Doin’ the New Low Down
LP CBS Half Fame Series OL 6770
Today I enjoy an album with music from a show called Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1928. After having successfully produced an album with music from Showboat, Jack Kapp at Brunswick Records continued in 1932–33 to attempt to achieve the same results with this show.
He got together some of the artists from the original cast and combined them in the studio with orchestras under contract with Brunswick. Thus, we are fortunate to hear Bill Robinson with Don Redman’s Orchestra in this tune, which, like the rest of the show’s songs, has words and music by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh, respectively.
Bill Robinson (1878–1959), with the artist name “Bojangles,” has left a lasting memory behind, which is reflected in the song Mr. Bojangles, which has been recorded by many famous artists from 1968 and on.
We hear his charming, pleasant singing voice and the sound of his swinging, unsurpassed tap-dancing skills.