50 years ago: “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo’” hit #1

It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo’ Wendell Hall

Writer(s): Wendell Hall (see lyrics here) Released: November 23, 1923 First Charted: January 26, 1924 Peak: 16 US, 12 GA, 12 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Wendell Woods Hall was a “composer, author, poet, singer, guitarist, and radio, film, and television artist” TY2 born in 1896 in St. George, Kansas. Known as “The Red-Headed Music Maker,” he helped popularize the ukulele. TY2 He claimed to write the song “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo,” but actually appropriated a southern folk song dating back to at least the 1870s. TY2 He then added verses and adapted to mid-1920s style. SM He never wrote or recorded another hit single. He died in 1969. The song made him a star on vaudeville and radio and even gained popularity as a soccer song in Britain. WK The song reportedly selling five million copies of the disc and sheet music combined. TY2 The song was also covered by Carl Fenton, the Bar Harbor Society Orchestra, and Jack Linx. DJ It was popular amongst early country artists. DJ The only other charted version, however, was by Ernest Hare and Billy Jones (#11, 1924). PM It was revived in 1952 for the movie Has Anybody Seen My Gal? and used in the 2014 movie Against the Sun. It also been used in vintage animated cartoons, such as a 1930 cartoon called “Noah Knew His Ark” and 1933 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon called “The Plumber.” WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Act Name DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 103. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 133. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 531. WK Wikipedia First posted 1/30/2023.

50 years ago: “Yes! We Have No Bananas” hit #1

Yes! We Have No Bananas Billy Jones

Writer(s): Frank Silver, Irving Cohn (see lyrics here) First Charted: July 1, 1923 Peak: 15 US, 12 GA, 15 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.43 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Frank Silver and Irving Cohn wrote this “classic comic novelty song” DJ and published it on March 23, 1923. Silver explained that when his orchestra was playing at a hotel in Long Island, he would stop at a fruit stand owned by a Greek who began every sentence with “Yes,” even when he didn’t have the requested item. SM As Silver said, “The jingle of his idiom haunted me…Finally, I wrote this verse and Cohn fitted it with a tune.” WK The fruit seller was likely affected by a banana shortage as a result of an outbreak of Panama disease, which wiped out much of the banana crop at the time. GR The song re-emerged in 1932 as a rallying cry in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during the Outdoor Relief Protests, a movement “dedicated to securing social security and welfare benefits.” GR The song title was often displayed in UK fruit shops during World War II because of rations and bans. GR The song was introduced by Eddie Cantor in the revue Make It Snappy. The song is said to have borrowed from other tunes, including Handel’s Messiah. TY1 The first recorded of the song was by Edward Furman and William Nash, SM but it didn’t chart. However, there were five versions of the song which charted in 1923 – Billy Jones (#1), Ben Selvin’s Orchestra featuring Irving Kaufman (#1), the Great White Way Orchestra featuring Billy Murray (#3), Benny Krueger (#8), and Sam Lanin (#15). PM Jones’ version was the first and most successful. It was also one of 37 top-20 hits, 27 of which were with partner Ernest Hare. Jones also lent his vocals to the version by Krueger’s orchestra. WK Spike Jones & His City Slickers revived the song in 1950. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Billy Jones GR GreekReporter.com (10/17/2022). “The 1920s Song Inspired by Greek Fruit Sellers That Became a Hit” by Anna Wichmann DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 220. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) TY1 Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. Quill: New York, NY. Page 26. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 615. WK Wikipedia First posted 11/20/2022; last updated 1/29/2023.

50 years ago: “Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean” hit #1

Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean Ed Gallagher & Al Shean

Writer(s): Ed Gallagher, Al Shean (see lyrics here) First Charted: October 28, 1922 Peak: 16 US, 12 GA, 12 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Ziegfeld Follies of 1922 focused on Will Rogers and Gilda Gray. While overall “the musical score was not particularly strong” TY2 it produced the memorable “Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean,” “comedy patter performed by a pair of dialect comedians who had been recruited from vaudeville.” TY2 Each verse of the song was presented as a mini-skit with with the titular men in the song meeting on the street, introducing themselves, telling a story, and ending with a joke. SM The jokes are “typical of the time but also lampoons current fads and events.” WK That pair were Edward Francis Gallagher (born in 1873 in San Francisco) and Al Shean (born Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg in 1873 Dornum, Germany). They teamed up in 1912, split in 1914, and reunited in 1920. They became stars in vaudeville and the musical stage. They broke up again for good in 1925. They were best known for their song “Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean,” with uncredited lyrics by Brian Foy. WK The song is officially called “Oh! Mister Gallagher and Mister Shean.” On record, it was a doubled-sided disc running over six minutes total. One side was titled “Positively Mr. Gallagher” and the other side called “Absolutely Mr. Shean.” It ran ten verses. SM Their version reached #1 in 1922, as did another version by Billy Jones & Ernest Hare, although the latter only used two verses of the song. SM It was also recorded by Furman & Nash (#10, 1922), Irving & Jack Kaufman (#12, 1922), and Bing Crosby & Johnny Mercer (#7, 1938). PM Paul Whiteman and Benny Krueger’s orchestras also recorded the song. Al Shean performed the song with Charles Winninger in the movie musical The Great Ziegfeld (1941). Shean did the song again in 1944 with Jack Kenny in Atlantic City. Groucho Marx (Shean’s nephew) and Jackie Gleason performed a version for television in the late 1950s. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Gallagher & Shean DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Pages 123-4. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 550. WK Wikipedia First posted 1/29/2023.