"My Mammy" is an American popular song with music by Walter Donaldson and lyrics by Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis.
Though associated with Al Jolson, who performed the song very successfully, "My Mammy" was performed first in 1918 by William Frawley (later to become famous on I Love Lucy ) as a vaudeville act. [1] Saul Bornstein, the general manager in early 1921 for Irving Berlin Music Publishing, brought the song to Jolson's attention; Jolson first interpolated the song in January 1921 to the Broadway show Sinbad which was in the fourth year of its run. Jolson recorded this song twice and performed it in films, including The Jazz Singer (1927) and Rose of Washington Square (1939). [2] His voice can also be heard (dubbing actor Larry Parks) singing the song in The Jolson Story (1946). [3]
The group The Happenings revived the song in 1967 with a recording that reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Around that same time, Liza Minnelli began to incorporate the song into her nightclub act; she would continue to perform "My Mammy" throughout her long concert career. During their PopMart Tour of 1997–98, rock music band U2 would often quote the line "The sun shines east, the sun shines west, I know where the sun shines best" in performances of their song, "Miami". The British rock band The Psychedelic Furs parodied it in their song "We Love You", singing "I would walk a million smiles for one of your miles". In the Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie , the song is parodied in the song "Muqǐn". It is also parodied in the jukebox musical Our House in the songs "Rise and Fall" and "The Sun and the Rain (Act II)".
The song is a love song from son to his mother, expressing his regrets and longing for her, and hoping she will recognize him after he has been away for a long time.
However, in certain contexts, it can be considered as a tribute sung by a man who, during his childhood, was nurtured by a "mammy", a slave used as a surrogate mother who supplanted the role that would have otherwise been provided by his biological mother. In the song, this person, now an adult, is returning to his aging mammy and proclaiming his unconditional love for her, hoping that despite her age she can still recognise him as her "little baby". [4]
The song "My Mammy" has been recorded by many artists, including:
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress, singer and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades, and is one of the few performers awarded a non-competitive EGOT. Minnelli is a Knight of the French Legion of Honour and subject of the 2024 documentary, Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story.
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous singing and speech. Its release heralded the commercial ascendance of sound films and effectively marked the end of the silent film era with the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, featuring six songs performed by Al Jolson. Based on the 1925 play of the same title by Samson Raphaelson, the plot was adapted from his short story "The Day of Atonement".
William Clement Frawley was an American Vaudevillian and actor best known for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the sitcom I Love Lucy. Frawley also played "Bub" O'Casey during the first five seasons of the sitcom My Three Sons and the political advisor to the Hon. Henry X. Harper in the film Miracle on 34th Street.
"Carolina in the Morning" is a popular song with words by Gus Kahn and music by Walter Donaldson, first published in 1922 by Jerome H. Remick & Co.
I Love to Singa is a 1936 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Tex Avery. The short was released on July 18, 1936.
"Shine On, Harvest Moon" is a popular early-1900s song credited to the married vaudeville team Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. It was one of a series of moon-related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era. The song was debuted by Bayes and Norworth in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1908 to great acclaim. It became a pop standard, and continues to be performed and recorded in the 21st century.
"Pretty Baby" is a song written by Tony Jackson during the Ragtime era. The song was remembered as being prominent in Jackson's repertory before he left New Orleans in 1912, but was not published until 1916.
"Something Wonderful" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I.
"By the Light of the Silvery Moon" or "By the Light of the Silv'ry Moon" is a popular love song. The music was written by Gus Edwards, and the lyrics by Edward Madden. The song was published in 1909 and first performed on stage by Lillian Lorraine in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1909. It was one of a series of moon-related Tin Pan Alley songs of the era. The song was also used in the short-lived Broadway show Miss Innocence when it was sung by Frances Farr.
"April Showers" is a 1921 popular song composed by Louis Silvers with lyrics by B. G. De Sylva.
Rose of Washington Square is a 1939 American musical drama film, featuring the already well-known popular song with the same title. Set in 1920s New York City, the film focuses on singer Rose Sargent and her turbulent relationship with con artist Barton DeWitt Clinton, whose criminal activities threaten her professional success in the Ziegfeld Follies.
Mammy (1930) is an American pre-Code musical comedy-drama film with Technicolor sequences, released by Warner Bros. The film starred Al Jolson and was a follow-up to his previous film, Say It with Songs (1929). Mammy became Al Jolson's fourth feature, following earlier screen efforts as The Jazz Singer (1927), The Singing Fool (1928) and Say It with Songs (1929). The film relives Jolson's early years as a minstrel man. The songs were written by Irving Berlin, who is also credited with the original story titled Mr. Bones.
Al Jolson was a Lithuanian-born American singer, actor, and vaudevillian.
Liza's at the Palace.... was a concert presented by Liza Minnelli at the Palace Theatre on Broadway from December 3, 2008 through January 4, 2009. It was produced by John Scher and Metropolitan Talent Presents.
The Williams Brothers featuring Andy Williams were a white singing quartet formed in the mid 1930s. They initially entertained on radio stations and later appeared in four musical films in the 1940s. After recording with Bing Crosby led to a nightclub act backing Kay Thompson, they broke up in the early 1950s and went their separate ways. Sometimes referred to as the second generation The Williams Brothers (duo), twins Andrew and David began as teen idols and a musical duo in the 1970s, performing extensively on radio, television, and in movies and nightclubs.
Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)" is a song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn. It was introduced in 1929 by Ruby Keeler (as Dixie Dugan) in Florenz Ziegfeld's musical Show Girl. The stage performances were accompanied by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. On the show's opening night in Boston on June 25, 1929, Keeler's husband and popular singer Al Jolson suddenly stood up from his seat in the third row and sang a chorus of the song, much to the surprise of the audience and Gershwin himself. Jolson recorded the song a few days later on July 6, 1929, and his rendition rose to number nine on the charts of the day.
Liza Minnelli is a self-titled studio album by Liza Minnelli. Released on February 26, 1968, by A&M Records in the United States, it contains her interpretations of pop/rock and singer/songwriters' songs.
"When the Red, Red Robin " is a popular song written, both words and music, by Harry Woods in 1926. The song became the signature song for singer and actress Lillian Roth, who performed it often during the height of her musical career from the late 1920s to the late 1930s.
Billy Stritch is an American composer, arranger, vocalist, and jazz pianist. For many years, he was best known as a confidant, music director, and piano player for Liza Minnelli.