50 years ago: Gene Austin charted with “My Melancholy Baby”

My Melancholy Baby Gene Austin with Nat Shilkret’s Orchestra

Writer(s): Ernie Burnett, George Norton (see lyrics here) First Charted: January 7, 1928 Peak: 3 US, 15 GA (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.02 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Ernie Burnett’s only hit also brought him back to life, in a manner of speaking. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1884, he went abroad to Italy and Austria as a teen to study music and performed as a vaudeville pianist upon his return in 1901. He led his own orchestra, founded his own publishing company, and served in World War I. PS “Melancholy,” as the song was originally published in 1912, JA ended up in Burnett’s lap when George Norton registered the song with a lyric from his wife, Maybelle Watson but it was sold when the pair divorced. Burnett was brought in to tweak the lyrics. LW The song was then introduced in vaudeville by Winsom June Le Fey, JA Jack O’Leary, or William Frawley, SB depending on which account you believe. More details point to Frawley, as it is suggested that he performed the song publicly at the Mozart Café in Denver, Colorado, in 1912. SB The song first charted in 1915 when vaudeville actor and singer Walter Van Brunt took it to #9. When Burnett was wounded while serving in France, he lost his nametag and his memory. As far as anyone knew, he had been killed in action. However, when he heard someone performing “My Melancholy Baby” to entertain the wounded, Burnett declared, “That’s my song!” LW The song continued to claim new audiences over the years as it passed through different publishers. Gene Austin took it to #3 in 1928. Other charted versions included Al Bowlly (#20, 1935), Teddy Wilson with Ella Fitzgerald on vocals (#6, 1936), Bing Crosby (#14, 1939), tenor sax player Sam Donohue (#5, 1947), and Tommy Edwards (#26, 1959). JA Crosby sang it for 1941’s The Birth of the Blues. The song was reprised by Judy Garland in 1954’s A Star Is Born, Gogi Grant in 1957’s The Helen Morgan Story, and Barbra Streisand in 1964’s Funny Girl. PS Other artists to cover it include Miles Davis, the Dorsey Brothers, Benny Goodman, Dean Martin, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Frank Sinatra. LW Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Gene Austin JA David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 142. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 27. PS ParlorSongs.com SB Songbook1.wordpress.com Last updated 11/24/2022.

50 years ago: Van & Schenck “Carolina in the Morning” hit #1

Carolina in the Morning Van & Schenck

Writer(s): Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson (see lyrics here) First Charted: January 1, 1923 Peak: 13 US, 12 GA, 14 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The song was introduced by vaudeville performer William Frawley and then quickly added to the musical revue The Passing Show of 1922, RCG where it was sung by the brothers Willie and Eugene Howard. DJ The show opened on September 20, 1922 at the Winter Garden Theater and closed on December 2, 1922 after 85 performances. SB Marion Harris was the first to record the song (#4), SM but it was the comedy-musical team of Gus Van and Joe Schenck who took “Carolina” to #1, although this wasn’t a comedic recording. Paul Whiteman (#5) and the American Quartet (#8) also charted with the song that year. Danny Winchell revived the song in 1952, reaching #30. PM Al Jolson revived it in the movie The Jolson Story (1946) RCG with a version which outsold the original. WK It emerged again in the 1951 Gus Kahn biopic I’ll See You in My Dreams. DJ Danny Winchell charted with it in 1952, making it to #30. Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, Benny Goodman, Judy Garland, Bill Haley & His Comets, Danny Kaye, Dean Martin, and Dinah Shore have all recorded it. SB Frawley himself sang the song on two different television shows on which he was a star – I Love Lucy and My Three Sons WK and Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore performed it on The Dick Van Dyke Show. WK The song has also been used frequently for Warner Brothers’ Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes cartoons. WK Both North and South Carolina lay claim to this tune which deals with longing to “return home where ‘The dew is pearly kinda early in the morning’.” RCG “The southern drawl is alluded to by rhyming ‘Carolina’ with ‘finer.’” RCG Amusingly, the song was written by a New Yorker (Walter Donaldson, born in Brooklyn in 1893) and a German (Gus Kahn, born in Coblenz in 1886). Donaldson wrote more than 600 songs; his best known came in the years between World War I and II. PS Kahn’s family came to the United States in 1891 and settled in Chicago. He had his first song published in 1907 and then wrote lyrics for vaudeville performers in Chicago and New York before moving to California in 1933 to write for movies. Some of his best-known songs are “Pretty Baby” (1916), “Makin’ Whoopee” (1928), and “Liza” (1928). PS Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Van & Schenck DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Gus Kahn DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Walter Donaldson DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 33. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) PS ParlorSongs.com RCG RimChiGuy.com The Old Songs (1900-1929) Songbook SB Songbook1.wordpress.com TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 127. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 483. WK Wikipedia First posted 1/13/2016; last updated 1/29/2023.