Charleston (song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Charleston was a jazz orchestration meant for the Charleston (dance) composed in 1923, with lyrics by Cecil Mack and music by James P Johnson, who first introduced the stride piano method of playing. The song was featured in the American black Broadway musical comedy show "Runnin' Wild."[1] The music of the dockworkers from South Carolina inspired James P. Johnson's to compose the music. The dance known as the Charleston came to characterize the times. It was this song that propelled the dance to international popularity and a place in musical history.[2] Lyrics, though rarely sung (an exception is Chubby Checker's 1961 recording), were penned by Cecil Mack, himself one of the most accomplished songwriters of the early 1900s.

In the classic 1946 Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life, with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, the song was played at the school dance scene.[3] In the movie Tea for Two (1950), with Doris Day and Gordon MacRae, the song was a featured production number.[4]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Runnin' Wild
  2. ^ Phillips, Mark. Heinemann GCSE Music, Harcourt Heinemann (2002), page 86 - ISBN 0435813188
  3. ^ Soundtrack: It's a Wonderful Life
  4. ^ The New York Times: Tea for Two (1950)


This jazz composition-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.