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Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 2025).

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

17864 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 185 of them this year alone and, so far,32 this month (March10).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Wed 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 12: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 13: The Exu + Matt Cliffe @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 13: Oh La La! @ Allendale Village Hall, Northumberland. 7:30pm. £12.00.; £6.00. child. Fifi La Mer (accordion, vocals), Oliver Wilby (reeds).
Thu 13: Fiona Finden’s Jazz Express @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 14: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 14: Paul Taylor @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00-2:00pm. £5.00. at the door. Second Friday in the month lunchtime concert series.
Fri 14: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 14: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 14: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 14: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 14: Brass Funkeys + Dilutey Juice @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £8.00.
Fri 14: Oh La La! @ Edmundbyers Village Hall, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. £12.00.; £10.00. (additional £5.00. supper option, ordered in advance). Fifi La Mer (accordion, vocals), Oliver Wilby (reeds).
Fri 14: The Collective @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £8.50.
Fri 14: Bridget Metcalfe Quintet @ St George’s Venue, Park Road, Hartlepool. 7:30pm.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Lagos to Longbenton + Belladonna @ Whitley Bay Big Social, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Afrobeat/jazz fusion + soul/funk/R&B
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues guitar.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Saturday, September 03, 2016

Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You – A Love Song?

Love makes me treat you the way that I do
Gee baby, ain’t  I good to you
There’s nothin’ too good for a girl that’s so true
Gee baby, ain’t  I good to you
Bought you a fur coat for Christmas, a diamond ring
A Cadillac car, and everything
Love makes me treat you the way that I do
Gee baby, ain’t I good to you.
(lyrics Don Redman and Andy Razaf;  music Don Redman)

I’m prompted to write about this set of lyrics after having a conversation with a colleague from Indigo Jazz Voices, who said that she considered this to be a love song. I did too, until I examined the words. The giver of the gifts shows up his true motives in the self-congratulatory line ‘Gee baby, ain’t I good to you’. Is he a sugar Daddy, expecting utter praise and devotion in return? Or maybe just a very demanding younger lover?  The gifts listed, fur coat etc are over the top.  It is as if the lover was trying to ‘buy’ the girl. ‘and everything’ emphasises this, although this may have been a chance rhyme to go with ‘ring’, who knows? ‘Love makes me treat you the way that I do’ is highly ironic, as the lover’s motive is not love at all.
What happens if you substitute ‘boy’ instead of ‘girl’ in the line ‘There’s nothing too good for a boy that’s so true?’ Interesting, and feasible in these days when some women earn more than men. Is she trying to bully him into marriage with the diamond ring? Is the ring necessarily an engagement ring? Am I reading far too much into what appears, at first sight, to be a straightforward lyric?
The song is a fascinating challenge to sing, trying to get the ‘sleazy’ feel across.  I sometimes add bits at the end, such as ‘cos I say so’, but maybe that is a cop out, as the original words should speak for themselves. It’s a great song to sing, especially with a 12/8 bluesy feel.  I like to think of the Blues as sadness with attitude.
I’d love to read about how other people interpret this song on BSH.
Ann Alex

4 comments :

Hilary Say (on F/b) said...

I remember the lovely Pete Gascoigne singing this...x

Lance said...

I found a couple of Cherry B's and a packet of Cheese and Onion crisps to be more cost effective but, maybe I was operating in a different league!

Liz said...

Denys loved this number, I find it hard to fathom, is he questioning her love for him now that he has showered her with these goodies? Maybe she has given him the brush off...who knows? still a good song, and yes Lance, whatever it took in those far off days eh?

Steve Andrews said...

In the original words as sung by Don Redman, it's a "Packard Coupe" (pron. coop), not a Caddie........... I read somewhere that this song and others composed and recorded by Redman in 1929, such as "The Way I Feel Today", and "Miss Hannah" were the result of his unrequited love for the said Miss Hannah, so perhaps it WAS meant as a love song, rather than the song of a demanding sugar daddy?

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