the wearer's fingertips [source: Unger]. Many zoot suiters also donned hats adorned with feathers, wore pointy shoes and sported key chains that dropped all the way to the knees to complete the look."...
****
EXCERPT #4
From https://www.thoughtco.com/zoot-suit-history-4147678
"A Cultural History of the Zoot Suit" by Bob Strauss, Updated August 07, 2017
"In the 1944 Tom & Jerry short "The Zoot Cat"—only the thirteenth cartoon ever made starring that famous duo—Tom's would-be girlfriend lays it on him straight: "Boy, are you corny! You act like a square at the fair, a goon from Saskatoon. You come on like a broken arm. You're a sad apple, a long hair, a cornhusker. In other words, you don't send me!" The sad cat goes out and buys himself some new duds from Smiling Sam, the Zoot Suit Man, prompting his wide-eyed gal pal to do a one-eighty.
"You're really a sharp character! A mellow little fellow. Now you collar my jive!"
Around the same time on the American scene—but, culturally speaking, light-years away—a young Malcom X, then known as "Detroit Red," also sang the praises of the Zoot Suit, a "killer-diller coat with a drape shape, reet-pleats and shoulders padded like a lunatic's cell." (Apparently, people in the 1940's liked to rhyme more than they do today.) In his widely read autobiography, Malcolm X describes his first Zoot Suit almost in religious terms: "Sky-blue pants thirty inches in the knee and angle narrowed down to twelve inches at the bottom, and a long coat that pinched my waist and flared out below my knees...hat angled, knees drawn close together, feet wide apart, both index fingers jabbed toward the floor." (We won't even mention Cesar Chavez, the famous Mexican-American labor activist who wore Zoot Suits as a teen.)
What was it about Zoot Suits that united such disparate cultural icons as Malcom X, Cesar Chavez, and Tom & Jerry? The origins of the Zoot Suit, characterized by its wide lapels, padded shoulders, and baggy pants tapering down to narrow cuffs--and usually accessorized with a feathered hat and a dangling pocket watch—are shrouded in mystery, but the style seems to have coalesced in Harlem nightclubs in the mid-1930's, and then worked its way out into the wider urban culture."...
****
EXCERPT #5 [Added October 8, 208]
From https://penntoday.upenn.edu/2011-04-07/research/zoot-suit-all-american-fashion-changed-history "The zoot suit: an all-American fashion that changed history" published on Penntoday on April 7, 2011
"With jacket arms that reached the fingertips and pants worn tight at the waist, bulging at the knees and choked at the ankles, it was nearly impossible to ignore a man wearing a zoot suit.
Accessorized with a key chain that extended to the knees and a fedora-like hat with a feather attached, the fashion certainly said something about those who sported it. But what statement were those who were donning the look in the late 1930s and early 1940s trying to make?
That’s one of questions Kathy Peiss explores in her new book, “Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style.” In the book, Peiss, the Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of American History in Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, examines the fashion phenomenon that became so politically polarizing it played a part in sparking a vicious uprising in California, known as the Zoot Suit Riots.
“I argue that people [wore] it for a whole range of reasons,” she says. “It had many different meanings, including the pleasure of looking sharp and being part of a group of young people in the war years. The zoot suit should not be looked at solely as a costume that conveys political resistance.”
Peiss traces the creation of the zoot suit to Harlem in the mid to late 1930s, when tailors began making them out of wool or colorful varieties of rayon. Although its exact origin is unknown, the term “zoot suit” appears to have come from the rhyming slang, or jive, spoken in the African-American community at the time, Peiss says.
“They were generally worn by young men of African-American descent, initially,” Peiss says. “Mexican-American and white working-class men also would wear them. Typically they would buy them at local clothing shops and have them tailored to this oversized style.”
The suit’s rise in popularity coincided with the emergence of the jitterbug and other forms of swing dance music. The flowing look of the suit was particularly flashy on the dance floor, and young people took note. Their parents, however, were not quite as smitten by the style."...
****
ADDENDUM: Tom And Jerry Cartoon The Zoot Cat
Joshua D. Jennings, Published on Jan 7, 2017
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Cab Calloway - "The Hi De Ho Man" (examples, information)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases three examples of Cab Calloway performing his 1934 song "The Hi De Ho Man". Information about Cab Calloway, and information about this song are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Cab Calloway for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT CAB CALLOWAY
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab_Calloway
"Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was a jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, where he was a regular performer.
Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States' most popular big bands from the start of the 1930s through to the late 1940s. Calloway's band featured performers including trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, New Orleans guitar ace Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton. Calloway continued to perform until his death in 1994 at the age of 86...
The Cotton Club was the premier jazz venue in the country, and Calloway and his orchestra (he had taken over a brilliant, but failing band called "The Missourians" in 1930; later on, the band changed its name to Cab Calloway and His Orchestra)[4] were hired as a replacement for the Duke Ellington Orchestra while they were touring (he joined Duke Ellington and Mills Blue Rhythm Band as another of the jazz groups handled by Irving Mills). Calloway quickly proved so popular that his band became the "co-house" band with Ellington's, and his group began touring nationwide when not playing the Cotton Club. Their popularity was greatly enhanced by the twice-weekly live national radio broadcasts on NBC at the Cotton Club. Calloway also appeared on Walter Winchell's radio program and with Bing Crosby in his show at New York's Paramount Theatre. As a result of these appearances, Calloway, together with Ellington, broke the major broadcast network color barrier.
[INFORMATION ABOUT THE PHRASE "HI DO HO"]
In 1931 he recorded his most famous song, "Minnie the Moocher". That song, along with "St. James Infirmary Blues" and "The Old Man of the Mountain", were performed for the Betty Boop animated shorts Minnie the Moocher, Snow White, and The Old Man of the Mountain, respectively. Through rotoscoping, Calloway not only gave his voice to these cartoons, but his dance steps as well. He took advantage of this and timed his concerts in some communities with the release of the films in order to make the most of the attention. As a result of the success of "Minnie the Moocher," he became identified with its chorus, gaining the nickname "The Hi De Ho Man".
-snip-
Click http://www.releaselyrics.com/7548/cab-calloway-hi-de-ho-man/ for the lyrics to "The Hi De Ho Man".
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/02/cab-calloway-minnie-moocher-information.html for a pancocojams post about the song "Minnie The Moocher".
Both of these songs include lots of "jive talk". Read this pancocojams post about jive talk: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/10/various-meanings-of-word-jive-cab.html
And click http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/09/25/are-you-hep-to-the-jive-the-cab-calloway-hepster-dictionary/ for a listing of words and phrases from Cab Calloway's hepster dictionary.
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
Example #1: Cab Calloway, "Hi-De-Ho"
morrisoncoursevids, Uploaded on Oct 5, 2008
This short film was released in 1934.
****
Example #2: Cab Calloway's Hi De Ho - 1934
Tim Romano, Uploaded on Apr 13, 2010
Great old Paramount short film of Cab Calloway singing many of his hits.
****
Example #3: Classic Sesame Street - Cab Calloway sings "Hi De Ho Man"
sawing14s Uploaded on Jul 16, 2007
Sesame Street has had guest stars from nearly all eras of the 20th century. It's extremely hard these days to find an entertainer with the impact and talent of someone like "Cabby" Calloway.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome
This post showcases three examples of Cab Calloway performing his 1934 song "The Hi De Ho Man". Information about Cab Calloway, and information about this song are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Cab Calloway for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT CAB CALLOWAY
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab_Calloway
"Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was a jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, where he was a regular performer.
Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States' most popular big bands from the start of the 1930s through to the late 1940s. Calloway's band featured performers including trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Adolphus "Doc" Cheatham, saxophonists Ben Webster and Leon "Chu" Berry, New Orleans guitar ace Danny Barker, and bassist Milt Hinton. Calloway continued to perform until his death in 1994 at the age of 86...
The Cotton Club was the premier jazz venue in the country, and Calloway and his orchestra (he had taken over a brilliant, but failing band called "The Missourians" in 1930; later on, the band changed its name to Cab Calloway and His Orchestra)[4] were hired as a replacement for the Duke Ellington Orchestra while they were touring (he joined Duke Ellington and Mills Blue Rhythm Band as another of the jazz groups handled by Irving Mills). Calloway quickly proved so popular that his band became the "co-house" band with Ellington's, and his group began touring nationwide when not playing the Cotton Club. Their popularity was greatly enhanced by the twice-weekly live national radio broadcasts on NBC at the Cotton Club. Calloway also appeared on Walter Winchell's radio program and with Bing Crosby in his show at New York's Paramount Theatre. As a result of these appearances, Calloway, together with Ellington, broke the major broadcast network color barrier.
[INFORMATION ABOUT THE PHRASE "HI DO HO"]
In 1931 he recorded his most famous song, "Minnie the Moocher". That song, along with "St. James Infirmary Blues" and "The Old Man of the Mountain", were performed for the Betty Boop animated shorts Minnie the Moocher, Snow White, and The Old Man of the Mountain, respectively. Through rotoscoping, Calloway not only gave his voice to these cartoons, but his dance steps as well. He took advantage of this and timed his concerts in some communities with the release of the films in order to make the most of the attention. As a result of the success of "Minnie the Moocher," he became identified with its chorus, gaining the nickname "The Hi De Ho Man".
-snip-
Click http://www.releaselyrics.com/7548/cab-calloway-hi-de-ho-man/ for the lyrics to "The Hi De Ho Man".
Also, click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/02/cab-calloway-minnie-moocher-information.html for a pancocojams post about the song "Minnie The Moocher".
Both of these songs include lots of "jive talk". Read this pancocojams post about jive talk: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/10/various-meanings-of-word-jive-cab.html
And click http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/09/25/are-you-hep-to-the-jive-the-cab-calloway-hepster-dictionary/ for a listing of words and phrases from Cab Calloway's hepster dictionary.
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
Example #1: Cab Calloway, "Hi-De-Ho"
morrisoncoursevids, Uploaded on Oct 5, 2008
This short film was released in 1934.
****
Example #2: Cab Calloway's Hi De Ho - 1934
Tim Romano, Uploaded on Apr 13, 2010
Great old Paramount short film of Cab Calloway singing many of his hits.
****
Example #3: Classic Sesame Street - Cab Calloway sings "Hi De Ho Man"
sawing14s Uploaded on Jul 16, 2007
Sesame Street has had guest stars from nearly all eras of the 20th century. It's extremely hard these days to find an entertainer with the impact and talent of someone like "Cabby" Calloway.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome
Cab Calloway - Minnie The Moocher (information, lyrics, and examples)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases two examples of Cab Calloway performing his 1931 song "Minnie The Moocher". Information about Cab Calloway, as well as lyrics and information about this song are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Cab Calloway for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT CAB CALLOWAY
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab_Calloway
"Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was a jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, where he was a regular performer.
Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States' most popular big bands from the start of the 1930s through to the late 1940s...
In 1931 he recorded his most famous song, "Minnie the Moocher". That song, along with "St. James Infirmary Blues" and "The Old Man of the Mountain", were performed for the Betty Boop animated shorts Minnie the Moocher, Snow White, and The Old Man of the Mountain, respectively. Through rotoscoping, Calloway not only gave his voice to these cartoons, but his dance steps as well. He took advantage of this and timed his concerts in some communities with the release of the films in order to make the most of the attention. As a result of the success of "Minnie the Moocher," he became identified with its chorus, gaining the nickname "The Hi De Ho Man"."
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/02/cab-calloway-hi-de-ho-man-examples.html for a pancocojams post on "The Hi De Ho Man"."
****
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "MINNIE THE MOOCHER"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnie_the_Moocher
"Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz song first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, selling over 1 million copies.[1] "Minnie the Moocher" is most famous for its nonsensical ad libbed ("scat") lyrics (for example, "Hi De Hi De Hi De Hi"). In performances, Calloway would have the audience participate by repeating each scat phrase in a form of call and response. Eventually Calloway's phrases would become so long and complex that the audience would laugh at their own failed attempts to repeat them.
"Minnie the Moocher" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
The song is based both musically and lyrically on Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon's 1927 "Willie the Weeper"[2][3] (Bette Davis sings this version in The Cabin in the Cotton). The lyrics are heavily laden with drug references. The character "Smokey" is described as "cokey", meaning a user of cocaine; the phrase "kicking the gong around" was a slang reference to smoking opium.[4]"
****
LYRICS: MINNIE THE MOOCHER
(Songwriter(s): Cab Calloway, Irving Mills, Clarence Gaskill, Joseph C. Liggins)
Folks, here´s a story about Minnie the Moocher
She was a red hot hoochie-koocher
She was the roughest, toughest frail
but Minnie had a heart as big as a wha-a-le
Hidee-Hidee-Hidee-hi
Hodee-hodee-hodee-ho
Heedey-hee-dee-hee-dee hee
Hidee-hidee-hidee-ho
She messed around with a bloke named Smoky
She loved him though he was cokey
He took her down to Chinatown
He showed her how to kick the gong around
Hidee-Hidee-Hidee-hi
Wooooooh
Heedey-hee-dee-hee-dee hee
Hidee-hidee-hidee-ho
She had a dream that the King of Sweden
He gave her things that she was needin´
He built her a house of gold and steel
A diamond car with platinum wheels
hidee-hidee-hidee-hidee-hidee-hidee-hi
hodee-hodee-hodee-hodee-hodee-hodee-ho
scoodley-woo-scoodley-woo-scoodley-woodley-woodley-
woo
zit-dit-dit-dit-dittle-but-dut-duttleoo-skit-dit-
skittle-but-dit-zoy
he gave her his townhouse and his racing horses
Each meal she ate was a dozen courses
She had a million dollars worth of nickels and dimes
she sat around and counted them all a million times
Hidee-Hidee-Hidee-hi
Hodee-hodee-hodee-ho
Heedey-hee-dee-hee-dee hee
Hidee-hidee-hidee-ho
Now Min and Smokie, they started jaggin'
They got a free ride in a wagon
She gave him money to pay her bail
But he left her flat in the county jail
Whoooa, yeaaaah
Hey de he de he he
Whoa Whoa
Poor Min met old Deacon Lowdown
He preached to her that she ought to slow down
But Minnie wiggled her jelly roll
And Deacon Lowdown yelled, "Lord save my soul!"
Hi de hi de hi de hi
Ho de ho de ho de ho
Skiddley doodley doodly do
Skiddly diddly day
They took her where they put the crazies
Now poor Min's kicking up those daisies
You've heard my story this is her song
She was just a good gal, but they done her wrong
Hi de hi de hi de hi
Skooby de be do
He de he de he de he
Whoa, Whoa Whoa
Poor Min, Poor Min, Poor Min.
-snip-
Source: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/calloway-lyrics/minnie-the-moocher-lyrics.html
The word "frail" is "jive talk' for female, from the English word meaning "fragile".
Click http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/09/25/are-you-hep-to-the-jive-the-cab-calloway-hepster-dictionary/ for a listing of words and phrases from Cab Calloway's hepster dictionary.
****
FEATURED EXAMPLES
Example #1: Cab Calloway - Minnie the Moocher
moontreal, Uploaded on Mar 18, 2008
****
Example #2: Blues Brothers - Minnie the Moocher (Cab Calloway)
SantoriniAJC·Uploaded on Jan 22, 2012
'Minnie the Moocher' from the [1980] film Blues Brothers. I do NOT own the video.
****
RELATED LINK
Cab Calloway songs include lots of "jive talk". Read this pancocojams post about jive talk: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/10/various-meanings-of-word-jive-cab.html
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome
This post showcases two examples of Cab Calloway performing his 1931 song "Minnie The Moocher". Information about Cab Calloway, as well as lyrics and information about this song are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Cab Calloway for his musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT CAB CALLOWAY
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab_Calloway
"Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was a jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, where he was a regular performer.
Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States' most popular big bands from the start of the 1930s through to the late 1940s...
In 1931 he recorded his most famous song, "Minnie the Moocher". That song, along with "St. James Infirmary Blues" and "The Old Man of the Mountain", were performed for the Betty Boop animated shorts Minnie the Moocher, Snow White, and The Old Man of the Mountain, respectively. Through rotoscoping, Calloway not only gave his voice to these cartoons, but his dance steps as well. He took advantage of this and timed his concerts in some communities with the release of the films in order to make the most of the attention. As a result of the success of "Minnie the Moocher," he became identified with its chorus, gaining the nickname "The Hi De Ho Man"."
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2014/02/cab-calloway-hi-de-ho-man-examples.html for a pancocojams post on "The Hi De Ho Man"."
****
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "MINNIE THE MOOCHER"
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnie_the_Moocher
"Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz song first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, selling over 1 million copies.[1] "Minnie the Moocher" is most famous for its nonsensical ad libbed ("scat") lyrics (for example, "Hi De Hi De Hi De Hi"). In performances, Calloway would have the audience participate by repeating each scat phrase in a form of call and response. Eventually Calloway's phrases would become so long and complex that the audience would laugh at their own failed attempts to repeat them.
"Minnie the Moocher" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
The song is based both musically and lyrically on Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon's 1927 "Willie the Weeper"[2][3] (Bette Davis sings this version in The Cabin in the Cotton). The lyrics are heavily laden with drug references. The character "Smokey" is described as "cokey", meaning a user of cocaine; the phrase "kicking the gong around" was a slang reference to smoking opium.[4]"
****
LYRICS: MINNIE THE MOOCHER
(Songwriter(s): Cab Calloway, Irving Mills, Clarence Gaskill, Joseph C. Liggins)
Folks, here´s a story about Minnie the Moocher
She was a red hot hoochie-koocher
She was the roughest, toughest frail
but Minnie had a heart as big as a wha-a-le
Hidee-Hidee-Hidee-hi
Hodee-hodee-hodee-ho
Heedey-hee-dee-hee-dee hee
Hidee-hidee-hidee-ho
She messed around with a bloke named Smoky
She loved him though he was cokey
He took her down to Chinatown
He showed her how to kick the gong around
Hidee-Hidee-Hidee-hi
Wooooooh
Heedey-hee-dee-hee-dee hee
Hidee-hidee-hidee-ho
She had a dream that the King of Sweden
He gave her things that she was needin´
He built her a house of gold and steel
A diamond car with platinum wheels
hidee-hidee-hidee-hidee-hidee-hidee-hi
hodee-hodee-hodee-hodee-hodee-hodee-ho
scoodley-woo-scoodley-woo-scoodley-woodley-woodley-
woo
zit-dit-dit-dit-dittle-but-dut-duttleoo-skit-dit-
skittle-but-dit-zoy
he gave her his townhouse and his racing horses
Each meal she ate was a dozen courses
She had a million dollars worth of nickels and dimes
she sat around and counted them all a million times
Hidee-Hidee-Hidee-hi
Hodee-hodee-hodee-ho
Heedey-hee-dee-hee-dee hee
Hidee-hidee-hidee-ho
Now Min and Smokie, they started jaggin'
They got a free ride in a wagon
She gave him money to pay her bail
But he left her flat in the county jail
Whoooa, yeaaaah
Hey de he de he he
Whoa Whoa
Poor Min met old Deacon Lowdown
He preached to her that she ought to slow down
But Minnie wiggled her jelly roll
And Deacon Lowdown yelled, "Lord save my soul!"
Hi de hi de hi de hi
Ho de ho de ho de ho
Skiddley doodley doodly do
Skiddly diddly day
They took her where they put the crazies
Now poor Min's kicking up those daisies
You've heard my story this is her song
She was just a good gal, but they done her wrong
Hi de hi de hi de hi
Skooby de be do
He de he de he de he
Whoa, Whoa Whoa
Poor Min, Poor Min, Poor Min.
-snip-
Source: http://www.elyrics.net/read/c/calloway-lyrics/minnie-the-moocher-lyrics.html
The word "frail" is "jive talk' for female, from the English word meaning "fragile".
Click http://www.artofmanliness.com/2008/09/25/are-you-hep-to-the-jive-the-cab-calloway-hepster-dictionary/ for a listing of words and phrases from Cab Calloway's hepster dictionary.
****
FEATURED EXAMPLES
Example #1: Cab Calloway - Minnie the Moocher
moontreal, Uploaded on Mar 18, 2008
****
Example #2: Blues Brothers - Minnie the Moocher (Cab Calloway)
SantoriniAJC·Uploaded on Jan 22, 2012
'Minnie the Moocher' from the [1980] film Blues Brothers. I do NOT own the video.
****
RELATED LINK
Cab Calloway songs include lots of "jive talk". Read this pancocojams post about jive talk: http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/10/various-meanings-of-word-jive-cab.html
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
The Meaning Of "Jive" In Cab Calloway's "Jumpin Jive" Song & Various Other Meanings Of The Word "Jive"
Edited by Azizi Powell
Update: title change Feb. 8. 2020; Latest revision; March 1, 2021
This pancocojams post focuses on the origin of & various African American originated meanings of the word "jive".
This post also showcases a copy of the film clip of Cab Calloways' now memorable performance of his song "Jumpin Jive" that features the tap dancing routine of the Nichols Brothers.
The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
THE ORIGIN & VARIOUS MEANINGS OF THE WORD "JIVE"
From http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=jive
The Online Etymology Dictionary [known as the OED]
"jive (v.1) 1928, "to deceive playfully," also "empty, misleading talk" (n.) and "a style of fast, lively jazz and dance music," American English, from Black English, probably of African origin (cf. Wolof jev, jeu "talk about someone absent, especially in a disparaging manner"). Related: Jived; jiving. Used from 1938 for "New York City African-American slang."
jive (adj.) "not acting right," 1969, U.S. black English, from jive (n.) (see jive (1)). Extended form jive-ass (1964, adj.; 1969, n.) is defined in OED as "A word of fluid meaning and application."
**
From http://www.tcswing.com/PDFs/Hepsters%20Dictionary.pdf CAB CALLOWAY'S Cat-ologue [Hipsters' Dictionary]
REVISED 1939 EDITION
jive
(1) (n) Harlemese speech or lingo; also stuff and things. Ex. "did you bring the jive (liquor?"
(2) (v) to kid along, to blarney, to give a girl a line. Ex. "He can jive his way into any chick's heart".
-snip-
Here's the preface for the 1939 edition of that dictionary:
"So successful was Cab Calloway's original "Hepster's Dictionary", the first glossary ever compiled of the colorful and unique words, phrases and expressions employed by Harlem musicians and performers in their own exclusive language or patios, that he decided to revise the booklet, elaborating upon the definitions, including additional terms and giving examples to demonstrate their use. It is presented herewith, containing about two hundred words and expressions employed by the "hep cats" when they talk their "jive", as Harlemese is called on Lenox Avenue. This is nearly twice the number of words included in the original glossary.
The author is indebted to Billy Rowe's Notebook, a column in The Pittsburgh Courier, for some of the new expressions, and to his associates in the profession for calling others to his attention. Since Harlemese or "jive", like all languages, constantly is
changing, he promises a new revised edition of his now famous "Cat-ologue" at still a later date."
**
From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jive Urban Dictionary - jive
Editor's Comment:
These examples are from this site's readers. The up and down numbers are the number of readers' votes these entries have received as of the date retrieved. (10/24/2012)
urbandictionary.com has multiple other pages of definitions for the word "jive".
WARNING: Urban Dictionary pages often contain profanity, homophobic references, explicit sexual references, racist comments, and other content that is inappropriate for children.
jive
321 up, 166 down
v.:1) to irritate or annoy
2) to throw off someone's style
n.:1) pointless or deceptive talk/rhetoric
v.:"Quit jivin' me, turkey"
n.:"Don't give me that jive"
by 1337|Smi13Y Sep 14, 2003
**
Jive
113 up, 89 down
Jive is a bad thing you fool. If you're talking some jive, it means you're talking bulls**t. If somebody calls you a "jive turkey" you just got insulted.
Fool: "Ima jive turkey"
Me: "I believe you"
by Dope Slanger Oct 18, 2006
-snip-
Editor's Comment:
In African American cultures, no one would call himself or herself a "jive turkey", just like no one would diss (insult) himself or herself in The Dozens insult exchanges.
Also, the screen name "Dope Slanger" includes an example of African American vernacular - the word "dope" is a Hip Hop word which means "very good, excellent" (since the 1990s?). "Slanger" in that name is a term that was probably coined by that poster and just means "a person who uses slang".
**
From https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Jive+talk#:~:text=To%20speak%20to%20(someone)%20in,or%20worthless%3A%20talking%20jive%20nonsense.
ANOTHER DEFINITION (from my experience)
jive:
something which is poorly made, cheap, inauthentic, lame (meaning not "hip”, not up to date with the latest fashions)
He gave me a jive Mickey Mouse watch for my birthday. What a cheapskate!
This use of "jive" is often given as "jive ass"
Example: He gave me a jive [ass] Mickey Mouse watch for my birthday. What a cheapskate!
-snip-
"Mickey Mouse" further reinforces the definition of "cheap", no good, since watches and other products sold by Disney franchises including clothing with depictions of Mickey Mouse characters were considered to be poorly made, and un-hip. (as per some African Americans from at least 1980s to date)
Example: That song was so jive. Yeah, who thought that would be a hit?
Example: You think you got it goin on, but you're just jive.
-snip-
In my opinion, these definitions evolved from one of the earlier definitions of that vernacular word – "to lie or deceive"
-Azizi Powell, October 24, 2010
****
FEATURED VIDEO: Jumpin Jive - Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers
Laughland's channel, Uploaded on Jul 31, 2006
Here's a clip from the movie "Stormy Weather" (1943) featuring Cab Calloway and his orchestra performing "Jumpin Jive". After awhile they let the Nicholas Brothers jump in and lend their feet to the action.
-snip-
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to Cab Calloway, and the Nicholas Brothers for their artistry and legacies. My thanks also to those who comments and transcriptions I quoted in this post.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
Update: title change Feb. 8. 2020; Latest revision; March 1, 2021
This pancocojams post focuses on the origin of & various African American originated meanings of the word "jive".
This post also showcases a copy of the film clip of Cab Calloways' now memorable performance of his song "Jumpin Jive" that features the tap dancing routine of the Nichols Brothers.
The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
THE ORIGIN & VARIOUS MEANINGS OF THE WORD "JIVE"
From http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=jive
The Online Etymology Dictionary [known as the OED]
"jive (v.1) 1928, "to deceive playfully," also "empty, misleading talk" (n.) and "a style of fast, lively jazz and dance music," American English, from Black English, probably of African origin (cf. Wolof jev, jeu "talk about someone absent, especially in a disparaging manner"). Related: Jived; jiving. Used from 1938 for "New York City African-American slang."
jive (adj.) "not acting right," 1969, U.S. black English, from jive (n.) (see jive (1)). Extended form jive-ass (1964, adj.; 1969, n.) is defined in OED as "A word of fluid meaning and application."
**
From http://www.tcswing.com/PDFs/Hepsters%20Dictionary.pdf CAB CALLOWAY'S Cat-ologue [Hipsters' Dictionary]
REVISED 1939 EDITION
jive
(1) (n) Harlemese speech or lingo; also stuff and things. Ex. "did you bring the jive (liquor?"
(2) (v) to kid along, to blarney, to give a girl a line. Ex. "He can jive his way into any chick's heart".
-snip-
Here's the preface for the 1939 edition of that dictionary:
"So successful was Cab Calloway's original "Hepster's Dictionary", the first glossary ever compiled of the colorful and unique words, phrases and expressions employed by Harlem musicians and performers in their own exclusive language or patios, that he decided to revise the booklet, elaborating upon the definitions, including additional terms and giving examples to demonstrate their use. It is presented herewith, containing about two hundred words and expressions employed by the "hep cats" when they talk their "jive", as Harlemese is called on Lenox Avenue. This is nearly twice the number of words included in the original glossary.
The author is indebted to Billy Rowe's Notebook, a column in The Pittsburgh Courier, for some of the new expressions, and to his associates in the profession for calling others to his attention. Since Harlemese or "jive", like all languages, constantly is
changing, he promises a new revised edition of his now famous "Cat-ologue" at still a later date."
**
From http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jive Urban Dictionary - jive
Editor's Comment:
These examples are from this site's readers. The up and down numbers are the number of readers' votes these entries have received as of the date retrieved. (10/24/2012)
urbandictionary.com has multiple other pages of definitions for the word "jive".
WARNING: Urban Dictionary pages often contain profanity, homophobic references, explicit sexual references, racist comments, and other content that is inappropriate for children.
jive
321 up, 166 down
v.:1) to irritate or annoy
2) to throw off someone's style
n.:1) pointless or deceptive talk/rhetoric
v.:"Quit jivin' me, turkey"
n.:"Don't give me that jive"
by 1337|Smi13Y Sep 14, 2003
**
Jive
113 up, 89 down
Jive is a bad thing you fool. If you're talking some jive, it means you're talking bulls**t. If somebody calls you a "jive turkey" you just got insulted.
Fool: "Ima jive turkey"
Me: "I believe you"
by Dope Slanger Oct 18, 2006
-snip-
Editor's Comment:
In African American cultures, no one would call himself or herself a "jive turkey", just like no one would diss (insult) himself or herself in The Dozens insult exchanges.
Also, the screen name "Dope Slanger" includes an example of African American vernacular - the word "dope" is a Hip Hop word which means "very good, excellent" (since the 1990s?). "Slanger" in that name is a term that was probably coined by that poster and just means "a person who uses slang".
**
From https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Jive+talk#:~:text=To%20speak%20to%20(someone)%20in,or%20worthless%3A%20talking%20jive%20nonsense.
1. swing music or early jazz.
2. the jargon associated with swing music and early jazz.
3. Slang. deceptive, exaggerated, or meaningless talk.
v.i.
4. to play jive.
5. to dance to jive; jitterbug.
6. Slang. to engage in kidding, teasing, or exaggeration.
v.t.
7. Slang. to tease; fool; kid.
adj.
8. Slang. insincere or deceptive.
[1925–30, Amer.; orig. obscure]
ANOTHER DEFINITION (from my experience)
jive:
something which is poorly made, cheap, inauthentic, lame (meaning not "hip”, not up to date with the latest fashions)
He gave me a jive Mickey Mouse watch for my birthday. What a cheapskate!
This use of "jive" is often given as "jive ass"
Example: He gave me a jive [ass] Mickey Mouse watch for my birthday. What a cheapskate!
-snip-
"Mickey Mouse" further reinforces the definition of "cheap", no good, since watches and other products sold by Disney franchises including clothing with depictions of Mickey Mouse characters were considered to be poorly made, and un-hip. (as per some African Americans from at least 1980s to date)
Example: That song was so jive. Yeah, who thought that would be a hit?
Example: You think you got it goin on, but you're just jive.
-snip-
In my opinion, these definitions evolved from one of the earlier definitions of that vernacular word – "to lie or deceive"
-Azizi Powell, October 24, 2010
****
FEATURED VIDEO: Jumpin Jive - Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers
Laughland's channel, Uploaded on Jul 31, 2006
Here's a clip from the movie "Stormy Weather" (1943) featuring Cab Calloway and his orchestra performing "Jumpin Jive". After awhile they let the Nicholas Brothers jump in and lend their feet to the action.
-snip-
Click http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Hep-Hep-The-Jumpin'-Jive-lyrics-Cab-Calloway/83F982FD1A34413F48256C230008D277 for two versions of Cab Calloway's song "Jumpin Jive".
****RELATED LINK
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cab_Calloway for information about Cabell "Cab" Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994).Click http://www.nicholasbrothers.com/ for information about the Nicholas Brothers (Fayard (born 1914) and Harold (born 1921-2000).
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to Cab Calloway, and the Nicholas Brothers for their artistry and legacies. My thanks also to those who comments and transcriptions I quoted in this post.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Viewer comments are welcome.
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