- Swanee (song)
"Swanee" is an American popular
song written in 1919 byGeorge Gershwin , with lyrics byIrving Caesar . It is most often associated with singerAl Jolson .The song was written for a
New York City revue called "Demi-Tasse", which opened in October 1919 in the Capitol Theater. Caesar and Gershwin, who was then aged 20, claimed to have written the song in about ten minutes riding on a bus inManhattan , and then at Gershwin's apartment. It was written partly as a parody ofStephen Foster 's "Old Folks at Home ". It was originally used as a big production number, with 60 chorus girls dancing with electric lights in their slippers on an otherwise darkened stage. [http://www.pubdomain.com/pdrmusic.htm Pubdomian-Popular Public Domain Music | Love Songs | Swanee song lyrics | George Gershwin ] ]The song had little impact in its first show, but not long afterwards Gershwin played it at a party where Al Jolson heard it. Jolson then put it into his show "Sinbad", already a success at the
Winter Garden Theatre , and recorded it forColumbia Records in January 1920. [http://www.jolson.org/ Al Jolson Society] ] "After that," said Gershwin, "Swanee penetrated the four corners of the earth." It sold a millionsheet music copies, and an estimated two million records. It became Gershwin's first hit and the biggest-selling song of his career; the money he earned from it allowed him to concentrate on theatre work and films rather than writing further single pop hits.Arthur Schwartz said: "It's ironic that he never again wrote a number equaling the sales of Swanee, which for all its infectiousness, doesn't match the individuality and subtlety of his later works." [ [http://www.openwriting.com/archives/2004/11/swanee.php Open Writing: Swanee ] ]Jolson recorded the song several times in his career, and performed it in the movies "
The Jolson Story " (1946), "Rhapsody in Blue" (1946), and "Jolson Sings Again " (1949). For the song's performance in "The Jolson Story", Jolson, rather than actorLarry Parks , appeared as himself, filmed in long shot. Although usually associated with Jolson, "Swanee" has been recorded by many other singers, most notablyJudy Garland in "A Star Is Born". [http://www.pubdomain.com/pdrmusic.htm Pubdomian-Popular Public Domain Music | Love Songs | Swanee song lyrics | George Gershwin ] ]ee also
*
Suwannee River of southern Georgia and northern Florida.References
External links
* [http://www.pubdomain.com/pdrmusic.htm Article on "Swanee", with lyrics]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
