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Charley, My Boy
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Wikipedia article
"'Charley, My Boy'" is a song with music by Ted Fio Rito and lyrics by Gus Kahn. The Russo-FioRito Oriole Orchestra introduced the song in 1924. The most popular recording was released by Eddie Cantor. The sheet music was published for voice and piano by J. Albert & Son.
The refrain is four lines, of which the first two are:
:'Charley, my boy; oh, Charley, my boy '
:'You thrill me, you chill me, with shivers of joy'
It is sung from the viewpoint of a woman enamored of a man whom she finds to be an exceptional lover, even better than Romeo:
:'And when we dance, I read in your glance'
:'Whole pages and ages of love and romance'
:'They tell me Romeo was some lover, too'
:'But boy, he should have taken lessons from you'
On July 18, 1923, singing comedian Eddie Cantor recorded the song, which he released as a single on Columbia Records in 1924. It was recorded by several of his contemporaries, including Billy Murray. Murray's version is wrapped inside a lively instrumental that is clearly intended for dancing the Charleston or other popular Jazz Age dances. Murray's version featured a short instrumental interlude between the two sets of verses, which included a bar from an earlier Murray recording with a similar theme, also introduced by Eddie Cantor:
:'He's not so good in a crowd,'
:'But when you get him alone,'
:'You'd Be Surprised '
In 1949, "'Charley'" was recorded on the Decca Records label by the Andrews Sisters as the A-side of a single which had "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" (from the popular 1949 John Wayne movie of the same name) as the B-side.[http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/7940731 "Charley My Boy"], Stanford University It was also one of two theme songs used by the popular radio program 'The Spike Jones Show'.[http://www.classicthemes.com/oldTimeRadioThemes/radioThemeList.html Radio Theme List], ClassicThemes.Com
It is now most easily found as a square dance tune, with at least three different publications, two by MacGregor and one by Hi Hat Records, the latter using the alternate spelling and punctuation '"Charlie, My Boy."'[http://www.ceder.net/recorddb/viewsingle.php4?RecordId=5195 "Charley My Boy"] , Cedar.net square dance calls Several of the old versions, including the performance by Billy Murray, are available on YouTube.
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