Original Sheet Music for "My Mammy" in Broadway's Sinbad
Though associated with Al Jolson, who performed the song very successfully, "My Mammy" was performed first in 1918 by William Frawley (later to become famous on I Love Lucy) as a vaudeville act.[1] Saul Bornstein, the general manager in early 1921 for Irving Berlin Music Publishing, brought the song to Jolson's attention; Jolson first interpolated the song in January 1921 to the Broadway showSinbad which was in the fourth year of its run. Jolson recorded this song twice and performed it in films, including The Jazz Singer (1927) and Rose of Washington Square (1939).[2] His voice can also be heard (dubbing actor Larry Parks) singing the song in The Jolson Story (1946).[3]
The group The Happenings revived the song in 1967 with a recording that reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Around that same time, Liza Minnelli began to incorporate the song into her nightclub act; she would continue to perform "My Mammy" throughout her long concert career. During their PopMart Tour of 1997–98, rock music band U2 would often quote the line "The sun shines east, the sun shines west, I know where the sun shines best" in performances of their song, "Miami". The British rock band The Psychedelic Furs parodied it in their song "We Love You", singing "I would walk a million smiles for one of your miles". In the Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, the song is parodied in the song "Muqǐn". It is also parodied in the jukebox musical Our House in the songs "Rise and Fall" and "The Sun and the Rain (Act II)".
Lyrics and interpretationedit
The song can be considered as a tribute sung by a man who, during his childhood, was nurtured by a mammy, a slave used as a surrogate mother who supplanted the role that would have otherwise been provided by his biological mother. In the song, this person, now an adult, is returning to his aging mammy and proclaiming his unconditional love for her, hoping that despite her age she can still recognise him as her "little baby".[4]
Recorded versionsedit
The song "My Mammy" has been recorded by many artists, including:
mammy, american, popular, song, with, music, walter, donaldson, lyrics, young, lewis, original, sheet, music, broadway, sinbadthough, associated, with, jolson, performed, song, very, successfully, performed, first, 1918, william, frawley, later, become, famous. My Mammy is an American popular song with music by Walter Donaldson and lyrics by Joe Young and Sam M Lewis Original Sheet Music for My Mammy in Broadway s SinbadThough associated with Al Jolson who performed the song very successfully My Mammy was performed first in 1918 by William Frawley later to become famous on I Love Lucy as a vaudeville act 1 Saul Bornstein the general manager in early 1921 for Irving Berlin Music Publishing brought the song to Jolson s attention Jolson first interpolated the song in January 1921 to the Broadway show Sinbad which was in the fourth year of its run Jolson recorded this song twice and performed it in films including The Jazz Singer 1927 and Rose of Washington Square 1939 2 His voice can also be heard dubbing actor Larry Parks singing the song in The Jolson Story 1946 3 The group The Happenings revived the song in 1967 with a recording that reached 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 Around that same time Liza Minnelli began to incorporate the song into her nightclub act she would continue to perform My Mammy throughout her long concert career During their PopMart Tour of 1997 98 rock music band U2 would often quote the line The sun shines east the sun shines west I know where the sun shines best in performances of their song Miami The British rock band The Psychedelic Furs parodied it in their song We Love You singing I would walk a million smiles for one of your miles In the Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie the song is parodied in the song Muqǐn It is also parodied in the jukebox musical Our House in the songs Rise and Fall and The Sun and the Rain Act II Lyrics and interpretation editThe song can be considered as a tribute sung by a man who during his childhood was nurtured by a mammy a slave used as a surrogate mother who supplanted the role that would have otherwise been provided by his biological mother In the song this person now an adult is returning to his aging mammy and proclaiming his unconditional love for her hoping that despite her age she can still recognise him as her little baby 4 Recorded versions editThe song My Mammy has been recorded by many artists including John Arpin William Frawley Clive Baldwin Eddie Cantor Cher Cameo Brian Conley Dion The Everly Brothers Eddie Fisher The Happenings Ted Heath Al Jolson Isham Jones Jerry Lewis Liza Minnelli Norfolk Jazz amp Jubilee Quartets Tony Pastor Peerless Quartet Kenny Rogers with Bobby Doyle Jimmy Roselli Slappin Mammys Aileen Stanley Pete Wending Paul Whiteman Orchestra Harry Yerkes Lena ZavaroniReferences edit White Mark 1983 You must remember this popular songwriters 1900 1980 F Warne p 79 My Mammy sung by Al Jolson audio only recorded for Rose of Washington Square 1939 film on YouTube Hebert G Goldman Jolson The Legend Comes to Life New York Oxford University Press 1988 114 115 SongMeanings com Retrieved 11 February 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title My Mammy amp oldid 1196050791, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
