(PP. 76-80) Music Section III: Jazz on the Radio → Listening Guide 8 (ACADEC '25-'26)

By when were a number of commercial music publishers had opened up shops on 28th Street in NY?

The late 19th century

What did most firms hire to help sell the sheet music they were printing on 28th Street?

Song-pluggers

What did all businesses on 28th Street in NY have in their front offices?

Pianos so that prospective purchasers could try out sheet music before buying it

What would song pluggers often illustrate?

Music for customers who were not skilled pianists

What did Broadway lore say about a visiting journalist?

That the racket from all the neighboring businesses was deafening; he remarked that the pianos sounded like a bunch of tin pans being clanged together—and thus the area was nicknamed Tin Pan Alley

What was “Tin Pan Alley” label soon applied to?

The type of popular music published there (and in other U.S. cities) as well

What did several of the composers featured in the resource guide do as song pluggers?

“Pounded the piano”

What composers “pounded the piano” as song pluggers?

Lillian Hardin Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, Vincent Youmans, Jerome Kern, and George Gershwin

By what decade were many of the firms were beginning to disperse to other parts of town, but the Tin Pan Alley label persisted for decades as a description for popular music?

The 1920s

Who depicted a vocalist performing in his painting The Nightclub Singer?

Artist McClelland Barclay

What store employed Vincent Youmans and George Gershwin as song-pluggers?

Remick’s music store on “Tin Pan Alley”

What did song-pluggers cultivating relationships with star performers persuade them to add?

New songs to their nightclub show appearances, vaudeville skits, Broadway musicals, or revues

What would the publisher include on the printed sheet of music as many singers recorded songs for star performers?

A photograph of the performer, again in an effort to promote sales

What would a performer be given early on of the song?

Be given a free copy of the song as persuasion to sing it; soon, additional incentives included free drinks, gifts, adn even cash

When did commercial radio begin to develop?

After WWI

What happened as commercial radio begin to develop and as airtime grew more precious?

Song-pluggers targeted the conductors of orchestras with weekly radio broadcast, persuading them to perform new pieces “on the air”

Who was one of the targets for song-pluggers?

Ben Bernie

Who was Ben Bernie?

A bandleader who was nicknamed “The Old Maestro”

What was Ben Bernie’s lifespan?

1891-1943

What was Ben Bernie’s birth name?

Bernard Anzelevitz

How big was Ben Bernie’s family?

12 people

What did Ben Bernie know as a child?

Acute poverty

What did Ben Bernie remark at the end of his life about his early life?

“We were so poor that I still look upon fruit as a luxury”

What did Ben Bernie star as in vaudeville?

A violin performer

How long after he recorded “Sweet Georgia Brown” was Ben Bernie photographed?

A few years

Who does the sheet music for “Sweet Georgia Brown” credit as an author (although he may not have been)?

Ben Bernie

What was Ben Bernie inspired to undertake after hearing the jazz-orchestra ensemble led by Paul Whiteman?

A conducting career

What was Paul Whiteman’s lifespan?

1890-1967

Who would be the impetus for George Gershwin to compose Rhapsody in Blue?

George Gershwin

Where is the Hotel Roosevelt?

New York

What was true about Bernie’s ensemble when the Hotel Roosevelt was completed?

It was the first orchestra hired to perform in the hotel ballroom, which was open to the public

What was meant to be only a short engagement for Bernie?

Bernie’s ensemble performing in Hotel Roosevelt

What did the Hotel Roosevelt do for Bernie’s ensemble?

Hire the group exclusively from 1923 to 1929 because the crowds who danced there were so enthusiastic

Between what years did Bernie’s ensemble work at the Hotel Roosevelt?

1929 and 1929

What was perhaps Bernie’s greatest asset when the National Broadcasting Company network was looking for an orchestra to feature on its first broadcast?

His speaking voice

What helped NBC make the choice of Bernie’s group for their first broadcast?

It had already been one of the earliest jazz abnds to perform in regional radio programming

When did Bernie and the Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra connect to NBC’s first nationwide broadcast?

November 15, 1926

How did Bernie and the Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra connect to NBC?

Through remote pickup

What led to coast-to-coast fame for Bernie and the Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra?

The success of the NBC debut, and Bernie’s “easy-going, witty microphone manner”

Who in the Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra was always on the hunt for new pieces?

Ben Bernie

Do we know the origins for “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

No, they’re a bit unclear

What is the popular legend around the origin of “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

The song was named for a real young woman whose father, Dr. George Thaddeus Brown, was a longtime member of the Georgia State Legislature

What is likely true about the popular legends attributed to the origins of “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

It was likely true that the young woman was named for her father’s home state, it is not confirmed that the General Assembly “adopted” her and awarded her “open-floor” status after her birth in 1911

When was George Thaddeus Brown’s daughter born?

1911

Where is Dr. Brown claimed to have met Bernie?

In New York as a medical student and described his daughter to the bandleader, who was then inspired to write lyrics about her

What is illogical about the theory that Dr. Brown met Bernie and described his daughter?

It is true that Dr. Brown completed some of his medical training in NY, that education took place in the late 19th century—decades before his daughter was born, and while Bernie was not yet 10 years old

How many people, not including Bernie, recorded the Tin Pan Alley tune “Sweet Georgia Brown” in 1925?

The 13-member Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra

When was “Sweet Georgia Brown” recorded by the Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra?

March 19, 1925

Who composed the Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra version of “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Maceo Pinkard

What was Maceo Pinkard’s lifespan?

1897-1962

Who was Maceo Pinkard?

A multi-talented African-American composer from West Virginia who initially built his career in the Midwest working as a theatrical agent

When did Pinkard move to New York?

1920

What did Pinkard do in NY?

Expand his range of activities

Who wrote the book for one of the Shuffle Along sequels?

Maceo Pinkard

What was Pinkard’s version of Shuffle Along sequel called, and when was it released?

Liza, in 1922

What are the variety of things that Maceo Pinkard did?

He wrote the book for one of the Shuffle Along sequels; arranged music for various jazz bands; ran his own publishing house; and wrote songs

Who are the two additional people credited on the sheet music for “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Kenneth Casey and Ben Bernie

What was Kenneth Casey’s lifespan?

1899-1965

Is it clear how Casey became the lyricist for Pinkard?

No

What was Kenneth Casey best known as?

A child actor, and his reputation as a songwriter rests solely on “Sweet Georgia Brown”

Is Ben Bernie’s connection to “Sweet Georgia Brown” uncertain?

Yes; he’s sometimes listed as a composer, but other sources describe him as a lyricist

What pair of lines in “Sweet Georgia Brown” has largely been attributed to Ben Bernie, due to his supposed encounter with Dr. Brown?

“Georgia named her, Georgia claimed her”

Who pointed out that many of the other lyrics in “Sweet Georgia Brown” would hardly been an appropriate way for Dr. Brown to have described his 14 year old daughter?

Composer Charles Bowen

What’s an example of a line in “Sweet Georgia Brown” that would’ve been inappropriate for Dr. Brown to describe his daughter?

“Fellers she can’t get are fellers she ain’t met”

What was composer Charles Bowen’s argument about the origin of “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Since Bernie was doing so much to popularize the number with his performances and recording of the song, “Pinkard cut Bernie in for a share of the tune’s royalties by giving him a co-writer credit”

Who agrees with composer Charles Bowen’s argument about the origin of “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Tin Pan Alley historian David Jasen

What does David Jasen say to agree with David Bowen’s argument about the origin of “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Bernie, “for plugging purposes, cut himself in on the song as a co-composer, although he did no writing”

What kind of success was “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

A mind-boggling success

What spot on the BBH100 did Bernie’s version of “Sweet Georgia Brown” reach?

Number 1, and held the position for 5 weeks straight

How long did Bernie’s version of “Sweet Georgia Brown” remain on the BBH100?

For 13 weeks in all

Where did 2 other versions of “Sweet Georgia Brown” made it to on the BBH100?

Number 5 and Number 6 on the charts in 1925

What did Pinkard’s biographer Jeffrey Green note about “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

It “became on of the most frequently recorded tunes in jazz”

What is one of the most famous recordings of “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

The Brother Bones and His Shadows 1949 version

What is different about the Brother Bones and His Shadows’ 1949 version of “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

The chorus is whistled

What version of “Sweet Georgia Brown” did the Harlem Globetrotters use?

The 1949 Brother Bones and His Shadows

Who created “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard

What are the features of “Sweet Georgia Brown” that resemble elements of other similar tunes?

32 bar chorus form that’s split into two 15-bar halves, similar to Hotter Than That

How do each half of the chorus of “Sweet Georgia Brown” start with?

With similar material (A) but then moves to a different ending (B or C)

How is the chorus structured in “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

A-B-A-C show tune form, similar to Tea for Two

What does ‘C’ reference in “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

The Charleston rhythm

How does Brunswick Records advertise the Bernie recording of “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

“A Charleston-swing song”

What does “Sweet Georgia Brown” alternate between?

New Orleans-style heterophonic passages with pre-planned, Chicago-style homophony

What do the trumpets use in “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Mutes, as heard in “Dippermouth Blues”

What are featured in extended solos in “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Several instruments

What does analyst Thomas Hischak note abotu “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Its “an early jazz classic that also foreshadows the swing sound to come along a decade later

What are the riff-focused melodies in “Sweet Georgia Brown” similar to?

Count Basie and Fletcher Henderson, are one pre-swing characteristics

What do the sectional writing for the saxophones in Chorus 2 resemble in “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Henderson’s approach in “The Stampede”

What are the special qualities that make “Sweet Georgia Brown” distinctive?

One catchy moment in the introduction was an innovation of Bernie’s interpretation of the song: although the meter is in the typical danceable common-time, the Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra performs a hemiola passage that emphasizes every 3rd beat, as if the time signature had shifted to ¾ time

How is the hemiola effect demonstrated in “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

The numbers above the staff represent the customary beats in the indicated 4/4 meter. Underneath the staff, the brackets and numbers show how the repetitive pattern—four 8th notes and a quarter not—sems to produce a contrasting triple meter pulse

What is a special qualities about “Sweet Georgia Brown”s four phrases of the show-tune chorus?

They each modulate to a key that is a perfect 5th lower than the preceding phrase

How can you trace the changing keys in “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Moving counterclockwise around the circle of 5ths

What would the keys to the left of E major be?

A major, followed by D major, and then by G major

What describes the circle-of-fifths motion in “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Delightfully unsettling and presents a stimulating challenge to jazz musicians when improvising

How does Hischak describe “Sweet Georgia Brown” as music?

Although it’s “bright and bouncy music,” it can be difficult to sing accurately—yet, “the song has been whistled and hummed by the person on the street for decades”

How long is the intro of “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

8 bars

How does the intro to “Sweet Georgia Brown” start?

Homorhythmic ascending pattern

How does the intro to “Sweet Georgia Brown” end?

Homorhythmic scalar ascent

How is chorus 1 structured in “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4

How does chorus 1 start in “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Trumpet leads (launching circle-of-fifths motion)

How does chorus 1 end in “Sweet Georgia Brown”?

Riff on first phrase