“It Don´t Mean a Thing”

“It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” is a 1931 composition by Duke Ellington with lyrics by Irving Mills, now accepted as a jazz standard. The music was written and arranged by Ellington in August 1931 during intermissions at Chicago’s Lincoln Tavern and was first recorded by Ellington and his orchestra for Brunswick Records (Br 6265) on February 2, 1932. Ivie Anderson sang the vocal and trombonist Joe Nanton and alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges played the instrumental solos. The title was based on the oft stated credo of Ellington’s former trumpeter Bubber Miley, who was dying of tuberculosis. The song became famous, Ellington wrote, “as the expression of a sentiment which prevailed among jazz musicians at the time.” Probably the first song to use the phrase “swing” in the title, it introduced the term into everyday language and presaged the Swing Era by three years. The Ellington band played the song continuously over the years and recorded it numerous times, most often with trumpeter Ray Nance as vocalist.

LYRIC

What good is melody?
What good is music?
If it ain’t possessin’ something sweet
It ain’t the melody, it ain’t the music

There’s something else that makes the tune complete
It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing
It don’t mean a thing all you got to do is sing

It makes no difference
If it’s sweet or hot
Just give that rhythm
Everything you’ve got
It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing

“Java Jive”

LYRIC

I love coffee, I love tea
I love the Java Jive and it loves me
Coffee and tea and the java and me
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup (Boy!)

I love java, sweet and hot
Whoops Mr. Moto, I’m a coffee pot
Shoot the pot and I’ll pour me a shot
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup

Oh slip me a slug from the wonderful mug
And I’ll cut a rug just snug in a jug
A sliced up onion and a raw one
Draw one -
Waiter, waiter, percolator

I love coffee, I love tea
I love the Java Jive and it loves me
Coffee and tea and the java and me
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup

Boston bean (soy beans)
Green bean (cabbage and greens)
I’m not keen about a bean
Unless it is a chili chili bean (boy!)

I love java sweet and hot
Whoops Mr. Moto I’m a coffee pot (yeah)
Shoot me the pot and I’ll pour me a shot
A cup, a cup, a cup (yeah)

Slip me a slug of the wonderful mug
‘An I’ll cut a rug just as snug in a jug
Drop a nickel in the pot Joe
Takin’ it slow
Waiter, waiter, percolator

I love coffee, I love tea
I love the Java Jive and it loves me
Coffee and tea and the java and me
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, boy!

“Fever”

“Fever” is a song credited to Eddie Cooley and “John Davenport” (a pseudonym for Otis Blackwell). The song was a rhythm and blues hit for Little Willie John that crossed over and became a pop standard after being transformed, with additional lyrics, by Peggy Lee. In the interim, Ray Peterson and Earl Grant had singles of the song which became regional hits.

It was published in 1956 and originally recorded as a hit by Little Willie John that also made the popular charts as an early Rock’n'Roll song. In 1958, Peggy Lee’s cover version was even more popular. The song became a signature song for Peggy Lee.

Elvis Presley recorded a near identical version to Lee’s two years later for his 1960 album, Elvis Is Back!.

LETRA

Never know how much i love you ,
never know how much i care,
when you put arms around me,
i get a fever thats so hard to bear,

You give me fever, when you kiss me,
fever when you hold me tight
Fever – in the the morning,
fever all through the night.

Sun lights up the daytime, moon lights up the night
I light up when you call my name,
and you know I’m gonna treat you right
You give me fever – when you kiss me,
fever when you hold me tight
Fever – in the the morning,
fever all through the night.

Everybody’s got the fever,
that is something you all know
Fever isn’t such a new thing,
fever started long ago.

Romeo loved Juliet,
Juliet she felt the same
When he put his arms around her,
he said “Julie baby you’re my flame”
Thou givest fever, when we kisseth,
fever with thy flaming youth
Fever – I’m afire, fever yeah I burn forsooth.

Captain Smith and Pocahontas had a very mad affair
When her Daddy tried to kill him,
she said “Daddy-O don’t you dare”
Give me fever – with his kisses,
fever when he holds me tight
Fever – I’m his Missus,
Oh daddy won’t you treat him right.

Now you’ve listened to my story,
here’s the point I have made:
Chicks were born to give you fever,
be it Fahrenheit or Centregrade
They give you fever – when you kiss them,
fever if you live and learn
Fever – till you sizzle,
what a lovely way to burn.
What a lovely way to burn.
What a lovely way to burn

“A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square”

“A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” is the title of a well-known romantic British popular song with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by Manning Sherwin and Jack Strachey. It was published in 1940, when it was first performed in the show  New Faces by Judy Campbell (later the mother of Jane Birkin). In the same year it was also performed by both Ray Noble and then -most famously- by Vera Lynn. Subsequently it has become a standard, being performed in a noteworthy fashion by Rod Stewart, Nat King Cole, Glenn Miller, Stephane Grappelli, Bobby Darin, Harry Connick Jr. and Sonny Rollins. A famous version by The Manhattan Transfer won a Grammy in 1981 for its arranger, Gene Puerling. Veteran British musician Ian Hunter, former vocalist for Mott the Hoople, regularly performs it in his concerts; Hunter’s rendition appears on at least two of his live recordings. A performance of the song by British actor Robert Lindsay was used as the theme to the British situation comedy series Nightingales. The recording by John Le Mesurier is widely regarded as the definitive version.

In the British sitcom Peep Show, the character Mark sings an excerpt of this song.

Berkeley Square (pronounced “BARK-lee”) is a large leafy square in Mayfair, an expensive part of London. The Ritz Hotel referred to is also in Mayfair.

LETRA

When true lovers meet in Mayfair, so the legends tell,

Songbirds sing; winter turns to spring.

Every winding street in Mayfair falls beneath the spell.

I know such enchantment can be, ‘cos it happened one evening to me:

That certain night, the night we met,

There was magic abroad in the air,

There were angels dining at the Ritz,

And a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

I may be right, I may be wrong,

But I’m perfectly willing to swear

That when you turned and smiled at me

A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

The moon that lingered over London town,

Poor puzzled moon, he wore a frown.

How could he know we two were so in love?

The whole darn world seemed upside down.

The streets of town were paved with stars;

It was such a romantic affair.

And, as we kissed and said ‘goodnight’,

A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

The first stanza above (which is properly called a “verse” which is often spoken as an intro), and the additional lyrics below (properly called the “chorus”), were in the original song as written, but are rarely sung in recordings (Bobby Darin, Mel Torme,Blossom Dearie, Twiggie, Vera Lynn, and Rod Stewart’s recordings being notable exceptions):

How strange it was, how sweet and strange;

There was never a dream to compare

With those hazy crazy nights we met

When a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

This heart of mine beat loud and fast,

Like a merry go round in a fair.

We were dancing cheek to cheek

And a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

When dawn came stealing up all gold and blue

To interrupt our rendezvous,

I still remember how you smiled and said,

“Was that a dream or was it true?”

Our homeward step was just as light

As the tap-dancing feet of Astaire

And, like an echo far away,

A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

I know ‘cos I was there,

That night in Berkeley Square.

Tico-Tico no Fubá

Tico-Tico no Fubá is the title of a renowned Brazilian choro music piece composed by Zequinha de Abreu in 1917.

Choro (literally translated meaning lament) is also popularly known as chorinho in the affectionate diminutive form of Brazilian Portuguese. “Fubá” is a type of maize flour, and “tico-tico” is the name of a bird, the rufous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis). Hence, “tico-tico no fubá” means “tico-tico on the cornmeal”.

Tico-Tico no Fubá was recorded and made popular internationally by Carmen Miranda (who performed it onscreen in Copacabana (1947)) and Ray Conniff. Another well known recording was made by first lady of the organ, Miss Ethel Smith on the Hammond organ.

A biographical movie by the same title was produced in 1952 by the Brazilian film studio Companhia Cinematográfica Vera Cruz with Anselmo Duarte playing the main role.

The song was also featured in the “Aquarela do Brasil” segment of the Walt Disney film Saludos Amigos (1942) and in Woody Allen’s Radio Days (1987).

LETRA

The complete version of  Aloysio de Oliveira´s original Portuguese lyrics:

O tico tico tá, tá outra vez aqui, o tico tico tá comendo o meu fubá. Se o tico tico tem, tem que se alimentar, Que vá comer umas minhocas no pomar. O tico tico tá, tá outra vez aqui, o tico tico tá comendo o meu fubá. Eu sei que ele vem viver no meu quintal, e vem com ares de canário e de pardal.

Mas por favor tira esse bicho do celeiro, porque ele acaba comendo o fubá inteiro. Tira esse tico de lá, de cima do meu fubá. Tem tanta fruta que ele pode pinicar.

Eu já fiz tudo para ver se conseguia. Botei alpiste para ver se ele comia. Botei um gato um espantalho e um alçapão, mas ele acha que o fubá é que é boa alimentação.

The English Lyrics are:

Oh tico-tico tick! Oh tico-tico tock! This tico-tico – he’s the cuckoo in my clock. And when he says: “Cuckoo!” he means it’s time to woo; It’s “tico-time” for all the lovers in the block. I’ve got a heavy date – a tete-a-tete at eight, so speak, oh tico, tell me is it getting late? If I’m on time, “Cuckoo!” but if I’m late, “Woo-woo!” The one my heart has gone to may not want to wait!

For just a birdie, and a birdie who goes no-where, He knows of ev’ry Lovers’ Lane and how to go there; For in affairs of the heart, my Tico’s terribly smart, He tells me: “Gently, sentiment’ly at the start!”

Oh-oh, I hear my little tico-tico calling, Because the time is right and shades of night are falling. I love that not-so-cuckoo cuckoo in my clock: tico-tico tico-tico-tico tock!

“(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66″

Escrita por Bobby Troup, Publicada en 1946, Grabada por NatKing Cole Trio, Perry Como, Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode..etc

(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66“, often rendered simply as “Route 66“, is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including Chuck Berry in 1961 and The Rolling Stones in 1964. The song’s lyrics follow the path of the U.S. Route 66 highway, which used to run a large distance across the US, going from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California. The title was suggested to Troup by his first wife, Cynthia.

LETRA

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way take, the highway that’s the best.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six.

Well it winds from Chicago to LA
Over two-thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six.

Now you go through St. Louie, Joplin, Missouri
And Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty.
You’ll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico
Flagstaff Arizona, don’t forget Winona,
Kingsman, Barstow, San Bernadino

Won’t you get hip to this timely tip
When you make that California trip.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six. (Repeat twice)

It goes from St. Louie, down to Missouri
Oklahoma city looks Oh so pretty.
You’ll see Amarillo, Gallup New Mexico
Flagstaff Arizona, don’t forget Wynona,
Kingsman, Barstow, San Bernadino

If you get hip to this timely tip
Take that California trip.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.