Radio Listening Log - Danny Kaye on The Jack Benny Show

The Jack Benny Show, "The Life Story of Jack Benny", May 28, 1944 [Download the mp3 or listen online at Dumb.com] Performers: Guest: Danny Kaye Regulars: Jack Benny, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Mary Livingstone, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Dennis Day Content: Jack and Mary run into Danny Kaye when they go to Warner Brother's offices to talk about plans for a new motion picture on Jack's life. Danny Kaye explains what one learns about acting from the great "Stanislavsky." Comments: This is Danny Kaye's first appearance on the Jack Benny Show. Writer Milt Josephberg later wrote about how highly Jack and Danny thought of each other. Benny Show writers often picked up on an exaggerated the truth such as this for the script. A variation on the Warner Brother's Office skit was also performed by Jack, Danny, and Dinah Shore for the Armed Forces Radio Network's "Mail Call" on February 2, 1945 . References: "Wilkie" - Wendell Wilkie withdrew from the 1944 presidential race on April 5, after being defeated in the Wisconsin Republican primary. Wilkie had been the Republican candidate who unsuccessfully ran against Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. Paul Lukas won the 1943 Academy Award for best actor for his performance in Watch on the Rhine.

The Jack Benny Show, "The Kid from Brooklyn", April 28, 1946 [Download the mp3 or listen online at Dumb.com] Performers: Guest: Danny Kaye Regulars: Jack Benny, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Mary Livingstone, Don Wilson, Phil Harris, Dennis Day, Mel Blanc Content: The cast walks home after viewing Danny Kaye's latest motion picture, "The Kid from Brooklyn" and eventually run into Danny on the way. Later, at home, Jack is visited by four ghosts, including one from one of Danny's earlier pictures. Comments: Listen closely to hear Jack having a hard time keeping from laughing when Danny Kaye performs. The two have a lot of fun doing this show. Danny performs "Concerto for Tongue and Orchestra." A good, solid Benny Show. (Sadly, a few lines appear to be missing, ostensibly in the transition between recording disks, and other static and additional recording problems mar the recording.) References: "Mr. Miland" must refer to actor Ray Miland who earned an Academy Award earlier that year for his performance as an alcoholic in the movie The Lost Weekend.

"Oh, By Jingo (Oh By Gee, You're the Only Girl for Me)"

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"All the By-Goshes, with hearts down to their galoshes!"

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I found this song while working late one night. Maybe it was my mood at the time, but I was hooked! I purchased an mp3 and was singing and humming this for a week, dancing along while doing housework.

Performed by Danny Kaye and an unknown "Male Quartet," circa 1948:
(Be ready with "boom chik-a, boom chik-a" if you want to sing along.)

I love how you can actually hear Danny Kaye smiling as he sings the end of the first chorus.

The cleaned-up version which I downloaded from Amazon.com is incredible; it sounds like you are standing right there with the singers at the microphone. I highly recommend it.

Scroll down for lyrics and more renditions from "Jeeves and Wooster," Spike Jones, etc.

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"Oh, By Jingo (Oh, By Gee, You're the Only Girl for Me)"

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1919 Original by Lew Brown / Al Von Tilzer
These lyrics [and improvisations in brackets] are transcribed from the 1949 Brunswick recording by Danny Kaye and Male Quartet, Directed by Vic Schoen.

The second verse is a substitution from the 1919 original and not found in recordings by others. (It sounds like the work of Sylvia Fine, but that is just a surmise on my part.)

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In the land of San Domingo
Lived a girl called Oh-By-Jingo.
[Hoh - bow - do-oh-du-lee-dee-oh-bow--wow]
[boom chik-a, boom chik-a, boom chik-a, boom chik]
From the fields and from the marshes
Came the old and young By-Goshes
[Oh - la - ha- luka-taka-saka-maki--laka ma ]
[boom chik-a, boom chik-a, boom chik-a, boom chik]
Though they spoke a different lingo.
They all loved Oh-By-Jingo
And every night They sang in the pale moon light:

"Oh by Gee, by Gosh, by Gum, by Jove!
[Kitchy-koo, Kitchy-koo, Kitchy-koo.]
Oh By Jingo, won't you hear our love?
[Kitchy-koo, Kitchy-koo, Kitchy-koo.]
We will build for you a hut.
You will be our favorite nut.
We'll have a lot of little Oh-By-Gollies,
Then we'll put them all in the Follies.
[-] By-Jingo said by Gosh, by Gee,
[Kitchy-koo, Kitchy-koo, Kitchy-koo.]
[oh] By Jiminy please don't bother me. [Don't bother me.]
So they all went away singing oh by Gee,
By Gosh, by Gum, by Jove, by Jingo,
Oh, By-Jiminy you're the girl for me!" {original: "By Gee, You're the only girl for me.}

Home they went with spirits wilted
On account of they were jilted
[All the By-Goshes, with hearts down to their galoshes!]
All winter long they brooded-- That is, all but very few did.
[They left to join a fan club for Lana Toyn-a.] [1]
The rest wrote to Beatrice Fairfax [2]
Got the how-to-make-him-care facts
So came the spring
They sailed once more to sing:

"Oh by Gee, by Gosh, by Gum, by Jove!
Oh by Jiminy you're the one we love!
We will build for you a hut.
You will be our favorite nut.
Then we'll have a bunch of Oh-By-Gollies
And we'll put them all in the Follies
[Oh] By Gee, by Gosh, by . . .
[improv segment]

By Jiminy you're the one for me!"

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[1] Lana Turner
[2] Beatrice Fairfax was the "Dear Abby" of New York papers at the turn of the 1900's and at least from 1929 until 1945.

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For you "Jeeves and Wooster" fans, their rendition:

Spike Jones and his Band have a surprisingly nice rendition, provided here courtesy of Archive.org. Play it on the ribbon player below, or download the mp3 here:

Below is a ragtime piano version, with Tom Brier & Adam Swanson jamming late night at The Annual Blind Boone Ragtime & Early Jazz Festival (date unknown):

Let me know if you find any of these fun!