NRR Project: The Andrews Sisters sing 'Bei Mir Bistu Shein' (1937)

 

NRR Project: ‘Bei Mir Bistu Shein’

Written by Jacob Jacobs, Sholom Secunda/Sammy Cahn, Saul Chaplin

Performed by the Andrews Sisters

Recorded Nov. 24, 1937

3:10

This amazingly catchy song made the Andrew Sisters’ career; it boasts not one but two origin stories. Its tale is a twisted one.

The song was originally composed by Sholom Secunda and Jacob Jacobs for the 1932 Yiddish musical, I Would If I Could (Men Ken Lebn Nor Men Lost Nisht, or “You Could Live, But They Won’t Let You”.) Though the musical is justly forgotten, this single song from the score meandered through the Jewish-American culture of the day, becoming extremely popular in Jewish resorts and on Jewish bandstands. (“Bei Mir Bistu Shein” translates as “To Me You’re Beautiful”.)ar

However, despite attempts to sell it to big-name entertainers, the songwriters wound up selling the rights for a mere $30. Now, one of two things happened. First, Jenny Grossinger of Grossinger’s Catskills Resort taught to the African-American singing duo Johnnie and George. Then Johnny and George performed it at New York’s Apollo Theater, where songwriter Sammy Cahn heard it and saw its potential.

The second version is that bandleader Vic Schoen discovered the sheet music in a Yiddish music store, then passed it along to music publisher Lou Levy, who passed it to Cahn. Ultimately, Cahn and Saul Chaplin crafted catchy English-language lyrics after record producer Joe Kapp rejected a Yiddish-language recording of the song.

The Andrews Sisters, Patty, Maxene, and LaVerne, had been singing together since they were 7, and had been supporting the family as performers since the age of 12. Up to this point in their careers, they lived in the shadow of America’s first great close-harmony sister act, the Boswell Sisters. However, the Boswells had broken up in 1936. The stage was empty, and the Andrews Ssiters stepped in.

Their approach is jaunty and swinging, with much more of aa rat-tat-tat precision edge in comparison to the Boswells, who had a much smoother, silky finish to their vocals. They pop the delivery and swing hard, backed up by  solid musical ensemble. Saucily, the English lyricists turned the dilemma of adequately translating a foreign song into the central conceit of the song itself. The words are memorable:

“Of all the boys I've known, and I've known some

Until I first met you, I was lonesome
And when you came in sight, dear, my heart grew light
And this old world seemed new to me

You're really swell, I have to admit you
Deserve expressions that really fit you
And so I've racked my brain, hoping to explain
All the things that you do to me

Bei mir bist du schoen, please let me explain
Bei mir bist du schoen means you're grand
Bei mir bist du schoen, again I'll explain
It means you're the fairest in the land

I could say "Bella, bella", even say "Sehr wunderbar"
Each language only helps me tell you how grand you are
I've tried to explain, bei mir bist du schoen
So kiss me and say you understand”

The song was insanely popular. It sold a quarter of a million records, and more than 100,000 copies of sheet music Within three months, at least six other recording artists tackled it. It made the Andrews Sisters career, and they became one of the best-known participants in the Swing Era.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Nest time: The Cradle Will Rock.

NRR Project: Artie Shaw plays 'Begin the Beguine' (1938)

 

NRR Project: ‘Begin the Beguine’

Written by Cole Porter

Performed by Artie Shaw and his Orchestra

Recorded July 24, 1938

3:14

“Begin the Beguine” was the tune that made Artie Shaw’s career. He hated it.

“’Begin the Beguine’ is a pretty nice tune. But not when you have to play it 500 times in a row,” he said.

The great songwriter Cole Porter wrote it while on a cruise ship in the Pacific. (The beguine is a Latin dance somewhat like a slow rumba.) It premiered in October 1935, in the musical Jubilee. It achieved minor notice at the time, and was covered by Xavier Cugat and his orchestra in its original rhythm.

But when Shaw selected the song for his own orchestra, he and arranger Jerry Gray decided to swing it in 4/4 time. The tune was not thought to be a winner; it was released on the B side of a record featuring “Indian Love Call” on the other side.

Its success was undeniable. Above the solid rendition of the melody in the horns, Shaw’s clarinet soars gracefully above it. It’s upbeat and catchy as hell, and the nation went nuts over it. It became the top-selling recording of 1938. The song made Shaw and his band famous, opening the door for them. Soon Shaw was all over the radio, and headlining sold-out concerts around the country.

However, Shaw was not pleased. He was unique in that he continually tried to stretch the boundaries of what was possible musically. Unlike other musical geniuses such as Duke Ellington, Shaw was extremely difficult to deal with. He was not content to simply play popular dance music, forming and re-forming units of musicians in order to work out his ideas.

"I don't attempt to ram hackneyed, insipid tunes down the public's throat,” he wrote, “just because they've been artificially hypoed to the so-called 'hit' class. This policy of trying to maintain some vestige of musical integrity has, naturally, earned me enemies, people who think I'm a longhair, impressed with my own ability. Nothing could be farther from the truth. My faith in dance music — I refuse to call it swing — borders on the fanatic. I have the utmost respect for the many real musicians who are creating a new music as important as the classics . . .”

For instance, in 1935 he created “Interlude in B-flat,” which featured just him, a rhythm section, and a string quartet. In 1940 he formed the Gramercy Five, which included a harpsichord and an electric guitar. He would cut a few sides with a given ensemble, then disbanded, moving on to the formation of yet another group. (He ran through eight wives as well.)

He had a great ear for talent. Among his hires were drummer Buddy Rich, singer Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Mel Torme, Ray Coniff. With them, he continued to hammer at the idea of making jazz more than just popular fodder. It helped that Shaw was (in my opinion) the greatest clarinetist of the era, looser in approach than Benny Goodman and more robust than Sidney Bechet. He has a beautiful tone, and is an endlessly inventive improviser.

After a tour in 1954, Shaw put down his instrument for decades, citing his insatiable perfectionism as a cause. In fact, it was this and his emotional abusiveness that doomed his marriages and his music-making. He moved on to other concerns; he wrote an excellent autobiography, The Trouble with Cinderella.

Eventually, in his 70s he returned to the instrument and played a bit here and there. He was still a lyrical performer, decades after his first big success.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Nest time: the Andrew Sisters sing ‘Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen’.

NRR Project: The Wisconsin Folksong Collection (1937-1946)

 

NRR Project: The Wisconsin Folksong Collection

Collected by Sidney Robertson and Helene Stratman-Thomas

Collected 1937 - 1946

I could not do better than James P. Leary’s excellent explanatory essay on the selection, which you can read here.

Essentially, two different researchers, Sidney Robertson and Helene Stratman-Thomas, traveled through the state of Wisconsin, recording more than 900 folk songs, many in the languages that immigrants brought with them when they came to America.

Here is the first example I have found of an extensive collection for the Registry which has been digitized and can be searched or leafed through online (find it here). Waltzes, polkas, ballads, laments – it’s all here and available for your perusal.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Nest time: Artie Shaw plays Begin the Beguine.