Monday, September 22, 2014

The Jersey Bounce
Two Versions

Connie Frances 
and 
Ella Fitzgerald

Benny Goodman

"The Jersey Bounce" is a song written by Tiny Bradshaw, Eddie Johnson and Bobby Plater with lyrics by Buddy Feyne who used the nom de plume Robert B. Wright (as this song was written during an ASCAP strike). It hit #1 in 1942 as an instrumental recorded by Benny Goodman and his orchestra, and also charted that same year by Jimmy Dorsey (#9) and Shep Fields (#15) . It was covered by numerous bands and swing orchestras including Glenn Miller, Jan Savitt and Red Norvo. Artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ella Mae Morse and The King Sisters also recorded it. Fitzgerald recorded it on her two albums Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie! and again on All That JazzThe King Sisters and Ella Mae Morse recorded singles.


24 comments:

  1. If this doesn't draw out JMJ, nothing will, IMO.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I prefer the purely instrumental version.

    Not as many sour notes! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oddly enough, Thersites, I found the odd coupling of Ella and Connie the most appealing of all the versions. Benny was the first to record the number and remained at the top of the charts during that WWII era.

    Usually, I love Glenn Miller more than any of the other Big Bands, -- and I love them all, -- but for some reason the available recording of his version seemed downright poor in comparison to these other two. It's readily available if you want to Google it, and check it out for yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I simply found the lyrics distractingly annoying...

    ...and I usually enjoy lyrics, and seek them out in songs.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AOW, knowing Jersey as well as I do after nearly four years of jousting with him, I am pretty sure he's either gotten ill or met with an accident. It wold be VERY unlikely for him to let rejection and sustained opposition daunt him in the least.

    People are so uncharitable and just plain nasty these days just because of divergent opinions it's disgusting. In my small way I try to mitigate some of that as much as I can.

    I don't like meanness,even when it purports to to be on "my" side of an argument.

    Jersey is almost always dead wrong to my way of thinking, but he's not MEAN. Gross at times, but not mean. Passionate, yes, but not unkind.

    ReplyDelete
  6. FT,
    I am pretty sure he's either gotten ill or met with an accident.

    Possibly.

    Or he could have met with a financial reversal or be dealing with some sort of family crisis.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is FreeThinke's blog, so he can post what he damn well pleases.

    And he can also delete the comments that he damn well pleases.

    ReplyDelete
  9. from the Urban Dictionary:

    jersey bounce - An action where a person in a small foreign car cuts you off in a parking lot and takes your spot. You and your buddies move to one side of the offender's vehicle and push the car out of the parking space by 'bouncing' it. You then park your car in the spot.

    Make sure of two things:

    1.The person cannot see you do this:

    2.You have enough space to get out of the spot.

    If done right, the offending car will be towed.

    ReplyDelete
  10. fyi - My blog search has McJones completely off the blogging radar screen since mid-July

    ReplyDelete
  11. That's funny, Thersites, -- sort -- but it has nothing to do with the song.

    Subtlety never seems to go over very well in the blogging venues, but the reason I posted this was to show how the popular culture dealt with the horror of our forced entrance into WWII.

    It was very much the same way we dealt with the Great Depression.

    Instead of going into paroxysms of self-pity, bitter projections of Defeat, Doom, Gloom and blaming each other for the stinking mess Europe had made of itself, we stood up, marshaled our resources, got moving and turned around a seemingly moribund economy in record time, and CHEERED EACH OTHER ON, with clever, energetic, pointedly light-hearted material lke The Jersey Bounce.

    That may seem shallow and inane by today's dreary, humorless, deadly serious, socialistic standards, where disaster and death always seem imminent whether they are or not, but it was not. Pop culture in those days held fear and dread at bay, kept us cheerful, gave s hope, and KEPT US GOING through far rougher times than anything we've experienced since.

    I rose to consciousness during this period, and I can tell you if people were afraid, they never let it show. We felt back then that we owed it to each other to be hopeful and encouraging NO MATTER WHAT.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This came a bit later (1949, I believe), but it epitomizes what I was just trying to say.

    Whenever I feel afraid
    I hold my head erect
    And whistle a happy tune,
    So no one will suspect
    I'm afraid.

    When trouble is drawing near
    I strike a careless post,
    And whistle a happy tune,
    So no one ever knows
    I'm afraid.

    The result of this deception
    Is very plain to tell,
    For when I fool the people I fear,
    I fool myself as well.

    I whistle a happy tune,
    And every single time,
    The happiness that I feel
    Is telling me that I'm
    Not afraid.


    ~ Oscar Hammerstein, II - The King and I

    This has a very special meaning for me, because not only was The King and I the first Broadway musical I ever saw -- a magical, never-to-be-forgotten experience all by itself -- it was also one of the last performances ever given by Gertrude Lawrence, a legendary, much loved figure in the theater and in our household.

    I didn't realize it at the time, but Gertrude Lawrence, who created the role of Mrs. Anna, was dying of cancer and in great pain, yet she kept on performing, despite the pain, till she simply couldn't anymore.

    She died two weeks after I saw her enchanting performance as Mrs. Anna.

    Even at the tender age of nine, I realized after I'd heard that she had died, the cheery little song that opens the show had a very special significance -- for her -- and for all of us.

    When she was onstage those last few weeks of her life, no one ever suspected for a moment that Miss Lawrence was afraid, nor would they have believed she was ill.

    There's a lesson in there for us today as we nurse our anger and dwell on morbid projections of a terrible future we imagine we don't want to face.

    Well, God damn it! As FDR said, "WE HAVE NOTHING to FEAR, but FEAR, ITSELF."

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I communicated with someone I shall not name who is a childhood friend of Jersey's.

    Although he has not spoken to him recently, he is in regular contact some of Jersey's immediate family members, and he hasn't heard anything, so I think that is good news.

    He hinted that perhaps Jersey had simply checked out of blogistan stuff.

    He said: "I'm not sure if he does social media stuff anymore"

    For all I know, I could have been talking with Jersey himself, which is why I don't relate any more details.

    If he has simply checked out, God bless him and I for one will leave him in peace.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Knowing Jersey as well as one can know anyone in the shadowy blogosphere Jersey McJones probably just decided the floating matter was getting to thick.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Camilla Jablonsky said

    The blogosphere has taught me that we have no choice but to accept people for what they are:

    A bunch of impossible shits.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wahoo, Camilla!

    You sure got that right.

    - Ivana Teratitzoff

    ReplyDelete
  20. Okay, Jokers. We're in MODERATION as of NOW.

    Lest ye forget:

    We welcome conversation
    But without vituperation.
    If your aim is vilification ––
    Other forms of denigration ––
    Alienation with self-justification ––
    We WILL use Comment Moderation.


    If you don't know what "vituperation" means, you don't belong here.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I forgot about Jersey. I've been sparring with him since 2007. Hope he is ok

    ReplyDelete
  22. Me too, Lisa, and thank you. Some of our blogging companions forget that political opponents are human beings too.

    That cuts both ways, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  23. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I am asking some people who knew him from old blogging days

    ReplyDelete

IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE FOLLOWING, YOU DON'T BELONG HERE, SO KINDLY GET OUT AND STAY OUT.

We welcome Conversation
But without Vituperation.
If your aim is Vilification ––
Other forms of Denigration ––
Unfounded Accusation --
Determined Obfuscation ––
Alienation with Self-Justification ––
We WILL use COMMENT ERADICATION.


IN ADDITION

Gratuitous Displays of Extraneous Knowledge Offered Not To Shed Light Or Enhance the Discussion, But For The Primary Purpose Of Giving An Impression Of Superiority are obnoxiously SELF-AGGRANDIZING, and therefore, Subject to Removal at the Discretion of the Censor-in-Residence.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.