"Under the Bamboo Tree" is an American song composed by Robert Cole, J. Rosamond Johnson, and James Weldon Johnson. J. W. Stern & Co. published it in 1902. [1] A ragtime hit, it sold over 400,000 copies. [2]
"Under the Bamboo Tree" is an American song composed by Robert Cole, J. Rosamond Johnson, and James Weldon Johnson. J. W. Stern & Co. published it in 1902. [1] A ragtime hit, it sold over 400,000 copies. [2]
The song was first composed by Robert Cole and J. Rosamond Johnson while they were still performing as the vaudeville act Cole and Johnson. They had intended it for a "comic opera" they called Toloso; the opera was never produced. [3] After a performance, they were discussing the couplet "If you like me, like I like you, No knife can cut our life in two," and Cole suggested they use the idea for a new song. [4] Cole stated he took inspiration from a soldier's story he heard, of a romance he had under a bamboo tree with a Red Cross nurse. [5] At Johnson's insistence, Cole used the melody of the spiritual "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" as the basis for the song. [6] [3]
After writing the words and music, Cole and Johnson sent the song to James Weldon Johnson who made changes to the song. Johnson forwarded the song to a music publisher under the name If You Lak-a-Me, Lak I Lak-a-You. The publisher changed the name to "Under the Bamboo Tree", taken from the final line in the song's chorus. [4]
A month later, Cole and Johnson performed the song at party hosted by George W. Lederer. There, Marie Cahill took a liking to the song, and campaigned against producer Ludwig Englander for its incorporation in the Broadway production of Sally in Our Alley , of which she starred. The song premiered in this musical on August 29, 1902, and it helped make the play successful. [4] [7] Cahill included it in Nancy Brown the next season. It went on to become one of two songs that Cahill would commonly interpolate into her own performances per request. [7] [3]
Over the course of six months, 400,000 copies of the song were sold. [2] It became a popular and well-known song in the United States, and further spread to England and India. [5] [8]
Arthur Collins recorded it for Edison Records. [9] Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien perform the song in the 1944 musical film Meet Me in St. Louis [10] [11] and it was included in the retrospective MGM film That's Entertainment! . [12] It was later used in the stage musical Meet Me in St. Louis. [13]
T. S. Eliot parodied the song in Sweeney Agonistes . [2]
Meet Me in St. Louis is a 1944 American Christmas musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with Summer 1903, it relates the story of a year in the life of the Smith family in St. Louis leading up to the opening of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in the spring of 1904. The film stars Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake, Leon Ames, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart and Joan Carroll.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1904.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1903.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in 1902.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1901.
James Weldon Johnson was an American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to civil rights activist Grace Nail Johnson. Johnson was a leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where he started working in 1917. In 1920, he was chosen as executive secretary of the organization, effectively the operating officer. He served in that position from 1920 to 1930. Johnson established his reputation as a writer, and was known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems, novel and anthologies collecting both poems and spirituals of Black culture. He wrote the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing", which later became known as the Black National Anthem, the music being written by his younger brother, composer J. Rosamond Johnson.
Robert Allen Cole Jr. was an American composer, actor, and playwright who produced and directed stage shows. In collaboration with Billy Johnson, he wrote and produced A Trip to Coontown (1898), the first musical entirely created and owned by black showmen. The popular song La Hoola Boola (1898) was a result of their collaboration. Cole later partnered with brothers J. Rosamond Johnson, a pianist and singer, and James Weldon Johnson, a pianist, guitarist and lawyer, creating more than 200 songs.
That's Entertainment! is a 1974 American compilation film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to celebrate the studio's 50th anniversary. The success of the retrospective prompted a 1976 sequel, the related 1985 film That's Dancing!, and a third installment in 1994.
John Rosamond Johnson was an American composer and singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he had much of his career in New York City. Johnson is noted as the composer of the tune for the hymn "Lift Every Voice and Sing". It was first performed live by 500 Black American students from the segregated Florida Baptist Academy, Jacksonville, Florida, in 1900. The song was published by Joseph W. Stern & Co., Manhattan, New York.
African-American musical theater includes late 19th- and early 20th-century musical theater productions by African Americans in New York City and Chicago. Actors from troupes such as the Lafayette Players also crossed over into film. The Pekin Theatre in Chicago was a popular and influential venue.
Duchess of Idaho is an American musical romantic comedy produced in 1950 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, it was the fourth film pairing Esther Williams and Van Johnson. It was filmed at the MGM Studios lot and exteriors shot in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Rosalie is a musical with music by George Gershwin and Sigmund Romberg, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and P.G. Wodehouse, and book by William Anthony McGuire and Guy Bolton. The story tells of a princess from a faraway land who comes to America and falls in love with a West Point Lieutenant.
Joseph Taylor Jordan was an American pianist, composer, real estate investor, and music publisher. He wrote over 2000 songs and arranged for notable people such as Florenz Ziegfeld, Orson Welles, Louis Armstrong, Eddie Duchin, Benny Goodman, and others.
Du Barry Was a Lady is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth, starring Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, and Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. It is based on the 1939 stage musical of the same name. Shot in Technicolor, the film was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Marie Cahill was a Broadway stage actress and vocalist. Her parents were Irish immigrants Richard and Mary Cahill. She appeared in comic operas including Judy Forgot. She was also in films.
"Oh, Didn't He Ramble" is a New Orleans jazz standard, copyrighted in 1902 by J. Rosamond Johnson, James Weldon Johnson, and Bob Cole. It is frequently used at the end of jazz funerals.
Sally in Our Alley was a 1902 Broadway musical comedy show. It helped Marie Cahill reach stardom and popularized songs. The title refers to the popular saying that developed from the British song "Sally in Our Alley". The show helped popularize the song "Under the Bamboo Tree". George V. Hobart wrote the musical and its song lyrics. Ludwig Engländer wrote the music for the show. Interpolations of songs by J. Rosamond Johnson, George Walker, and Bert Williams were included in the show.
My Castle on the Nile is an American song with lyrics by Bob Cole and James Weldon Johnson and music by J. Rosamond Johnson. Arthur Collins was recorded on a Columbia Records wax cylinder performing the song in 1902. Various artists have recorded it since.
The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast is a musical in three acts with music by J. M. Glover and Frederick Solomon and lyrics by J. Cheever Goodwin. Its book by John J. McNally and Goodwin was adapted from the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane's 1900 pantomime of the same name by J. Hickory Wood and Arthur Collins. The musical also included additional music and lyrics by the songwriting team of Jean Schwartz and William Jerome, and by the African-American creative team of Bob Cole, James Weldon Johnson, and J. Rosamond Johnson.
Nancy Brown is a musical in two acts with music by Henry Kimball Hadley and both book and lyrics by George Broadhurst and Frederic Ranken. The musical also used several songs written by the African-American songwriting team of Robert Cole, J. Rosamond Johnson, and James Weldon Johnson. Set in the royal palace of the fictional kingdom of Ballyhoo, the show was about the matchmaker Nancy Brown's attempt to wed the Ballyhooian royalty and nobility to eight wealthy American heiresses in order to save the financially bankrupt kingdom.
