Word Association Wednesday — Jumpin’ and Jivin’

Following Sunday’s Jump for Joy, we make a quick jump back to 1939 for Cab Calloway’s great hit The Jumpin’ Jive.

Let’s spin Cab’s 1939 Vocalion record:

That’s just a blast — a perfect little nugget where everything snaps together. One of those records so alive, so self‑contained, that the contemporary cover versions never quite do it for me. It’s Cab’s song, full stop.

Here’s Cab again, singing The Jumpin’ Jive in the 1943 Twentieth Century‑Fox picture Stormy Weather, joined by the incomparable Nicholas Brothers:

That’s a tremendous amount of talent in one frame — Cab in full command, the band cooking, and the brothers defying gravity like it’s a parlor trick.

JJ's Jive

If we jump all the way to the 1980s, there is one version I love: Joe Jackson’s take from his 1981 A&M album Jumpin’ Jive:

Joe doesn’t just copy the style — he inhabits it. He treats the song like a living thing rather than a museum piece, and it shows.

And here’s Joe again, live on his 1986 tour:

Tom Teeley’s guitar gives the whole thing a rockabilly edge, and I dig it. It’s a different kind of jump, but still true to the spirit.

Warehouse Whispers

Time is a funny creature. When Joe Jackson’s version came out in 1981, 1939 felt like ancient history — a sepia‑toned world far, far away. But now more time has passed between Joe’s version (45 years) and today than had passed between Joe’s version and Cab’s original (42 years). Yet 1981 doesn’t feel distant at all.

I don’t know what to make of that!

"Jingle Bells" - Part 93 - Some Brass!

Still digging the 1960s vibe, our next version of "Jingle Bells" is in the hands, well lips, of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass!

Here they are from their 1968 "Christmas Album" on A&M Records:

I like how you get a minute or so of Jackie Gleason-esque lushness before the typical Tijuana Brass arrangement kicks in!

Herb Alpert (left) and Burt Bacharach confer!

The album also included the "Jingle Bells" spinoff "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle" with Herb on the vocal (he had the huge vocal hit with Burt Bacharach and Hal David's "This Guy's in Love with You" earlier in the year):

That cute number was written by Burt Bacharach (with Larry Kusik AKA not Hal David!) back in 1964 but for some reason I think it works better in this format, as the earlier versions are too cute-sy.

Interestingly, A&M also released a version by Mr. Bacharach in 1968:

That doesn't really stray from the Tijuana Brass version, as it fits what I think of as the A&M "house" sound of the 1960s.

That sound shows up all over the 1968 A&M album "¡Something Festive!" which I think was a promo item for Goodrich Tires and included Burt's version of "The Bell..."

The album also includes Herb and the TJB with "Winter Wonderland":

Also fitting right in is Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 with "The Christmas Song":

And there's also TJB percussionist Julius Wechter's Baja Marimba Band with "Partridge in a Pear Tree (Twelve Days of Christmas)" (originally from 1966's "For Animals Only" album):

That's a fun take on the traditional carol!

Something festive was indeed in the air for A&M Records in 1968!

And Herb and Burt are both still around, so a Happy 2022 to them!