Sweet Georgia Brown

Template:Infobox song "Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard composed in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, with lyrics by Kenneth Casey.

History

Reportedly, Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the credited lyricist – after meeting Dr. George Thaddeus Brown in New York City. Dr. Brown, a longtime member of the Georgia House of Representatives, told Bernie about his daughter, Georgia Brown, and how subsequent to her birth on August 11, 1911, the Georgia General Assembly had issued a declaration that she was to be named Georgia after the state. This anecdote would be directly referenced by the song's lyric: "Georgia claimed her – Georgia named her".Template:Citation needed

The tune was first recorded on March 19, 1925, by bandleader Bernie, resulting in five weeks at number one for Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra.<ref>CD liner notes: Chart-Toppers of the Twenties, 1998 ASV Ltd.</ref>

One of the most popular versionsTemplate:Cn of "Sweet Georgia Brown" was recorded in 1949 by Brother Bones and His Shadows and later adopted as the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team in 1952.Template:Cn

Renditions

Bing Crosby recorded the song on April 23, 1932, with Isham Jones and his Orchestra<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and it is assessed as reaching No. 2 in the charts of the day.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The version used by the Harlem Globetrotters is a 1949 instrumental by Brother Bones<ref name="standards" /> and His Shadows with whistling and bones by Brother Bones. It was adopted as the Globetrotters theme in 1952.

Sheet music cover, 1925

Tony Sheridan recorded it in December 1961 with his studio backing group, The Beat Brothers, and it was issued on his 1962 album My Bonnie. He rerecorded the song in 1964 for his next album, A Little Bit of Tony Sheridan this time backed by The Bobby Patrick Big Six but still credited to The Beat Brothers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Beatles, with Roy Young, as a backup band recorded it again for Tony Sheridan on May 24, 1962, in Hamburg, Germany, using the original lyrics. This was released in Germany, on Sheridan's EP Ya Ya in 1962 <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in Greece as the b-side of the single Skinny Minny.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This recording was rereleased as a single in 1964 during the wave of Beatlemania with Sheridan having re-recorded the vocals with tamer lyrics and the additional verse: "In Liverpool she even dares/to criticize the Beatles' hair/With their whole fan-club standing there/oh Sweet Georgia Brown". This version can be heard on the German compilation album The Beatles' First! and its numerous reissues. The song was edited as a single for the American market with added guitar and drum parts.

Roberta Flack recorded "Sweet Georgia Brown" for her 1994 album Roberta. As Flack feared the song might be perceived as demeaning to women, her version featured newly-added lyrics – written by Flack with her producers Jerry Barnes and Katreese Barnes – meant to establish Georgia Brown as (according to Flack) "a strong woman who is gorgeous, sexy, strong and intelligent" rather than a pass-around girl.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> "Sweet Georgia Brown" has become a staple of Flack's live shows, the singer having stated that the lyric changes "cost me $25,000 so I sing [the song] whenever I have the chance."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Other recordings

• Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra, 1925<ref name="standards">Template:Cite book</ref>
• California Ramblers, 1925
• Ethel Waters, 1925<ref name="standards" />
• Lillie Delk Christian with Johnny St. Cyr, 1926
• Cab Calloway, 1931<ref name="standards" />
• Coleman Hawkins with Benny Carter and Django Reinhardt, 1937<ref name="standards" />
• Django Reinhardt, 1938<ref name="standards" />
• Art Tatum, 1941<ref name="standards" />
• Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, 1943<ref name="standards" />
• Bud Powell, 1950<ref name="standards" />
• Red Norvo with Charles Mingus and Tal Farlow, 1950<ref name="standards" />
• Gale Storm, album Gale Storm Sings, 1956.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Matthew Gee, album Jazz by Gee (1956<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• The Coasters, 1957
• Anita O'Day, Jazz on a Summer's Day, 1958<ref name="standards" />
• Edmond Hall, 1958
• Carol Burnett, 1960
• Nancy Sinatra, for the 1966 album Sugar
• Ella Fitzgerald, 1966 album Whisper Not (Verve) with Marty Paich & His Orchestra [1]
• Ella Fitzgerald, 1966 live with The Duke Ellington Orchestra and the Jimmy Jones trio [2]
• Ella Fitzgerald, 1966 (July 29) live at the Côte d'Azur, France - A Night with Duke Ellington and his Orchestra and Jimmy Jones Trio [3]
• Ella Fitzgerald, 1968 (May 19) live with Fraser MacPherson Big Band, from The Cave Supper Club – vancouver BC, Canada [4]
• Ella Fitzgerald, 1968 live in Berlin with Ben Bernie, Kenneth Casey and Maceo Pinkard [5]
• Jerry Lee Lewis, for the 1970 album There Must Be More To Love Than This
• Ella Fitzgerald, 1974 (April 11) live album at Ronnie Scott’s, London, accompanied by a quartet led by the pianist Tommy Flanagan [6]
• Rahsaan Roland Kirk, for the 1976 album The Return of the 5000 Lb. Man.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Gentle Giant, for the 1977 live album Playing The Fool.
• Oscar Peterson, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, and Ray Brown performed the song live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1977
• Ella Fitzgerald, 1979 (July 12) live album A Perfect Match with the Count Basie Orchestra at Jazz in Montreux ‘79 [7]
• Ella Fitzgerald, 1981 live at the Dutch TV show « Music All In » with the Metropole Orchestra conducted by Rogier van Otterloo [8]
• Oscar Peterson, Live at the Blue Note, 1990<ref name="standards" />
• The hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest sampled a 1976 cover by The Singers Unlimited for their penultimate album The Love Movement on the track "Start It Up".
• Denny Zeitlin, Slickrock, 2003<ref name="standards" />
• Mel Brooks used a Polish version of the song in his 1983 movie To Be or Not to Be. It is performed by himself and his wife Anne Bancroft.
• Take 6's version on the 2008 album The Standard features both whistling and vocals.
• Danny Gatton- Redneck Jazz Explosion Live in 1977 CD- The Humbler Stakes His Claim

See also

• List of 1920s jazz standards