The Charleston that came before the Charleston

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VintageTechnologies
Victor IV
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Re: The Charleston that came before the Charleston

Post by VintageTechnologies »

Wow, no kidding! The riff in your record has a very identical tune. The riff in the other record is the rhythm. Combine them and you have the Charleston. I wonder if both instances are mere coincidence or whether the Charleston's composer had heard both?

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marcapra
Victor V
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Re: The Charleston that came before the Charleston

Post by marcapra »

Yes I think you're right. Mandy 'N' Me is not exactly the same as the Charleston of course, but the first two or three bars have a distinct similarity to the first part of the Charleston's main melody. Billy Murray sang the song Mandy 'N Me in 1921 and here's another fox trot version by the Club De Vingt band on Edison DD in 1921. I can't believe it. It appears that James P. Johnson may have borrowed the tune and rhythm for the Charleston! Unless of course he actually wrote it earlier and these guys stole from him. I read that Johnson had actually composed the Charleston years earlier than 1923, but had not recorded it yet. "Johnson composed many hit tunes in his work for the musical theatre, including "Charleston" (which debuted in his Broadway show Runnin' Wild in 1923,[10] although by some accounts Johnson had written it years earlier, and which became one of the most popular songs of the "Roaring Twenties"), "If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)", "You've Got to Be Modernistic"," from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Johnson

Club Du Vingt version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaKvfWHBCJ8


Billy Murray version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix0YA2IG7ts

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