"Black Strap Molasses" | |
---|---|
Single by Danny Kaye, Jimmy Durante, Jane Wyman, and Groucho Marx | |
A-side | " How D' Ye Do and Shake Hands (from the film Alice in Wonderland)" |
Released | August 1951 |
Recorded | August 12, 1951Sonny Burke | , with chorus and orchestra directed by
Genre | Popular [1] |
Length | 2:39 |
Label | Decca Records |
Songwriter(s) | Carmine Ennis, Marilou Harrington |
Black Strap Molasses is a novelty song by Carmine Ennis and Marilou Harrington, released in August 1951. [2] [3] [4] It was recorded by the movie stars Groucho Marx, Jimmy Durante, Jane Wyman, and Danny Kaye, with chorus and orchestra directed by Sonny Burke. [5] The song was a popular success, reaching number 29 on the Billboard charts, [3] [6] but was banned from some radio networks because it was perceived as promoting commercial products. [7]
The song was recorded for Decca Records on August 12, 1951. [8] [9] It was sung by a "who's who" of show business at the time: Danny Kaye, Jimmy Durante, Jane Wyman, and Groucho Marx. [10] The vocalists were accompanied by a chorus and orchestra directed by arranger and producer Sonny Burke. [5] [11]
The song's lyrics discuss popular health foods of the time. The verses make "absurd" claims about the supposed benefits of these foods, [12] and the chorus runs:
Black strap molasses and the wheat germ bread
Makes you live so long you wish you were dead
You add a little yogurt and you'll be well fed
On the black strap molasses and the wheat germ bread. [13]
One contemporary review interpreted the lyrics as referring specifically to the "Live Longer" diet advocated by nutritionist Gayelord Hauser. [14] Hauser, labeled a "quack" by the American Medical Association, gained widespread popularity in the mid-twentieth century promoting "wonder foods" including blackstrap molasses, wheat germ, and yogurt, as well as brewer's yeast and powdered milk. [15] He was known as a nutrition guru to many Hollywood celebrities. [15]
The version of Black Strap Molasses featuring Wyman, Durante, Marx, and Kaye was released in August 1951. [4] It was released as the B-side of a single, along with a recording of "How D' Ye Do and Shake Hands", from Disney's then-recent film Alice in Wonderland, sung by the same "all-star" cast. [14] As part of a promotion campaign for the single, Decca Records partnered with Balanced Foods, Inc., a company associated with Hauser's diets, to provide DJs and record distributors with pint bottles of blackstrap molasses and loaves of wheat germ bread. [10] Black Strap Molasses was catalogued in 78rpm record format as Decca 27748, and in 45rpm format as Decca 9-27748. [5]
The song was a hit in the U.S., [16] reaching number 29 on the overall Billboard charts on September 22, 1951. [3] [17] [18] Billboard magazine's staff review called it "catchy" and a " sock performance", giving it an aggregated rating of "excellent". [14] Film writer Allan Eyles wrote that the song represented Marx's "greatest success as a singer". [6]
The song was banned by some radio networks because it was perceived as containing "free plugs" for molasses and the patent medicine Hadacol; ABC agreed to program it only after a reference to Hadacol was removed. [7] CBS banned it entirely, on the grounds that it contained "medical advice" which could lead listeners to believe that molasses was "good for sexual debility, insomnia, nerves and underweight condition." [7] A different version of Black Strap Molasses, a "rhythm paean to Gaylord Hauser" by Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, had been released earlier and reviewed in Billboard as "a rambling, rather dull slice." [19] Dorsey's version had been banned from programming by NBC and ABC because, representatives said, the song mentioned commercial products in competition with the networks' sponsors. [4]
The single was released in the UK, catalogued as Brunswick 04794, and later re-released on several record and CD collections. [20]
"Black Strap Molasses" | |
---|---|
Single by Danny Kaye, Jimmy Durante, Jane Wyman, and Groucho Marx | |
A-side | " How D' Ye Do and Shake Hands (from the film Alice in Wonderland)" |
Released | August 1951 |
Recorded | August 12, 1951Sonny Burke | , with chorus and orchestra directed by
Genre | Popular [1] |
Length | 2:39 |
Label | Decca Records |
Songwriter(s) | Carmine Ennis, Marilou Harrington |
Black Strap Molasses is a novelty song by Carmine Ennis and Marilou Harrington, released in August 1951. [2] [3] [4] It was recorded by the movie stars Groucho Marx, Jimmy Durante, Jane Wyman, and Danny Kaye, with chorus and orchestra directed by Sonny Burke. [5] The song was a popular success, reaching number 29 on the Billboard charts, [3] [6] but was banned from some radio networks because it was perceived as promoting commercial products. [7]
The song was recorded for Decca Records on August 12, 1951. [8] [9] It was sung by a "who's who" of show business at the time: Danny Kaye, Jimmy Durante, Jane Wyman, and Groucho Marx. [10] The vocalists were accompanied by a chorus and orchestra directed by arranger and producer Sonny Burke. [5] [11]
The song's lyrics discuss popular health foods of the time. The verses make "absurd" claims about the supposed benefits of these foods, [12] and the chorus runs:
Black strap molasses and the wheat germ bread
Makes you live so long you wish you were dead
You add a little yogurt and you'll be well fed
On the black strap molasses and the wheat germ bread. [13]
One contemporary review interpreted the lyrics as referring specifically to the "Live Longer" diet advocated by nutritionist Gayelord Hauser. [14] Hauser, labeled a "quack" by the American Medical Association, gained widespread popularity in the mid-twentieth century promoting "wonder foods" including blackstrap molasses, wheat germ, and yogurt, as well as brewer's yeast and powdered milk. [15] He was known as a nutrition guru to many Hollywood celebrities. [15]
The version of Black Strap Molasses featuring Wyman, Durante, Marx, and Kaye was released in August 1951. [4] It was released as the B-side of a single, along with a recording of "How D' Ye Do and Shake Hands", from Disney's then-recent film Alice in Wonderland, sung by the same "all-star" cast. [14] As part of a promotion campaign for the single, Decca Records partnered with Balanced Foods, Inc., a company associated with Hauser's diets, to provide DJs and record distributors with pint bottles of blackstrap molasses and loaves of wheat germ bread. [10] Black Strap Molasses was catalogued in 78rpm record format as Decca 27748, and in 45rpm format as Decca 9-27748. [5]
The song was a hit in the U.S., [16] reaching number 29 on the overall Billboard charts on September 22, 1951. [3] [17] [18] Billboard magazine's staff review called it "catchy" and a " sock performance", giving it an aggregated rating of "excellent". [14] Film writer Allan Eyles wrote that the song represented Marx's "greatest success as a singer". [6]
The song was banned by some radio networks because it was perceived as containing "free plugs" for molasses and the patent medicine Hadacol; ABC agreed to program it only after a reference to Hadacol was removed. [7] CBS banned it entirely, on the grounds that it contained "medical advice" which could lead listeners to believe that molasses was "good for sexual debility, insomnia, nerves and underweight condition." [7] A different version of Black Strap Molasses, a "rhythm paean to Gaylord Hauser" by Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, had been released earlier and reviewed in Billboard as "a rambling, rather dull slice." [19] Dorsey's version had been banned from programming by NBC and ABC because, representatives said, the song mentioned commercial products in competition with the networks' sponsors. [4]
The single was released in the UK, catalogued as Brunswick 04794, and later re-released on several record and CD collections. [20]