Bagels and Bongos

November 30, 2008 11:16 PM

Two guys join forces together to write a book about classic Jewish LPs.

They unearthed amazing songs, such as Irving Fields' Havannah Negila, a latin version of a classic yiddish song, and the works of The Barry Sisters (Previously), the first to pioneer the category of Yiddish Swing and also the first to create Yiddish covers of English songs. Leading the way for such great works as A Hard Day's Night (In Yiddish) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (In Yiddish).

Related Album

posted by martinc6 (11 comments total)

Oh God, scholars after mine own heart.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:08 AM on December 1, 2008

Interesting. Just the other day I was listening to this BBC commentary about the influence of Yiddish on jazz.
posted by robcorr at 1:50 AM on December 1, 2008

L'chaim! Only, what is this "vinyl"? It's not like that stuff that my meshuggah neighbor Moishe put on the side of his house, nu?
posted by not_on_display at 4:45 AM on December 1, 2008

Mazel tov, boychiks. I hope your book mentions the immortal Mickey Katz. Just for "Duvid Crockett" alone.
posted by jonmc at 5:13 AM on December 1, 2008

If there ain't a whole chapter devoted to Allan Sherman, there's no justice in this world:

Sarah Jackman, Sarah Jackman
How's by you? How's by you?
How's by you the family? How's your sister Emily?
She's nice too. She's nice too.

Jerry Bachman, Jerry Bachman
So what's new? So what's new?
Whatcha doin, Sarah? Reading John O'Hara.
He's nice too. He's nice too.

Sarah Jackman, Sarah Jackman
How's by you? How's by you?

How's your brother Bernie? He's a big attorney.
How's your sister Doris? Still with William Morris.
How's your cousin Shirley? She got married early.
How's her daughter Esther? Skipped a whole semester.
How's your brother Bentley? Feeling better mentally.
How's your cousin Ida? She's a Freedom Rider.
What's with Uncle Sidney? They took out a kidney.
How's your sister Norma? She's a non-conformah.
How's your cousin Lena? Moved to Pasadena.
How's your Uncle Nathan? Him I got no faith in.
I ain't heard from Sonya. I'll get her to phone ya.
How's her daughter Rita? A regular Lolita.
How's your cousin Manny? Signed up with Vic Tanny.
How's your nephew Seymour? Seymour joined the Peace Corps.

He's nice too. He's nice too.

posted by Spatch at 5:59 AM on December 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

I heard this on NPR when it first aired. Guys sounded like they had a serious amount of fun, and it was a project that fed on itself creating a monster.

No shit Spatch. I remember listening to Allan Sherman records when I was a kid.

When you take vaccine
Take it orally
As you know the other way
Comes more painfully.

posted by Eekacat at 8:15 AM on December 1, 2008

I've got a Barry Sisters greatest hits album. It actually makes for really good listening in snowy weather - something about the sweet, tangy Yiddish swing complements the hollow bleakness of a blizzard.
posted by LSK at 11:00 AM on December 1, 2008

Did they cover '"As Kosher as They Wanna Be?"
posted by Pronoiac at 11:37 AM on December 1, 2008

Top hit on a search for "roasted dacron" (talk about a statistically unlikely combination Amazon !) My favorite Allan Sherman lyric comes in the last verse of he Ballad of Harry Lewis". For those not familiar - the tune is The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

I'm singing you the ballad
Of a great man of the cloth
His name was Harry Lewis
And he worked for Irving Roth

He died while cutting velvet
On a hot July the 4th
But his cloth goes shining on

Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
His cloth goes shining on

Oh Harry Lewis perished
In the service of his Lord
He was trampling through the warehouse
Where the drapes of Roth are stored

He had the finest funeral
The union could afford
And his cloth goes shining on

Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
His cloth goes shining on

Although a fire was raging
Harry stood by his machine
And when the firemen broke in
They discovered him between

A pile of roasted Dacron
And some french fried gabardine
His cloth goes shining on

Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
Glory, glory Harry Lewis
His cloth goes shining on
posted by AuntLisa at 11:45 AM on December 1, 2008

I find it a little disturbing that Metafilter is this many days behind NPR.
posted by spock at 3:59 PM on December 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

I find it a little disturbing that Metafilter is this many days behind NPR.

I was going to post it sooner but I had just joined so I had to wait a week.
posted by martinc6 at 2:41 PM on December 3, 2008 [1 favorite]