All Topics  
Swanee (song)

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Swanee (song)
 
 
  Topics Swanee (song) Topic Home

"Swanee" is an American
Music of the United States

The music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. Rock and roll, blues, country music, rhythm and blues, jazz, pop music, techno music, and hip hop music are among the country's most internationally-renowned music genres....
 popular song
Song

A song is a musical musical composition which contains vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and feature words , commonly accompanied by musical instruments ....
 written in 1919
1919 in music

Events*July 22 - The Ballets Russes gives the world premiere of Manuel de Falla's ballet El sombrero de tres picos in London.*August - Josef Matthias Hauer devises his own twelve-tone technique of composition....
 by George Gershwin
George Gershwin

George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. He wrote most of his vocal and theatrical works in collaboration with his elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin....
, with lyrics by Irving Caesar
Irving Caesar

Irving Caesar , was a prominent United States lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for "Swanee ," "Sometimes I'm Happy," "Crazy Rhythm," and "Tea for Two ," one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written....
. It is most often associated with singer Al Jolson
Al Jolson

Al Jolson , born in Lithuania, Russian Empire, was a highly acclaimed American singer, comedian, and actor, and, according to PBS, the "first openly Jewish man to become an entertainment star in America." His career lasted from 1911 until his death in 1950, during which time he was commonly dubbed "the world's greatest entertainer.? Numerous...
.

The song was written for a New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 revue
Revue

A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre entertainment that combines music, dance and sketch comedy. The revue has its roots in nineteenth-century American popular entertainment and melodrama, but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from ca....
 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 in Manhattan
Manhattan

Manhattan is one of the five borough of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.With a United States Census of 1,620,867 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles , Manhattan, coextensive with New York County, is the most population density county in the United States, w...
, and then at Gershwin's apartment.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Swanee (song)'
Start a new discussion about 'Swanee (song)'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


"Swanee" is an American
Music of the United States

The music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. Rock and roll, blues, country music, rhythm and blues, jazz, pop music, techno music, and hip hop music are among the country's most internationally-renowned music genres....
 popular song
Song

A song is a musical musical composition which contains vocal parts that are performed, 'sung,' and feature words , commonly accompanied by musical instruments ....
 written in 1919
1919 in music

Events*July 22 - The Ballets Russes gives the world premiere of Manuel de Falla's ballet El sombrero de tres picos in London.*August - Josef Matthias Hauer devises his own twelve-tone technique of composition....
 by George Gershwin
George Gershwin

George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. He wrote most of his vocal and theatrical works in collaboration with his elder brother, lyricist Ira Gershwin....
, with lyrics by Irving Caesar
Irving Caesar

Irving Caesar , was a prominent United States lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for "Swanee ," "Sometimes I'm Happy," "Crazy Rhythm," and "Tea for Two ," one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written....
. It is most often associated with singer Al Jolson
Al Jolson

Al Jolson , born in Lithuania, Russian Empire, was a highly acclaimed American singer, comedian, and actor, and, according to PBS, the "first openly Jewish man to become an entertainment star in America." His career lasted from 1911 until his death in 1950, during which time he was commonly dubbed "the world's greatest entertainer.? Numerous...
.

The song was written for a New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 revue
Revue

A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre entertainment that combines music, dance and sketch comedy. The revue has its roots in nineteenth-century American popular entertainment and melodrama, but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from ca....
 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 in Manhattan
Manhattan

Manhattan is one of the five borough of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.With a United States Census of 1,620,867 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles , Manhattan, coextensive with New York County, is the most population density county in the United States, w...
, and then at Gershwin's apartment. It was written partly as a parody of Stephen Foster
Stephen Foster

Stephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music," was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century. His songs, such as "Oh! Susanna", "Camptown Races", "Old Folks at Home" , "My Old Kentucky Home", "Old Black Joe", and "Beautiful Dreamer" remain popular over 150 years after their composition....
's "Old Folks at Home
Old Folks at Home

"Old Folks at Home", also known by the words of its first line, " Swanee River", is a song written in 1851 by composer Stephen Foster, to be performed by the New York performing troupe Christy's Minstrels....
". 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.

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
Winter Garden Theatre

The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre theatre located at 1634 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.It was built by William Kissam Vanderbilt in 1896 to be the American Horse Exchange....
, and recorded it for Columbia Records
Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label founded in 1888.Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in pre-recorded sound, being the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders....
 in January 1920. "After that," said Gershwin, "Swanee penetrated the four corners of the earth.". The song was charted in 1920 for 18 weeks holding No. 1 position for nine.It sold a million sheet music
Sheet music

Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of musical notation; like its analogs?books, pamphlets, etc.?the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens....
 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
Arthur Schwartz

Arthur Schwartz was an United States composer.Schwartz supported his legal studies at New York University and postgraduate studies at Columbia University by playing piano before concentrating his talents on vaudeville, Broadway theatre and Hollywood....
 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."

Jolson recorded the song several times in his career, and performed it in the movies The Jolson Story
The Jolson Story

The Jolson Story is a 1946 musical biography which purports to tell the life story of singer Al Jolson. It stars Larry Parks as Jolson, Evelyn Keyes as "Julie Benson" , William Demarest as his manager, Ludwig Donath and Tamara Shayne as his parents, and Scotty Beckett as the young Jolson....
 (1946), Rhapsody in Blue
Rhapsody in Blue (film)

Rhapsody in Blue is a 1945 biopic of George Gershwin. Starring Robert Alda as Gershwin, the film features a few of Gershwin's acquaintances ....
 (1946), and Jolson Sings Again
Jolson Sings Again

Jolson Sings Again is the 1949 film sequel to The Jolson Story, both of which cover the life of singer Al Jolson....
 (1949). For the song's performance in The Jolson Story, Jolson, rather than actor Larry Parks
Larry Parks

Larry Parks , was an United States Theater and movie actor. His birth name is believed to have been Samuel Klusman Lawrence Parks. His career was virtually ended when he admitted to having once been a member of a Communist Party USA cell, an admission that led to his blacklisting by all Hollywood studios....
, appeared as himself, filmed in long shot. Although usually associated with Jolson, "Swanee" has been recorded by many other singers, most notably Judy Garland
Judy Garland

Judy Garland was an American actress and alto singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage....
 in A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born (1954 film)

A Star Is Born is a 1954 in film Cinema of the United States musical film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Moss Hart is an adaptation of the A Star Is Born , which was based on a story by William A....
.

See also

  • Suwannee River
    Suwannee River

    The Suwannee River is a major river of southern Georgia and northern Florida in the United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about 266 miles long....
     of southern Georgia and northern Florida.


External links