"The Whiffenpoof Song" (Rudy Vallee, 1927)

[MrStefanVidovic]

if you want the sheets, they're free on musicnotes in january!!

[LyleLincoln]

I would really really enjoy confabulating with a Whiffenpoof alumni. I love Yale history. I am curious if any alumni hanged with my fav Wm Buckley?

[limeliter]

Thank You... For putting the words to the Whiffenpoof song in your posting I've come close to getting it right now I know.

[FRAGIORGIO1]

This and the Maine song were sung by my Dartmouth-educated father back in the '40s and '50s. I hadn't heard them since then!

[spagandtuna]

Check out the Mills Brothers with Count Basie version, absolutely blows anything else away.

[fetusjuicefuck]

fuck this shit

[safehouse123]

@fetusjuicefuck i feel sorry for you....

[blunderboy1964]

@fetusjuicefuck then why would you be here? Watta moron

[Mendy7952]

This is a wonderful recording, no doubt about it, but to call Rudy Vallee a "class act" was to have never known him. After meeting the man, I swore to never listen to his voice or watch his movies again until after his death.

[CaitlinBrooksMusic]

I sang that song at the retirement party of the former pastor of my Presbyterian church in Kalamazoo!

During the 3/4-time part, when my fellow choir members and I did the sheep sounds, I did frequent vibrato to sound like bleating sheep.

[AnneAnnalynn]

halooking for a guy who knows his way around a lady's body

[akarpowicz]

Thanks for posting. There is no one like Rudy Vallee. Always a pleasure to listen.

[donn409]

Rudy was a class act. It must've given many a thrill when he stared with Elvis Presley in "LIVE A LITTLE, LOVE A LITTLE" putting the two showbusiness icons together.

[SuperCulloden]

1927.......... Amazing! 

As much as I like Bing Crosby's version of this song, this is a much better arrangement, and then there is the difference in the recording equipment of a twenty year span to be considered also.

Yep! No two ways about it, Rudy was superior.

[vimzibaiegh]

prophetic.

[298625]

Thank you so much. My mother used to sing this to me 55 years ago, and I never knew what it was until now. It makes me all misty.

[FreemanZee]

Enough already with the phony screen jitter and unconvincing scratches.

Thanks for posting.

[sbd650]

5*****!

[anotherjoshua]

people actually bought this record?

[steverlfs]

I grew up on rock music of the psychedelic era. Then one day I heard Rudy- he blew me away! Definitely the best of the twentieth century!

[SeeburgMusic]

Don't even mention Bing Crosby in Rudy Vallee's presence. Ever.

[GreatMotovaro]

the whiffenpoofers are the oldest vocal- ensemble of the world(1909)

[safetychoice]

A friend of mine once told me that one of the most memorable experiences of his life was listening to a group of drunken Yale boys singing the Whiffenpoof song at Mory's. By the time I got there, Mory's had been turned into a private club and I couldn't get in, but I agree that this is probably the definite version.

[rafhenlow]

As a young ! man I frequented a pub where the regulars sang this at closing time. Magic!!!!

[robbieware]

Love it, what a voice!

[runnrgate]

een meer dan schitterende uitvoering!!! This is the way I like the performance of a song!!!

yep i am oldy (no rush no hurry just a peformance from the inside out)

[Bennyhill68]

Ha ha. Good Old Rudy.

[dindilindi1]

wow this song is SICK! i love it!

[2142543]

Hi: Love this song and Rudy's singing...I play the chorus on nylon string guitar...check it out if you like.....Dan

[Harlequin1998]

I like Bing's version a lot, but this is cool. Rudy was great in Palm Beach Story

[higgme1ster]

Kipling embraced the Jingoism of the British Empire. In his words, one sees disinherited young aristocrats as enlisted men in Her Majesty's forces, heavily drinking, as one of them sings a verse. These new words transmute the cynicism of the Kiplings poem, invoking some forsaken outpost of the British Empire, to the genial atmosphere of Mory's Temple bar. The upper crust effete at Yale in their disdain of common rankers created this parody of Kiplings poem, Gentleman-Rankers.

[phillipgaley]

as on occasion maybe useful, the academic literature of time past sometimes points out that, "young men who are without go to sea", either in the merchant marines or, to war.

And in that same way, had we not a decade of troop mobilization, how much worse our unemployment?

[Talulah1997]

Wow, thanks for the extensive background information in addition to the song, I had never heard of "Whiffenpoofs" before... :-)

[RReady555]

Victor Herbert, who wrote the operetta "Little Nemo" trained in Germany--it's seldom performed these days (unfortunately) but a great fantasy piece! Best,

-RR

[Mayondor]

didnt he sing a song in the sword in the stone? its the beganing song i think. if somone could give me the name of the song

[RReady555]

Don't think Rudy Vallee ever worked with Disney...check out the IMDb for song information, they usually provide that.

Best,

-RR

[richio44]

Thanks for the posting I remember hearing this version over fifty years ago and thought it just perfect and it still sounds great Rudy Valee was ace and it is nice to hear great singing once again.

[RReady555]

Yes, I like the close harmony and simple instrumentation of Rudy's version best...;)

Kindest regards,

-RR

[gentlemanranker]

I had forgotten how close the Lyrics are to Kiplings poem. I enjoyed this immensely, thank you

[RReady555]

You're entirely welcome. A lot to be said for the tradition of the "Gentleman Ranker" in these times.

Best regards,

-RR

[motnamegah]

rready I was wondering if you could help me find another song on you tube called "Forever and Ever' i can't tell you when it was popular other than the forties Thank you

[RReady555]

Yes, Perry Como's rendition rose to #2 on the U.S. hit parade in 1949. It was translated from a song by German composer Franz Winkler, "Fliege mit Mir in die Heimat".

Enter that title in the search bar and you'll find the music--it's not yet available on YouTube in the English version.

Best,

-RR

[motnamegah]

I am a 76 year old man that listens to songs such as these and my mind goes all the back to the middle and late forties and harmonizing with a great bunch of guys.

[RReady555]

It was a great time in American music. As a people we don't sing together anymore...we've lost something for it. May it make a solid comeback!

Thanks for tuning in,

-RR

[genia106]

Now this is the song I always associated Collegiate Rudy with. His rendition is so moving, it has brought a tear to my eye.

Thank you RR for this special Collegiate Rudy.

[RReady555]

My dad (an old Yale guy) loved this recording--preferred it to Crosby's (you'll be glad to hear, genia);)

It falls into that limbo between "silly" and "sentimental" where Rudy's art thrived...that's evidently where America's collective head was at in the Jazz Age.

But yes, the harmonies and phrasing make it a moving performance indeed.

[motnamegah]

thank you so much for an enjoyable night

[RReady555]

Glad to have you stop by!

[LyleLincoln]

@RReady555 Tell dad Happy New Year!