"I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" is a song from 1927, which was written by
Mort Dixon
Mort Dixon (March 20, 1892 – March 23, 1956) was an American lyricist.
Biography
Born in New York City, United States, Dixon began writing songs in the early 1920s, and was active into the 1930s. He achieved success with his first published ef ...
Nick Lucas
Dominic Nicholas Anthony Lucanese (August 22, 1897 – July 28, 1982), known professionally as Nick Lucas, was an American jazz guitarist and singer. Known as the Crooning Troubadour, he was the first jazz guitarist to record as a soloist. His p ...
(No. 2),
Ben Bernie
Benjamin Anzelwitz, known professionally as Ben Bernie (May 30, 1891 – October 23, 1943),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. ...
(No. 3), and
Jean Goldkette
John Jean Goldkette (March 18, 1893 – March 24, 1962) was a jazz pianist and bandleader.
Life
Goldkette was reportedly born on March 18, 1893 in Valenciennes, France,Russel B. Nye (1976). Music in the Twenties: The Jean Goldkette Orchestra ...
(No. 10).
History
Written in 1927 by Mort Dixon (lyrics) and Harry M. Woods (music), the song became a success that same year with the release of recordings by Nick Lucas, Ben Bernie, and Jean Goldkette.
The song was then revived during 1948 by several artists, most notably
Art Mooney
Arthur Joseph Mooney (February 11, 1911 – September 9, 1993) was an American singer and bandleader. His biggest hits were "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover" and "Baby Face" in 1948 and " Nuttin' For Christmas," with Barry Gordon, in 1955. ...
, whose recording topped the charts for three weeks. Other charting 1948 versions were made by
Russ Morgan
Russell Morgan (April 29, 1904 – August 7, 1969) was an American big band leader and arranger during the 1930s and 1940s. He was best known for being the one of the composers of the song "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", with Larry Stock ...
(No. 6),
Alvino Rey
Alvin McBurney (July 1, 1908 – February 24, 2004), known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American jazz guitarist and bandleader.
Career
Alvin McBurney was born in Oakland, California, United States, but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Early i ...
(No. 6),
The Three Suns
The Three Suns was an American pop group, most popular during the 1940s and 1950s.
Career history
The group was formed in 1939 by brothers Al Nevins (guitar) and Morty Nevins (accordion) and their cousin, radio and vaudeville veteran Artie Dunn (v ...
(No. 10), The Uptown String Band (No. 11), and
Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early-to-mid 1950s, Godf ...
(No. 14).
During modern times the song is perhaps most associated with ''
Merrie Melodies
''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...
'' cartoons, as it was used in several of them, and a common tune played by the string bands in Philadelphia's
Mummers Parade
The Mummers Parade is held each New Year's Day in Philadelphia. Local clubs (usually called "New Years Associations" or "New Years Brigades") compete in one of five categories (Comics, Wench Brigades, Fancies, String Bands, and Fancy Brigades). ...
. The Sons of Ben, the official supporters' group of
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
's
Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...
, have adopted the song as one of their chants, singing at every home match at the 20 minute, ten second mark, symbolic as the founding year of the Union.
Renditions
*The
UCLA Band
The Solid Gold Sound of the UCLA Bruin Marching Band represents the university at major athletic and extracurricular events. During the fall marching season, this 250-member band performs at the Rose Bowl for UCLA Bruin home football games. Prega ...
has played an arrangement of this tune since 1954, and uses the chorus as the second part of
Rover
Rover may refer to:
People
* Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian
* Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer
* Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist
Places
* Rover, Arkansas, US
* Rover, Missouri, US
* ...
, the Bruin victory song. Similar lyrics have been used for two other songs.
** "My Dead Dog Rover" by Hank Stu Dave and Hank (Hank Landsberg & Dave Whited) from 1977, which is featured in the
Dr. Demento 25th Anniversary Collection
''Dr. Demento 25th Anniversary Collection'' is a release by radio disc jockey Dr. Demento to celebrate 25 years since the beginning of his radio career and novelty song show. It covers many of the novelty and comedy songs from the 1950s to the ea ...
- The parody version "I'm Looking Over My Dead Dog Rover" was played on
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...
's show for a time.
** "I'm Lookin' Over My Dead Dog Rover" by Kevin Gershon from 1973 and played on KMET FM in Los Angeles.
* In 1948,
Al "Jazzbo" Collins
Albert Richard "Jazzbo" Collins (January 4, 1919 – September 30, 1997) was an American disc jockey and musician who hosted ''The Tonight Show'' in 1957.
Career
Born in Rochester, New York, in 1919, Collins grew up on Long Island, New York. In ...
, a popular Salt Lake City disk jockey, is credited with popularizing Art Mooney's version of the song after he pulled a stunt playing the song repeatedly for hours on end. Some sources state 3 1/2 hours, other say it was 24 hours. For 120 minutes Mooney’s record played on while telephone calls were received from listeners who added insult to Collins’ injury by praising him "for playing something good for a change"."The music business: career opportunities and self-defense" by Dick Weissman /ref>
*
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
sang this song in two different shorts. In '' Operation: Rabbit'', he sang, "I'm lookin' over a three-leaf clover that I overlooked bethree". In ''
Backwoods Bunny
''Backwoods Bunny'' is a 1959 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson and written by Tedd Pierce. The short was released on June 13, 1959, and stars Bugs Bunny. Voiced by Mel Blanc, Bugs Bunny takes a vacation in the ...
'', as part of a
running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...
at the end of the short, he sings "I'm lookin' over a four (BANG!) leaf clover that I overlooked before... (BANG!) fore... (BANG!) fore... (BANG!) fore... (BANG!)"