Based on ‘Jimmy Crack Corn’ by The Sons of the Pioneers (1934).
Also based on “Blue Tail Fly” by Burl Ives & the Andrew Sisters (1947).
Hit version by Johnny & the Hurricanes (US #15/UK #8 1959).
From the wiki: “‘Jimmy Crack Corn’ and its derivative, ‘Blue Tail Fly’, were songs which first became popular during the rise of blackface minstrelsy in the 1840s through performances by the Virginia Minstrels. Often credited to Dan Emmett, who also wrote ‘Dixie’, both ‘Jimmy Crack Corn’ and ‘Blue Tail Fly’ regained currency as folk songs in the 1930s at the beginning of the American folk music revival and have since become popular children’s songs.
“Over the years, variants of ‘Jimmy Crack Corn/Blue Tail Fly’ appeared – among them, a ‘rock ‘n roll’ arrangement by Johnny & the Hurricanes released in 1959.
First recorded (as “Reginella campagnola”) by Carlo Buti (1939).
Also recorded by Kate Smith (1940).
Hit versions by The Andrews Sisters (US #7 1940), Glenn Miller & His Orchestra (US #1 1940).
From the wiki: “‘The Woodpecker Song’ (‘Reginella campagnola’) was originally an Italian song, written by Eldo Di Lazzaro, and first recorded by Carlo Buti in 1939. English lyrics were written by Harold Adamson and the song became a US hit in 1940, recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, The Andrews Sisters, and Kate Smith the same year. The Glenn Miller recording featured Marion Hutton on vocals and reached #1 on the Billboard charts in 1940.”
First recorded (as “Parade of the Tin Soldiers”) by Russian Orchestra (1911).
First US recording by The Vincent Lopez Orchestra (1922).
Other popular versions by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra (1923), The Andrews Sisters (1950), The Crystals (1963), Harry Connick, Jr. (1993).
From the wiki:”‘The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers’ (originally titled ‘Parade of the Tin Soldiers’) was composed in 1897 for solo piano by Leon Jessel who later published it for orchestra in 1905, as ‘Opus 123’. In 1911, Russian impresario Nikita Balieff chose Jessel’s whimsically rakish ‘Parade of the Tin Soldiers’ for a choreography routine in his ‘The Bat’ vaudeville revue, changing the title to ‘The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers’. Balieff’s wooden-soldier choreography referenced a legend regarding Tsar Paul I: that he left his parade grounds without issuing a ‘halt’ order to his marching soldiers, so they marched to Siberia before being remembered and ordered back.
“In December 1920 Nikita Balieff’s La Chauve-Souris (The Bat) revue reached Paris, to great acclaim, and in 1922 it was brought to Broadway. In 1922, an instrumental version of ‘The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers’ recording performed by The Vincent Lopez Orchestra became a US hit 78 rpm in 1922. Paul Whiteman’s recording also topped the Hit Parade the following year (1923).
“In 1933, a Betty Boop cartoon, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, was created by animator David Fleischer with music performed by popular Russian-American conductor David Rubinoff and His Orchestra. Also in 1933, The Rockettes began annually performing their own choreographed version of the piece, based on Balieff’s original, in their Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
