"Don't Bring Lulu" is a 1925

Dixieland jazz Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...

song.

Background

"Don't Bring Lulu" was first published by Jerome H. Remick, based in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, in 1925. It is the 63rd most covered song from 1925. "Lulu" in the song is a 1920s

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women prominent after the First World War and through the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee length was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their ...

. The song lyrics include a reference to the traditional

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...

and

singing game A singing game is an activity based on a particular verse or rhyme, usually associated with a set of actions and movements. As a collection, they have been studied by folklorists, ethnologists, and psychologists and are seen as important part o ...

for parties, "''

London Bridge Is Falling Down "London Bridge Is Falling Down" (also known as "My Fair Lady" or "London Bridge") is a traditional English nursery rhyme and singing game, which is found in different versions all over the world. It deals with the dilapidation of London Bridg ...

''". The

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

is credited to

Billy Rose Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American impresario, theatrical showman, lyricist and columnist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainm ...

Lew Brown Lew Brown (born Louis Brownstein; December 10, 1893 – February 5, 1958) was a lyricist for popular songs in the United States. During World War I and the Roaring Twenties, he wrote lyrics for several of the top Tin Pan Alley composers, espec ...

, and

Ray Henderson Ray Henderson (born Raymond Brost; December 1, 1896 – December 31, 1970) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Buffalo, New York, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley. He was one-third of ...

. It was originally a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

and was often recorded by male singers in a comic style, including Billy Jones and

Ernest Hare Ernest Dudley Hare (5 December 1900, Highgate, London – 1981, London) was an English stage and film actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor perfo ...

for example, with additional dialogue. A praised recording was the 1960 single by

Dorothy Provine Dorothy Michelle Provine (January 20, 1935 – April 25, 2010) was an American singer, dancer and actress. Born in 1935 in Deadwood, South Dakota, she grew up in Seattle, Washington, and was hired in 1958 by Warner Bros., after which she first ...

, backed by Whisper Song. She also performed the song for the American television series '' The Roaring 20's'', which was aired during 1960–1962.

Recordings

The following performed and recorded the song in the year it was first published (1925): *

and Billy Jones * Billy Murray (1925) *

Van and Schenck Van and Schenck were popular American entertainers in the 1910s and 1920s: Gus Van (born August Von Glahn, August 12, 1886 – March 12, 1968), baritone, and Joe Schenck (pronounced "skenk"; born Joseph Thuma Schenck, (June 2, 1891– June ...

* Nathan Glantz and His Orchestra (vocals: Chick Straun) * Hall and Ryan *

The Little Ramblers The California Ramblers were an American jazz group that recorded hundreds of songs for many different record labels throughout the 1920s. Four members of the band –Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, and Adrian Rollini - went on to front b ...

(vocals: Billy Jones) *

Jan Garber Jan Garber (born Jacob Charles Garber, November 5, 1894 – October 5, 1977) was an American violinist and jazz bandleader. Biography Garber was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He had his own band by the time he was 21. He became known as "The ...

and His Orchestra (instrumental) *

Benny Krueger Bennie Krueger (July 17, 1898 – April 29, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist. After a short stint with Ross Gorman's band, Krueger's joined the Acme Sextette in New York, which included Miff Mole on trombone, Ernie Holst on violin, and ...

's Orchestra (vocals: Billy Jones) *

Sam Lanin Samuel Charles Lanin (September 4, 1891 – May 5, 1977) was an American jazz bandleader. Lanin's brothers, Howard and Lester, were also bandleaders, and all of them had sustained careers in music. Lanin was one of ten children born to Benjamin ...

and His Orchestra (vocals:

) * The Gilt-Edged Four (instrumental) * Jeffries and His Rialto Orchestra (vocals: John Thorne) The following performed and recorded the song in later years: *

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

and

Jack Carson John Elmer Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963), known as Jack Carson, was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including '' The Strawberry Blonde'' ...

(radio transcript) (1946) *

Tiny Hill Harry Lawrence "Tiny" Hill (July 19, 1906 – December 13, 1971) was an American band leader of the big band era. During the height of his career, Hill was billed as "America's Biggest Bandleader" because of his weight of over . His signatu ...

and His Orchestra (vocals: Tiny Hill) (1953) *

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (1911–1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (1916–1995), and mezzo ...

(with

Billy May Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet (TV series), The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad (TV series), T ...

's Orchestra) 1958) *

Bobby Short Robert Waltrip Short (September 15, 1924 – March 21, 2005) was an American cabaret singer and pianist who interpreted songs by popular composers from the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold ...

(1959) * "Big" Tiny Little (instrumental) (1959) *

(featured in the television series '' The Roaring 20's'') (1960) *

Max Bygraves Walter William "Max" Bygraves (16 October 1922 – 31 August 2012) was an English comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. He appeared on his own television shows, sometimes performing comedy sketches between songs. He made twenty ''Roya ...

with

Ted Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath also served for 51 year ...

and His Music (1960) * Kay Barry (1961) * Clinton Ford (1961) *

Victor Silvester Victor Marlborough Silvester OBE (25 February 190014 August 1978) was an English dancer, writer, musician and bandleader from the British dance band era. He was a significant figure in the development of ballroom dance during the first half ...

and His Ballroom Orchestra (instrumental) (1961) *

Mitch Miller Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...

and The Gang (1962) *

Gery Scott Gery Scott (5 October 1923 – 14 December 2005) was a jazz and cabaret entertainer and teacher, whose performing career spanned 26 countries and over 60 years. She was noted for her powerful stage persona and engaging delivery, with material rang ...

(1962) *

Mrs Mills Gladys Mills (; 29 August 1918 – 24 February 1978), known as Mrs. Mills, was an English pianist who was active in the 1960s and 1970s, and who released many records. Her repertoire included many sing-along and party tunes made popular in the ...

(instrumental) (1962) * The

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

(1965) * The

Billy Vaughn William Vaughn, popularly known as Billy Vaughn (born Richard Smith Vaughn, April 12, 1919 – September 26, 1991) was an American musician, singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records. Biography Vaughn was bor ...

Singers (1969) * The

Oxcentrics The Oxcentrics is a Dixieland jazz band founded in 1975 at Oxford University. The band's name was derived from ''The Oxontrics'', an original 1920s jazz band. Several (although by no means all) members were from University College, where many of ...

(1976) *

Bobbysocks! Bobbysocks is a Norwegian pop duo consisting of Norwegian Hanne Krogh and Swedish-Norwegian Elisabeth Andreassen. They won the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song "La det swinge" ("Let it swing"). Elisabeth went by the surname Andreasson ...

(1985) *

Adam Swanson Adam G. Swanson is an American Ragtime and Old-Time Music Pianist. He is known for his fast, energetic, and enthusiastic approach to playing ragtime. Swanson's career in ragtime piano began in 2003, when he won the junior division of the World ...

(piano, vocals: Frederick Hodges, additional modern lyrics) (2009) * The

(2020, in

lockdown A lockdown () is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...

) Other recordings include: *

Ted Black Edward Black (18 August 1900, Birmingham – 30 November 1948, London) was a British film producer, best known for being head of production at Gainsborough Studios in the late 1930s and early 1940s, during which time he oversaw production of t ...

and His Orchestra *

Stan Boreson Stan Boreson (May 5, 1925 – January 27, 2017), the "King of Scandinavian Humor," was a Norwegian-American comedian, accordionist and singer from Everett, Washington. Boreson was an early local TV star in the Seattle area, with a career that includ ...

and Doug Setterberg *

Russ Conway Russ Conway, DSM (born Trevor Herbert Stanford; 2 September 1925 – 16 November 2000) was an English popular music pianist and composer. Conway had 20 piano instrumentals in the UK Singles Chart between 1957 and 1963, including two number ...

* Graham "Smacka" Fitzgibbon * Ugly Dave Gray *

Stan Foster Stan Foster is an American film, television, and stage producer, actor, writer and director from Youngstown, Ohio. He is most known for his role in the ''Tour of Duty'' TV series where he played Marvin Johnson. He also wrote the play and film ''W ...

and His 1920's Impression *

Sammy Kaye Sammy Kaye (born Samuel Zarnocay Jr.; March 13, 1910 – June 2, 1987) was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era. The expression springs fr ...

and His Orchestra *

Hanne Krogh Hanne Krogh (born 24 January 1956) is a Norwegian singer and actress from Haugesund and Oslo. Krogh is among the most selling record artists in Norway ever. She represented Norway alone at the age of fifteen at the "Eurovision Song Contest 1971" ...

* Mike Mercado * Benny Strong and His Orchestra

References

{{authority control 1920s jazz standards 1925 compositions 1925 songs Dixieland jazz standards American jazz songs Songs about dancing Songs with music by Ray Henderson Songs with lyrics by Lew Brown Songs with lyrics by Billy Rose Frank Sinatra songs Max Bygraves songs Flappers

Background

Recordings

See also

References