Gene Austin - Bye Bye Blackbird (1926)

[drvahag]

John Dietmar Dillinger

[ooZouhouRoo]

Blackbird, blackbird gotta be on my way where there's sunshine galore :)

[spiriaz]

i found this song in Isadora 1969 starring Vanessa Redgrave .

[rumpspanker420]

my great grandmother used to play this on the piano and sing it to me....love you gram

[SarahBogus]

Thank you the owner for posting. Joe Cocker's version is one of my all time fave songs... I came to know the original... Whoa. Different and so cool...

[scvbtr2]

I loved this song.

[Nostalgia1950s1970s]

Best rendition i've heard yet!

[Chdrapkin1]

Do we know who played the beautiful violin part? Especially in the last chorus, it's really great.

[TheAngelOnMyShoulder]

i know this song because of history boys. i cried at the end. also it seems that this song is used in a lot of films, sad films.

[uprightbassmatt]

Fantastic version! :D

[icecreamforcrowhurst]

Love it. Thanks for posting.

[bottledmagic]

I've only ever listened to the liza minneli version of this & now I'm not sure which I love more...

[masercot]

@bottledmagic Try the Julie London version of this song...

[Boudosaved]

I came to this video because I just watched the film "Melvin and Howard" and Jason Robards, who plays Howard Hughes, sings this song in a truck when he is allegedly picked up by Melvin Dummar after taking a nasty motorcycle spill in the desert. Dummar was left $156 million in Hughes will, which was handwritten and contested in court and eventually thrown out. No will has since or ever appeared acceptable to the court.

[Ezdduf4kuZ]

Hello out there, anybody reading me.....this is what you call a mouldy oldy, it makes all that Rockabilly I've tuned in lately seemingly young in nature.  When I think of this bird by Gene Austin, I recall hearing about the roaring 20's, music boxes & movie flicks that starred big names like Charlie Chaplin along with Abbott & Costella..... boy has the world ever matured! Lets see now it's Lady Ga Ga, very attractive Vampires & the internet.. lol

[stlivermore]

Muxic by Ray Henderson and Lyrics by Mort Dixon, without whom nothing

[1wyco]

@GJNCA That's what brought me here..I was watching a dvd of the partridge family and kept repeating the Bolger one, so I came on here to see if I could fid one that compares to it but none do...The only other that does is not on here, it's Jason Robards in the movie Melvin and Howard...

[vgoth100]

What an incredibly nice song....truly 20s sweetness. Makes me think that Paul McCartney must have had this song in mind when he wrote 'Blackbird' in the late 60s, considering his dad was a jazz musician in the 20s. Great stuff, thanks for posting.

[stlivermore]

@vgoth100 You don't know the half of it. American popular song of the early 20th century is by direct or indirect borrowing or by outright plagiarism the culture medium from which most popular music of the same type would subsequently be created world-wide without exception. It all eventually leads back to the original source of this music, the american innovative and creative genius not only in popular music but in all spheres of modern society.

[vgoth100]

@stlivermore I think I may know the half of it....so much plagiarism going on, starting with slave songs, hymnals, blues, ragtime, then finally the jazz/blues of the 20s, leading through the 30s-40s, then the great soul/rock and roll of the 50s - Elvis...Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson....long live those greats. But they go back, way back, I know.

[stlivermore]

@vgoth100 I am not aware that Elvis, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke or Jackie Wilson ripped anyone's music off either directly or indirectly. I can vouch for the fact that other people however have borrowed quite freely from the corpus of american popular song and never once bothered to look back or blink for one instant.

[vgoth100]

@stlivermore Forgive me if I am confused by your statements....to me, music is a blending of all cultures, creeds and lifestyles...music is a 'universal language'...we borrow from one culture to another, whether it be african drumming tribal music, to new wave techno, to old spirituals....the glory of music, to me, is the blending of styles and cultures....John Lennon used to say that he ripped off old tunes, but with enough new twists to make them new and original...

[stlivermore]

@vgoth Language is only a tool but empathy is the psychological or cultural phenomenon that makes it possible to assert in a consistent way that music is a 'universal language', only in that it can serve as a vehicle to communicate to others and to recognize empathically one's particular feelings or emotions in the music of others. Music can never serve validly or rightfully however to justify plagiarism or the intentional or unintentional violation of intellectual property rights.

[AppleCorp3]

@vgoth100 This was the music they grew up with! Ringo did this one on his first solo album and McCartney is doing it on his newest (2012) album. Not sure if Macca nicked this for his song about the same animal, but the line about flying off to the sunshine reminds me of another by him about "follow(ing) the sun..." :)

[button1358]

I love this so much. I can't tell you how happy you've made me with this.

[Banks1042]

According to research, Gen Austin was the first to record this song. So this 1926 recording is the first!

[ThePeaceableKingdom]

@Banks1042 It's very hard to determine who first recorded songs in that era. But the online 78 rpm discography (searchable at The Honking Duck) lists The Wilson Bros recording this one 10 days earlier on April 19, 1926. I found that almost at random, and more thorough reseach would probably find even earlier recordings.

[DalmacioGregorio]

Was he the first who sing this?

[dillinger4ever]

This song is amazing! It woulda been awesome if they played this version in Public Enemies! That movie always makes me cry, specialy since I am a John Dillinger fanatic!

[pboscophoto]

Would love to hear Willie Nelson sing this.....

[khawkins277]

I listened to this song because my chorus teacher gave us a slip of paper that has songs with intervals on it and this is a good song I like it

[boscdny]

My mother use to sing this song to all her children and grandchildren...it will forever be in my sweet memory and makes me sometimes tear with happiness

[TomCook24]

This always makes me think of The History Boys.

[rebekahday]

I didn't realize there was more to the song than the "pack up all..." part!

Thank you for posting.

[hwalker1000]

this was my grandads favourite song who passed away in november last yr.rest in peace grandad, miss u loads! xxx

[amanae]

@hwalker1000 amen..

[diularsing123]

Sleepless in Seattle, Public Enemies :)

[robertirez]

this was mentioned in the movie Public Enemies

[Batdarrell]

thx a lot! one of my favorite!

[irchristo]

Very good rendition. Thank you for posting.

[SoIarboy]

in response to enidric, dm8057bk:

WWI had indeed been over for eight years, and WWII would not begin for another thirteen years. As such, I doubt it was meant to refer to war, especially taking the lyrics into consideration. I see the blackbird as an experience (a relationship that had ended, perhaps), now bringing him down, making him want to leave for the bluebird, which would symbolize hope or a new relationship. At least, that's my take on it.

It's a nice song though, isn't it?

[PetrusRuppert]

Blackbirds symbolized sadness, and depression, and bad luck. You're right about the bluebird. used for symbolizing happiness and good luck. It was an expression of the time.

[SouthSuavest]

Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful! It makes me wanna dance like Isadora Duncan... it was her favourite tune! Let's all dance too, okay?

I'M GONNA PARTY, YEAH!!!

[MrJustinaka]

i love dis song mi teacher told me to veiw it because we are reading a book called out of the dust nd its sad

[TreblePop]

Love it.  Why don't people record the old standards any more?

[SanguivorousRevenant]

This song was recorded two years before my grandma was born and she sang it to my Mom when she was a little girl. Listening to this makes me simultaneously 'geeked-out' and melancholy. God dammit, why the hell doesn't anyone write music like this anymore???!!! If I had the ability to compose music, I would jump at the chance to create 'old-timey' stuff! =D

[nostalgiajunkie70]

What do you think the meaning of the song is? To me, it sounds like its about a guy about to be released from prison. If you listen to the words....

[enidric]

I would have said it was more to do with being away at war, particularly judging by the era.

[dm8057bk]

"judging by the era" - 1926 - ! Sorry to break the news to you, but 1926 was a time of peace and prosperity for the U.S., not war time. WWI had been over for a good 5-plus years, and WWII was still 13 years off....

[B0FF01]

I just read an old letter from 1933 in which a woman mentioned going to see Gene Austin, so I came to look him up without much hope...WOW- he was famous! LOL

[luvebug21]

I can relate to this song so much.i luve it

[wawen89]

thank you for spoiling the movie for those of us who have not yet seen it...

[LaFeeVerte1209]

Because I just happen to like this song for a reason totally unconnected to the movie, however that doesn't discount the possibility of me seeing the film at some time in the future, and when I do see the film sometime in the future I'm sure I'd enjoy it far more if I didn't know the ending already.

[LaFeeVerte1209]

Christ, spoiler!

[gnomieful]

Johnny Depp didn't die at the end of the movie... his character did. They're two different things.

[evandoering]

get a life

[phat4life99]

wtf... tell da ending... u NEVER tell the ending... i havent seen it... wtf

[Kupeli038]

well but you have to know that this is a documentary of John Dillingers life and the ending is known

[phat4life99]

i dont know who the hell thatat cat is.... thats why i watched the movie... smart guy

[osusannarosen]

It's a shame that the verse is so often lost in these old gems. THanks for posting this version with the two verses about Blackbirds and Blue Birds!

[Brookester5000]

That scene at the end of Public Enemies is truly sad. I cried

[Vampire235Leinhart]

that fuckin scene in public enemies was great!!! is the first time that a movie makes me feel sad.

[yadidiBLOOPBLOOP]

was this the song in public enemies?

[detectiveprince]

yes.

[mxaxgx]

yes, that was in Public enemies, singing by Diana Krall

[xThatWeirdGirlx]

Yes, it was. =)

[yadidiBLOOPBLOOP]

that last scene was hella perfect and sad.

[xThatWeirdGirlx]

Yes, it was truly sad...very heartbreaking.

[dogkelp]

Chart-topper, I believe!

[idasynco]

Fantastic arrangement, I love the violin duet with Gene singing this heartfelt song! *****

[genedep1111]

This is great! Is there a way to make a CD on my computer from utube music? Any suggestions?? Any good places to download obscure recordings of 20s/30s/40s music?? Itried limewire & my computer went haywire.

gene the fan

[newrochellephoenix]

This is one of several songs Id want played at my funeral.

[Pokerek1966]

i luv this song!

[JimBobInc]

This is fantastic, a true pioneer!

[jd03150]

Gene Austin was one of the greats of this era and this is one of his best. jd

[robertsewellca]

Great old tune.

[almadora]

cheer up 'redsox,' not only am i listening, but i'm only an hour's drive out of boston myself.

[redsoxrox2]

am i the only one who listens to it or something?

[AnglicanXn]

No; I have it on one of my playlists and listen at least once a week.

[redsoxrox2]

cool, it's a really great song.

[redsoxrox2]

i luv this song!