"Black Strap Molasses"
Single by Danny Kaye, Jimmy Durante, Jane Wyman, and Groucho Marx
A-side"How D' Ye Do and Shake Hands (from the film Alice in Wonderland)"
ReleasedAugust 1951 (1951-08)
RecordedAugust 12, 1951 (1951-08-12), with chorus and orchestra directed by Sonny Burke
GenrePopular[1]
Length2:39
LabelDecca Records
Songwriter(s)Carmine Ennis, Marilou Harrington

Black Strap Molasses is a novelty song by Carmine Ennis and Marilou Harrington, released in August 1951.[2][3][4] It was recorded by the movie stars Groucho Marx, Jimmy Durante, Jane Wyman, and Danny Kaye, with chorus and orchestra directed by Sonny Burke.[5] The song was a popular success, reaching number 29 on the Billboard charts,[3][6] but was banned from some radio networks because it was perceived as promoting commercial products.[7]

Song

The song was recorded for Decca Records on August 12, 1951.[8][9] It was sung by a "who's who" of show business at the time: Danny Kaye, Jimmy Durante, Jane Wyman, and Groucho Marx.[10] The vocalists were accompanied by a chorus and orchestra directed by arranger and producer Sonny Burke.[5][11]

The song's lyrics discuss popular health foods of the time. The verses make "absurd" claims about the supposed benefits of these foods,[12] and the chorus runs:

Black strap molasses and the wheat germ bread
Makes you live so long you wish you were dead
You add a little yogurt and you'll be well fed
On the black strap molasses and the wheat germ bread.[13]

One contemporary review interpreted the lyrics as referring specifically to the "Live Longer" diet advocated by nutritionist Gayelord Hauser.[14] Hauser, labeled a "quack" by the American Medical Association, gained widespread popularity in the mid-twentieth century promoting "wonder foods" including blackstrap molasses, wheat germ, and yogurt, as well as brewer's yeast and powdered milk.[15] He was known as a nutrition guru to many Hollywood celebrities.[15]

Release and reception

The version of Black Strap Molasses featuring Wyman, Durante, Marx, and Kaye was released in August 1951.[4] It was released as the B-side of a single, along with a recording of "How D' Ye Do and Shake Hands", from Disney's then-recent film Alice in Wonderland, sung by the same "all-star" cast.[14] As part of a promotion campaign for the single, Decca Records partnered with Balanced Foods, Inc., a company associated with Hauser's diets, to provide DJs and record distributors with pint bottles of blackstrap molasses and loaves of wheat germ bread.[10] Black Strap Molasses was catalogued in 78rpm record format as Decca 27748, and in 45rpm format as Decca 9-27748.[5]

The song was a hit in the U.S.,[16] reaching number 29 on the overall Billboard charts on September 22, 1951.[3][17][18] Billboard magazine's staff review called it "catchy" and a "sock performance", giving it an aggregated rating of "excellent".[14] Film writer Allan Eyles wrote that the song represented Marx's "greatest success as a singer".[6]

The song was banned by some radio networks because it was perceived as containing "free plugs" for molasses and the patent medicine Hadacol; ABC agreed to program it only after a reference to Hadacol was removed.[7] CBS banned it entirely, on the grounds that it contained "medical advice" which could lead listeners to believe that molasses was "good for sexual debility, insomnia, nerves and underweight condition."[7] A different version of Black Strap Molasses, a "rhythm paean to Gaylord Hauser" by Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, had been released earlier and reviewed in Billboard as "a rambling, rather dull slice."[19] Dorsey's version had been banned from programming by NBC and ABC because, representatives said, the song mentioned commercial products in competition with the networks' sponsors.[4]

The single was released in the UK, catalogued as Brunswick 04794, and later re-released on several record and CD collections.[20]

References

  1. ^ "This Week's Best Sellers". Billboard. 29 September 1951. p. 25.
  2. ^ Yahn, M.A. (2007). The Music of the Marx Brothers: A Bio-discography of the Works of Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Gummo, and Zeppo Marx. PublishAmerica. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-4241-6971-9.
  3. ^ a b c Lonergan, D.F. (2005). Hit Records, 1950–1975. Scarecrow Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-8108-5129-0.
  4. ^ a b c "ABC Puts Ban on 'Molasses'" (PDF). Billboard. 25 August 1951. p. 19.
  5. ^ a b c Bakish, D. (1995). Jimmy Durante: His Show Business Career, with an Annotated Filmography and Discography. McFarland. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-89950-968-6.
  6. ^ a b Eyles, A. (1992). The Complete Films of the Marx Brothers. Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8065-1301-0.
  7. ^ a b c "Stations Kick Vs. Free Plugs Ala 'Molasses'". Billboard. 1 September 1951. p. 8.
  8. ^ Ruppli, M. (1996). The Decca Labels: The California sessions. Greenwood Press. p. 425. ISBN 978-0-313-29984-1.
  9. ^ Parry-Jones, Gwyn (2004). Danny Kaye! Original 1941–1952 Recordings (Liner notes). Naxos Nostalgia. 8.120775.
  10. ^ a b "Decca Quartet Meets Victor With Own 'Who's Who'". Billboard. 25 August 1951. p. 14.
  11. ^ Morella, J.; Epstein, E.Z. (1986). Jane Wyman. Dell Publishing. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-440-14221-8.
  12. ^ Fleck, H.C. (1968). Toward Better Teaching of Home Economics. Macmillan. p. 195. ISBN 9780023382901.
  13. ^ Meredith, L. (2000). Life Before Death: A Spiritual Journey of Mind and Body. Green Dragon Publishing Group. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-89334-704-8.
  14. ^ a b c "Record Reviews". Billboard. 1 September 1951. p. 32.
  15. ^ a b Carstairs, Catherine (2014). "'Look Younger, Live Longer': Ageing Beautifully with Gayelord Hauser in America, 1920–1975". Gender & History. 26 (2): 332–350. doi:10.1111/1468-0424.12072. S2CID 142807327.
  16. ^ Larkin, C. (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music. Virgin Books. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-85227-937-0.
  17. ^ Davies, C. (1998). British and American hit singles: 51 years of transatlantic hits, 1946–1997. BT Batsford. p. 1986.
  18. ^ "The Billboard Music Popularity Charts". Billboard. 29 September 1951. p. 38.
  19. ^ "Record Reviews". Billboard. 25 August 1951. p. 19.
  20. ^ Mitchell, G.; Maltin, L. (2009). The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia. Reynolds & Hearn. p. 241. ISBN 978-1-905287-81-9.
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