ANOTHER MUSICAL MUSING, 5 July 2024–“Slipping Into Summer, Watch Out for that Peel!”

Well, the year is half over and the dog days of Summer are upon us. So, watch your step as we slip (or sip?) into something to cool us off a bit. As far as another musical musing goes, why not just let go and “GO BANANAS!“

Bananas didn’t become common in markets until the 1880s or so when steamships, refrigeration, and railroads allowed the fast and safe distribution of this fragile fruit from the Caribbean to cities in the US, the UK, and Europe. What was uncommon soon became everyday. And, needless to say, our friends in Tin Pan Alley, Vaudeville, and British music halls noticed and slid right along!

Just for fun, let’s unpeel and enjoy a whole bunch of what was out there –musically speaking, of course. Caution: Don’t split your skin with peels of laughter!

Click or tap on the triangle in the next image for a look and listen to this Vaudeville favorite.

Another!

Click or tap on the triangle in the next block for a really ripe one!

Still another!

Click or tap on the triangle in the next image to look and listen to a tune that some might say is “showing a few of those brown spots!“

One more from the bunch.

Click or tap on the triangle in the next image for a look and listen to a song that ripened into a commercial!

And one more that just slipped in!

This golden (banana yellow) oldie is by that famed performer and (Yes!) Tin Pan Alley historian. Click or tap on the triangle in the next image and take a look and listen for as long as you can stand it!

And now, gentle readers, the ripest of the bunch!

The Top Banana here! Click or tap on the triangle in the next image for a fruitful treat!

If you want to sing along with any of these, here’s what to wear. Or not . . .

And, here’s a little instrument to play on! (Alas, not in my collection. Yet.)

I could go on and on with tunes like this but I sense that one or more of my gentle readers might be losing their appetite for banana treats . . .

So, let’s split the scene and slip along to some more serious musicological musings before we let things ripen too far. Save room for some banana bread, however!

Sliding on . . . Sometimes a song is so familiar to us and so tied in with a particular performer that we tend to forget that most songs, like fruit, come in many varieties, and, like bananas, come in bunches. That’s the fun of nibbling into the back-stories of some of the songs we hear and play.

Certainly, “Day-O—The Banana Boat Song”–that icon of Jamaican patois and calypso rhythms–is one of those.

Essentially, it’s a work song sung by dock workers ending the night shift by loading freshly picked bananas onto market ships.

The simple lyrics describe how daylight has come, their shift is over, and they want their work to be counted up so that they can go home.  The song originated as a Jamaican folk song with a repeated melody and refrain, so-called “call and response.”

There were numerous iterations and versions of the lyrics, most likely improvised on the spot by the singers. The song probably emerged around the second half of the nineteenth century or the first half of the twentieth century, when there was a rise in the banana trade from Jamaica.

Of course, the best-known version of “Day-O . . .” was released by American singer Harry Belafonte in 1956 and later became one of his signature songs sung before rapt audiences all over the world. Click or tap on the triangle in the next image to unpeel this musical icon. 

The song was first recorded, however, by Edric Connor, a Trinidadian folk singer and later American film actor, in 1952. 

Click or tap on the triangle in the next image for a listen to this first recording of our song.

Belafonte’s version of the song was based on this earlier release and his iconic, but later, interpretation soon zoomed up to No. 5 on the Billboard charts.  But wait. There’s more!

Also in 1956, a trio calling themselves “The Tarriers,” recorded their version of our song and slipped in the chorus of another Jamaican folk song, “Hill and Gully Rider.” Click or tap on the triangle in the next image for a listen to their take on our tune. 

This release became their biggest hit and soon out-performed Belafonte’s version by reaching No. 4 on the charts!  Who would have thought that? Because they had rewritten the song with a slightly different arrangement than Connor’s and added additional lyrics, the three members of the Tarriers—Erik Darling, Bob Carey, and Alan Arkin (Yes, the late actor.)– are, in fact, credited as the writers of the song.

For us, our “Day-O . . .”  is Edric Connor’s harvest, the Tarriers’s tweak, and Harry Belafonte’s signature.  So, get out your bongos, steel drums, and load those bananas” at least until daylight comes and it’s time to top up those cornflakes with–what else?

And, don’t forget the banana bread!

Stick with your favorite bunch, watch out for those slippery peels and black tarantulas, and STAY TUNED!