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Tea for Two (song)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Tea for Two
| cover = Marion HarrisTea For Two.jpg
| alt = Record label for a 1924 recording by Marion Harris
| caption = Record label of 1925 number one hit by Marion Harris
| type = single
| artist = Marion Harris
| album =
| B-side = The Blues Have Got Me
| written = 1924
| published = Harms, Inc.
| released =
| recorded =
| studio = Brunswick Studios, 799 Seventh Avenue, New York City
| venue =
| genre = Popular Music, Musical theatre
| length =
| label = Brunswick 2747
| writer =
| composer = Vincent Youmans
| lyricist = Irving Caesar
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| title =
| next_title =
| next_year =
| misc =
}}
"'Tea for Two'" is a 1924 song composed by Vincent Youmans, with lyrics by Irving Caesar. It was introduced in May 1924 by Phyllis Cleveland and John Barker during the Chicago pre-Broadway run of the musical 'No, No, Nanette'. When the show finally hit Broadway on September 16, 1925, Nanette was played by Louise Groody, and her duet with Barker of "Tea for Two" was a hit. The song went on to become the biggest success of Youmans' career.
Background
Youmans had written the basic melody idea of "Tea for Two" while he was in the navy during World War I, and he used it later on as an introductory passage for a song called "Who's Who With You?" While in Chicago, Youmans developed the idea into "a song that the hero could sing to the heroine" for the musical 'No, No, Nanette'. He soon after played his composition for Irving Caesar and insisted he write the lyrics then and there. Caesar quickly jotted down a mock-up lyric, fully intending to revise it later on. Youmans, though, loved the mock-up and convinced Caesar it was just right for the melody.
It has been proposed, with little supporting evidence, that the phrase 'Tea for Two' was originally shouted by hawkers on the streets of 18th century England who wanted to attract business by lowering the price of a pot of tea from thruppence to tuppence. While this may be the case, 'tea for two' would have been a commonplace order for a couple in 19th century English cafeterias.
Musical characteristics
"Tea for Two" has an A1-A2-A3-B form, a range of just over an octave, and a major tonality throughout. The song's original key was A major with a false key change to C major during the second "A" section. It is melodically repetitive (as the entire song consists of eighth and quarter notes, except for a pattern of eighth, quarter, and eighth notes which briefly emerge in the second section) and has a relatively simple harmonic progression.
Notable recordings
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* The Offspring included the song on their 1997 album Ixnay on the Hombre. It includes spoken word dialogue by John Mayer, and the track was titled "Intermission."
* Nick DeCaro solo album recorded in 1974 and produced by Tommy Lipuma with engineer Al Schmitt. Featured at Rock Roll Hall of Fame Library & Archives Nick DeCaro tribute event September 2018.
* The Montefiori Cocktail recorded the instrumental version for the 2006 album "Montefiori appetizer Vol. 2" (EMI Italiana, 0946-382320-2-5).
Adaptations
* In 1926, Boris Fomin arranged it for inclusion in his operetta "The Career of Pierpont Blake" ( ), with Russian lyrics by Konstantin Podrevsky, under the title "Tahiti Trot".
* In 1927, Dmitri Shostakovich re-orchestrated Tahiti Trot from memory after conductor Nikolai Malko bet him 100 roubles that he could not do it in under an hour. He won after completing the orchestration in around 45 minutes. It became his Op. 16.
In popular culture
* Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck soft-shoe to Tea for Two in the Looney Tunes short 'Show Biz Bugs'.
* The song features prominently in the novel 'La invencin de Morel' (1940) by Argentine writer Adolfo Bioy Casares.
* In the French-British WWII-set comedy film 'La Grande Vadrouille' (1966) the humming of the Tea for Two melody is the secret code for the British bomber crew members to recognising each other in the Turkish baths at the Grand Mosque of Paris.
* Occasionally on 'The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson', if a joke bombed during his monologue, the band would play "Tea for Two" and Johnny Carson would do a short soft shoe dance, which always got a laugh from the studio audience.
References
Category:1924 songs
Category:1925 singles
Category:1920s jazz standards
Category:Songs from musicals
Category:Songs with lyrics by Irving Caesar
Category:Nat King Cole songs
Category:Ella Fitzgerald songs
Category:Songs with music by Vincent Youmans
Category:Jazz compositions in A-flat major
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