"Woodchopper's Ball", also known as "At the Woodchopper's Ball" is a 1939

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

composition by Joe Bishop and

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

. The up-tempo blues tune in

D-flat major D-flat major (or the key of D-flat) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has five flats. It is enharmonically equivalent to C-sharp major. The D-flat major scale is: : Its ...

was the Woody Herman Orchestra's biggest hit, as well as the most popular composition of either composer, selling a million records. The tune has been performed by numerous artists and is considered a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive l ...

. It is included in the first volume of Hal Leonard's '' Real Book''. The song was covered by the British blues/rock band

Ten Years After Ten Years After are a British rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US ''Billboar ...

on their album, ''

Undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by ...

''. The original recording by Woody Herman and His Orchestra received the

Grammy Hall of Fame Award The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 2002.Grammy Hall of Fame Awards
at ''Grammy.com'' - retrieved on 25 May 2009 "

Twistin' at the Woodchopper's Ball "Twisting at the Woodchopper's Ball" was the first ''made in Canada'' single to top the International Charts.RPM Weekly Volume 11 No.13 May 26, 1969, Obituary: Ronn Metcalf Ronn Metcalfe released an LP named after the title track, "Twistin' at the ...

" written by

Ronn Metcalfe Ronn Metcalfe (July 20, 1930May 18, 1969) was a Canadian big band leader from St. Catharines and music industry leader. He released an LP named after the title track " Twistin' at the Woodchopper's Ball" which garnered him a gold record. He used ...

was a 1962 hit based on Herman's song, which attained a

gold album Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

status.

References

Songs about parties 1939 songs 1939 singles Instrumentals Jazz compositions 1930s jazz standards Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Songs with music by Woody Herman Ten Years After songs {{1930s-jazz-composition-stub

See also

References