Go West Young Man (Groucho Marx song)

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"Go West Young Man"
Song by Groucho Marx
Released1940
Genre Traditional pop
Composer(s) Harry Ruby
Lyricist(s) Bert Kalmar

"Go West Young Man" was a 1940 song by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby written for the MGM film Go West , originally sung by Groucho Marx, backed by a chorus, who performed solo for the first time in the song. The song was cut from the film. [1] The song was eventually used in the 1947 United Artists film Copacabana when it was sung again by Groucho. He and Bing Crosby dueted on the song on Crosby's Philco Radio Time show on February 12, 1947. [2]

The song was recorded by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters on March 26, 1947 and was the lead track for Bing Crosby's album Go West Young Man . The B-side of the single was "Along the Navajo Trail" by Larry Markes, Dick Charles, and Eddie DeLange. [3]

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References

  1. Philip Furia, Laurie Patterson The Songs of Hollywood 2010 p115 "But with Go West, their songs were all cut, including a delightful title song, “Go West, Young Man.” With its flippant sentiments —“A cowboy and his missus went to court for a divorce/ The cowboy got the children and the missus got the horse”—the song became part of Groucho's party repertory."
  2. Pairpoint, Lionel. "And Here's Bing". Bing magazine. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  3. "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved July 22, 2017.