"That's a Plenty" is a 1914 ragtime piano composition by

Lew Pollack Lew Pollack (June 16, 1895 – January 18, 1946) was an American song composer and musician active during the 1920s and the 1930s. Career Pollack was born in New York City, where he went to DeWitt Clinton High School and was active as a boy sopra ...

. Lyrics by

Ray Gilbert Ray Gilbert (September 5, 1912 – March 3, 1976) was an American lyricist. He grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. He married Janis Paige in 1962. Career Gilbert is best remembered for the lyrics to the Oscar-winning song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from ...

(born 1912) were added decades later. Several popular vocal versions have been recorded, but it is more often performed as an instrumental. The composition started as a rag but is nowadays played as a part of the

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 ( ...

repertoire.Jasen, David A. (2007). ''Ragtime: An Encyclopedia''. CRC Press. p. 252. . The song has been recorded 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 List ...

. The first recording was on July 7, 1914, by Prince's Band (Columbia A-5582), and the

New Orleans Rhythm Kings The New Orleans Rhythm Kings (NORK) were one of the most influential jazz bands of the early to mid-1920s. The band included New Orleans and Chicago musicians who helped shape Chicago jazz and influenced many younger jazz musicians. They compos ...

recorded their rendition in 1923. In 1947 it was recorded by the jazz accordionist

John Serry Sr. John Serry Sr. (born John Serrapica; January 29, 1915 – September 14, 2003) was an American concert accordionist, arranger, composer, organist, and educator. He performed on the CBS Radio and Television networks and contributed to Voice ...

and guitarist

Tony Mottola Anthony C. "Tony" Mottola (April 18, 1918 – August 9, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist who released dozens of solo albums. Mottola was born in Kearny, New Jersey and died in Denville. Career Like many of his contemporaries, Mottola ...

as members of the Biviano Accordion & Rhythm Sextette for Sonora records. The comedian

Jackie Gleason Herbert John Gleason (born Herbert Walton Gleason Jr.; February 26, 1916June 24, 1987), known as Jackie Gleason, was an American comedian, actor, writer, and composer also known as "The Great One". He developed a style and characters from growin ...

used it in his television shows in the 1950s and 1960s. Among the hundreds of later recordings of this standard, the following are particularly notable.

Freddy Martin Frederick Alfred Martin (December 9, 1906 – September 30, 1983) was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist. Early life Freddy Martin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Raised largely in an orphanage and by various relatives, ...

and His Orchestra recorded a version in 1950. Sheet music for this version featuring Freddy Martin on the cover has the lyrics printed inside. It was recorded by

Albert Nicholas Albert Nicholas (May 27, 1900 – September 3, 1973) was an American jazz clarinet player, who was mostly based in Europe after 1953. Career Nicholas's primary instrument was the clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio in his hometown ...

(

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

), with the Big Chief Jazz Band, in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

on August 29, 1955, and released on a 78-rpm record (Philips P 53038).

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

and

Connee Boswell Constance Foore "Connee" Boswell (December 3, 1907 – October 11, 1976) was an American vocalist born in Kansas City, Missouri, but raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. With sisters Martha and Helvetia "Vet", she performed in the 1920s and 1930s ...

recorded a vocal version in September 1952 for use in Crosby's radio show broadcast on November 27, 1952. Decca Records mastered this for commercial release on November 17, 1952. The Pollack and Gilbert song is not to be confused with a 1909 song of the same name by

Henry Creamer Henry Sterling Creamer (June 21, 1879 – October 14, 1930) was a popular song lyricist and theater producer. He was born in Richmond, Virginia, and died in New York. He co-wrote many popular songs in the years from 1900 to 1929, often collaborat ...

and

Bert Williams Bert Williams (November 12, 1874 – March 4, 1922) was a Bahamian-born American entertainer, one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. While some sources have ...

Notes

External links

"That's a Plenty" at the Levy Sheet Music Collection
1914 compositions 1910s jazz standards Dixieland jazz standards Songs with lyrics by Ray Gilbert Rags Songs written by Lew Pollack {{1910s-jazz-composition-stub

See also

Notes

External links