"Basin Street Blues" is a song often performed by Dixieland jazz bands, written by Spencer Williams in 1928 and recorded that year by Louis Armstrong.[1] The verse with the lyric "Won't you come along with me / To the Mississippi..." was later added by Glenn Miller and Jack Teagarden.

Columbia Records 78 by the Charleston Chasers with additional lyrics by Jack Teagarden and Glenn Miller, 1931
First eight bars of the jazz standard "Basin Street Blues" on tenor sax

The Basin Street of the title refers to the main street of Storyville, the red-light district of early 20th-century New Orleans, north of the French Quarter. It became a red light district in 1897.[2]

Other recordings

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  • In his live recording made at the Monterey Jazz festival in 1963, Jack Teagarden claims that the words we usually associate with the song were written by him and Glenn Miller when they were asked to arrange the song for an early Ben Pollack recording. Neither name appears on the song credits.
  • Dick Stabile and his orchestra with Dean Martin
  • The Brazilian band Fizz Jazz recorded in 2017.
  • Cab Calloway recorded a rendition with his Orchestra. The piece was mainly instrumental with some scatting by Calloway.
  • Harry Connick, Jr. on his 1988 album, 20.[7]
  • The swing revival band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy included a version of this song on their Louie Louie Louie album released in 2017.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Jazz Standards Introduction: Origins, History, Theory, Musicology, Biographies, and Books". Jazzstandards.com.
  2. ^ "Storyville, New Orleans Red-Light District 1897-1917". Storyvilledistrictnola.com.
  3. ^ "Margie Rayburn, "Can I Tell Them That You're Mine?" Single Release". Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  4. ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 106. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  6. ^ "Pearls overview". Allmusic.com.
  7. ^ "20 - Harry Connick, Jr. | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
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