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Bebop Spoken There

Billy Boy Arnold: “As long as you don't think old you're good.” - DownBeat, December, 2023.

The Things They Say!

Hudson Music: Lance's "Bebop Spoken Here" is one of the heaviest and most influential jazz blogs in the UK.

Rupert Burley (Dynamic Agency): "BSH just goes from strength to strength".

'606' Club: "A toast to Lance Liddle of the terrific jazz blog 'Bebop Spoken Here'"

The Strictly Smokin' Big Band included Be Bop Spoken Here (sic) in their 5 Favourite Jazz Blogs.

Ann Braithwaite (Braithwaite & Katz Communications) You’re the BEST!

Holly Cooper, Mouthpiece Music: "Lance writes pull quotes like no one else!"

Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Postage

16051 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 15 years ago. 1058 of them this year alone and, so far, 12 this month (Dec. 6).

From This Moment On ...

December

Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle. 1:00pm. £7.00.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.

Sat 09: Prudhoe Community Band @ Central Station, Newcastle. 10:00am - 12 noon. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 09: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Skinnergate, Darlington. 1:00pm.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.

Sun 10: Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party with Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. MU 1:00-3:00pm; Zoë Gilby Quartet 4:00-6:00pm. Tickets: £7.50.
Sun 10: Alan Law, Paul Grainger & Abbie Finn @ Darlington Market, Market Square, Darlington. 1:00pm. Free. A ‘Christmas Market’ outdoor gig. Wrap up warm!
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Funk Soul Sista @ Stack, Seaburn. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Beth Clarke @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 10: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Whittingham Memorial Institute, Alnwick. 7:30pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 10: Tele-Port @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Zhenya Strigalev.

Mon 11: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 11: Interim Final Recitals @ Newcastle University. Details TBC.

Tue 12: Stu Collingwood Organ Trio @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £10.00.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

Thu 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Hot Fingers @ The Lubetkin Theatre, Peterlee. 7:00pm. £10.00.
Thu 14: After Hours Student Jazz Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. . Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 14: Niffi Osiyemi Trio @ Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Mo Scott ‘Little Mo’s Festive Appearance’ @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Tees Hot Club w. Kevin Eland, Josh Bentham, Garry Hadfield, Adrian Beadnell @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.

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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