Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra "Nashville Nightingale"
Song by George Gershwin & Irving Caesar
The song is from the Broadway revue titled "Nifties Of 1923"
Recorded on Sept. 19, 1924.
Lyrics by Irving Caesar
Music composed by George Gershwin
There's a sweet singin' lady down in Tennessee
I mean Nashville, Tennessee
Everyone down in Dixie loves her harmony
I mean craves her harmony
All the darktown preachers and the Bible teachers
Say they're losin' all their trade
For the good church people all desert the steeple
When she starts to serenade
Now you won't find a body that is feelin' blue
Down in Nashville, Tennesse
For when they all get that way
They run to her and say
Nashville Nightingale
Sing a little song for me, all for me
Nashville Nightingale, gimme some of this
Doo-doo-dee-doo-dee-doo, doo-doo-dee-doo-dee-doo
Nashville Nightingale
Up and down the scale for me, wail for me
Nightingale, don't fail, fill my heart with bliss
When you sing
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, birdy, how you thrill me
Doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Dark town tetrazini, how you kill me
Neath the Swanee moon
Sing a little tune for me, croon for me
Dee-doo-dee-doo-doo, Nashville Nightingale
He was born Joseph Cyrus Smith in 1883 in Sag Harbor, New York.
Joseph C. Smith's Orchestra was successful from 1917 to 1921, reaching its peak popularity around 1919-1920, with Victor issuing new Smith discs almost every month.
Smith's was the first "name" dance band to earn fame through records. He paved the way for Paul Whiteman, whose own success and innovations contributed to Smith's decline by 1921.
Before Smith's debut, dance records that sold well had been made by studio bands with generic names, such as the Victor Military Band, or by bands that already enjoyed fame as touring ensembles, such as Conway's Band. Jim Europe made dance records a few years before Smith, but Europe was invited to make records because he had already won fame as a band leader; moreover, Europe's records did not sell well.
Labels on many Smith records have the phrase "for dancing" or "dance music." It recorded fox trots, one-steps, and waltzes, a few featuring a vocal refrain contributed by a Victor studio singer. Although musicians varied, generally eight instruments were used, a combination of violin (Smith was a violinist), viola, piano, cello, trombone, cornet, drums.
Smith's Orchestra began recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company on September 25, 1916. From this session came "Songs of the Night" (the Victor Dance Orchestra is on the reverse side). It was issued in December 1916. Victor's monthly supplement calls the orchestra "a new organization...popular with New York dancers." "Money Blues" was also recorded at this session but was held for a few months, and that session's take of a Cole Porter song went unissued.
