Charlie Palloy - Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?, 1932

[barcagirl2001]

When I lived in Ariz yrs ago, I spoke to an old realtor that told me that during the depression land could be had for 25 cents per acre, but no one had the quarter.

[shaunthonys]

Probably the best thing I've ever seen in my life was Carl Thompson playing this song on his piano in his old shop.

[daveysan]

Thanks for the posting and the info on Gorney. Very interesting.

[diddypopdiddy]

i heard this version on NPR today.... what a tune! thanks for posting, love it

[RoninAvenger]

That part in the beginning is such a common tune i hear in things that are mentioning the 30s or 40s lol

[jehovahuponyou]

HEY, that ain't Charlie Pride!

[iamfelixthecat]

Why no mention of lyricist Yip Harburg?

[caroleona1]

are we getting the Change we hoped for.... sorry I just don't see it :'(

[wanlockhead]

So tragic that songs like this were ever written, and Brother look at us now ??

Who's going to write the first line, Labour? Conservative? Liberals?

Nothings changed much.

[John55son]

This song had a bit of a revival in the 60s.

If you can get a copy of the Chad Mitchell Trio's version of it, it too is worth a listen.

[calalou13]

Chad Mitchell!!! I knew him when he worked on the Delta Queen Steamboat Company line!!! Nice Guy.

[academylord]

@calalou13 Many people have the same name.

[RatPfink66]

No no no no no you people have it all wrong.

Charlie Palloy got crosswise of the mob and went into hiding by joining the FBI. They changed his birthdate and his name. We know him best as Mark Felt aka "Deep Throat", a nickname he got from his habit of singing in the parking garage.

(Iriswigle, you have got to be out of your everlovin' mind. ;) )

[jd03150]

This song is truly one of the great classics of that era and this is one of the better versions of it.

[bud8630]

this will be the new U S A theme song Charlie

[badskroy71]

lol lil wayne cover

[codyki]

Yay-yay-yay!!! Everything old is new today! (Including breadlines and the message of this song, apparently...)

[pinkpigtricktips]

this is a realy pivital peece of music in us history from the great depresstion haaha go s.s class hahaha

[henryjackmiller]

I really like this, but I still think that the Bing Crosby version is the best

[wanlockhead]

I heard a version of this song on radio 2 this evening, it could have been this one. After listening to them all on this site ,this is by far the best. I wonder at the optomism of the people at that time in the USA. We think we have it bad now... I don't think so .. Thanks for posting the video.

[lor3999]

Thank you. This was the song I was looking for. My parents knew it. I'm afraid I'll get to know it well too.

[petereuropa]

Thank's for posting this. I'm crying.

[jackatthecontrol]

I like all three versions of this song Al Jolson, Bing Crosby and Charlie Polloy. This is definetly the most upbeat. This is what I call "Soul Music"

[jackatthecontrol]

There is also a Ska version by the Trojans check it out!

[Atticus70]

This is by far the best version of this song that I have heard so far. Thanks for posting this!

[closedcircle1]

Good voice and version, but would have been better done more slowly. For that reason, I still think no one can beat Bing Crosby's 1934version.

[TJTele52]

See this leaves out the first verse which is more controversial (socialistic) but great instrumentation..here..!

[iriswigle]

Brocklin Enterprises is the Old Book Depository in Dallas...did you know that it was owned by Charlie Palloy. He lost it to?????? Was it Connolly or Kennedy? Or did he just lose Crown Records to Jack Kennedy and his friends? I thought I would place the photo in the video before singing myself Brother Can You Spare a Dime...woman dressed in black. I had a funeral to go to in LA that day. The two videos were made after a visit to LA jail to visit Mr. Holt.

[AmersfoortTristan]

It is. And that's what makes this song so beautiful and powerful. It doesn't paint a rosy picture- it was cold, hard reality.

Let's hope that it never happens again- but the economic forecasts now are not good.

[goldencricket]

I love this song.

[gmlch]

thanks!

[bilarnotti]

mazin broder

[prawfessionall]

Great .

[palmyra66]

Brilliant words, music, singer.

[horseehotwheels]

I'm just listening to this to get in the mood to write a poem about the great depression... but i actually dont even mind listening to this kind of music.,

what i dont understand is this song has a rather up beat tempo, isn't this sort of a sad song?

[tombi160]

it depicts america going from very very wealthy to very poor, the grand days "rail road" "towers" and "army", the tempo is showing the happiness of it, also it was used as a moral builder and a reminder of the happenings. it is a sad song, but when your begging, who wants to be made more sad? hence why it was so popular, also it went in tune with the new age of music, dance and fashion.

[iriswigle]

A up beat tempo helps to ward off bad memories and think positive things, don't you think. It is like some people complained that when Claudine Longet #1 composed "I think it is going to Rain today", they thought that the voice that she had chosen to use didn't fit the song. But, it was the same idea. A child's voice is much more soothing don't you think that Janis Joplin? Happy balances sad, child balances adults hacking babies with macheties in Rwanda.

[78timothy]

The fidelity was so great on these Crown Records, of course they were recorded by RCA their studios in NYC not Camden (So. Philidelphia) I have several. Including

Underneath a Harlem Moon, and some Smith Ballew and his Orch. (Whistling in the Dark.)great fidelity on all. The US dpression as we know began with the stock market crash in 1929but it did not end until 0001 hours on 12/08/1941 when EVERYONE went to work, either firing weapons or making them.

[78timothy]

Regarding the Crown Label. For 25 cents you got a good deal considering Hit of the Week paper records for 25 cents each sold at newsstands. Crowns were recorded at RCA Victor Studios, and pressed by RCA but were not part of RCA owned by others. How Joe Kenndy got the rights to Crown is a mystery. But rememeber that the Kennedy's had interests in RKO (Radio Keith Orpheum) R was was the link to RCA. Maybe thru that avenue he got copyright control.

[iriswigle]

Are you an old history buff or a young history buff?

[Georgewos]

I've heard Bing Crosbys and Rudy Vallees version of this song but not this one. it was from a play called Americana. This one is great.

[alanridgley]

greatest depression ever in 2009!

[reyzaguirr]

except now its brother save my house

[Bobbias]

Such a great track. Too bad Charlie Palloy is so obscure now. He's an excellent singer.

[iriswigle]

Correct me if I am wrong - but Charlie wasn't arrested till after the Shirley Jane Temple skits came out, not in 1932 but 1952-1953. It was back dated to 1932 to keep Shirley Jane Temple squeaky clean. Martin Balsam (Breakfast at Tiffany's) was his son or nephew. "We lost everything." It seemed that a politician thought that Burlesk Babies was obscene and all the actors were charged. Shirley was lost & the skits were an ad, do u know her? Shirley's copyright was placed in a trustfund for ?60yrs?

[78rpm78rpm]

I think this is Crown label's answer to Crosby, not Columbo. Whatchawant for 2 bits? And those Crown bands had excellent musicians. A singer from this era who I feel can beat Crosby, Columbo and Vallee sang for Don Redman at Connie's Inn-Harlem-NYC. Harlan Lattimore was black, but sang with Victor Young and Isham Jones on the Brunswick label.

[iriswigle]

How did Charlie lose Crown Records? How did Joe Kennedy get to obtain the copyrights? You seem to know a lot about that time period?

[mikanbobby7]

theres a part missing. the part about lining up just for bread

[pbnotts]

Some big band versions do miss off the first 2 verses, "They used to tell me I was building a dream", etc. Probably to do with keeping the song to a certain length. This is still a great version though!

[jtogto05]

it came about the ww1 vet wanting the pay bounus

[GuruAngelotti]

This is very great song... But I think the Tom Waits's play is very better...

(Sorry my bad english)

=D

[expat1973]

Certainly apropos of the current times. Thanks!

[tvantwon]

i learned about this song in english it isnt as bad as i thought it would be lol

[HarborGuy]

The height of the "great depression" for many and here they sing about it - only in Hollywood.....I think Rudy Valley introduced it on his Radio Broadcast.......

[barbcard]

The same word is used in English. Certainly creates a negative view of that function... Wow, how one thing leads to another. I think I've finally begun to understand the internet, with associations creating a life of their own. To say nothing of the "second life" we live in cyberspace. Sorry to get so far away from this wonderful song, but I find great interest in this string of assoiations.

[barbcard]

No problem. In case anyone's interested, the word khaki is derived from a Persian word, khak, which refers to a certain shade of brown. And the pronunciation in this version of the song is definitely British.

[smurfswacker]

To complicate things, my dictionary says that in England "khaki" is also pronounced "karky"!

[barbcard]

I've always heard khaki pronounced as "kakky." But Ian Whitcomb may indeed be British--or possibly from Boston, where the short "a" is sometimes pronounced as "ah." But I lean towards the Brit hypothesis. He makes it sound like "cocky"--old American slang for someone who's over-confident or conceited. I'll stop there before I get into the many meanings of "cock." But will try to look  up the derivation of khaki

on one of the linguistic sites.

[guitaress1]

Ian Whitcomb is originally from England but this isn't him singing, the notes contain a quote from him about this singer, Charlie Palloy. This singer is somewhat of a mystery, in fact there was speculation that Palloy was merely a stage name, a play on the Greek "polloi" (οἱ πολλοί), meaning "the common people."

[smurfswacker]

I do like this version, but I'm afraid I remain partial to Bing Crosby's rendition. The tempo was slower, but Bing hit just the right balance of earnestness and despair without becoming "whiny," as dzheger put it. Is Palloy English? I was surprised by his pronouncing "khaki" as "kawkie" rather than the American "kakky."

[nedsparks]

It's unfair to compare: Crosby's record was issued as a vocal record, not a fox trot. The public clamored for dance music in this era, and didn't care if the song was written as a social comment or a slang expression ("Gosh Darn!"). Who knows what other great versions we missed on the radio in 1932?

[kspm01]

This is probably my favorite version of this tune as well, and considered posting it myself.

[barbcard]

I guess I meant anthem in the sense of "theme song"--or to be fancier, "leitmotif."

[dzheger]

I also prefer this lively version, with the nice clear voice, to some of the whiny ones. They needed some cheering up during those bad times too.

[barbcard]

I knew you would do it: Upload the "national anthem"

of my parents' generation! Luckily, I never knew the Great Depression first-hand, but it certainly influenced my youth and beyond. I like this jazzy version better than Streisand's "tear-jerker."