"Under The Bamboo Tree” RARE Irving Kaufman late in life GREAT SOUND Thesaurus Orthacoustic

"Under The Bamboo Tree" is by Bob Cole and J. Rosamund Johnson

It was interpolated in the Broadway musical Sally in Our Alley (1902)--interpolated means that it was not in the original list of songs when the show opened. The number was introduced by Marie Cahill, who used it in her next show, Nancy Brown (1903).

The song is remembered now because Judy Garland sings it in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). I personally find Garland's voice and mannerisms to be annoying when she performs this--that kind of cuteness is not my cup of tea.

I like the melody, chord changes, and rhythm of this unique song (what other song is like it?). The song was published by Jos. W. Stern & Co, New York City, in 1902.

Down in the jungles lived a maid,
Of royal blood though dusky shade,
A marked impression once she made,
Upon a Zulu from Matabooloo;
And ev'ry morning he would be
Down underneath the bamboo tree,
Awaiting there his love to see
And then to her he'd sing:

If you lak-a-me lak I lak-a-you
And we lak-a-both the same,
I lak-a-say,
This very day,
I lak-a change your name;
'Cause I love-a-you and love-a you true
And if you-a love-a me.
One live as two, two live as one,
Under the bamboo tree.

And in this simple jungle way,
He wooed the maiden ev'ry day,
By singing what he had to say;
One day he seized her
And gently squeezed her.
And then beneath the bamboo green,
He begged her to become his queen;
The dusky maiden blushed unseen
And joined him in his song.

In 1946 and 1947, Irving Kaufman recorded numbers to be broadcast on the radio show Music Hall Varieties.

Two dozen songs were pressed for the NBC-produced Thesaurus Orthacoustic, a radio transcription label, and distributed to stations.

Identified as a baritone (after decades of being called a tenor), he is accompanied by the Music Hall Varieties Orchestra, which used original arrangements.

The songs were popular ones from 1900 to 1920. Few were actually recorded by the young Kaufman.

"By the Beautiful Sea" was issued on NBC Thesaurus Orthacoustic 1362 (16" disc).

Other titles include "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (recorded on July 3, 1946, and pressed on Record 1362), "Bedelia," "Under The Bamboo Tree," "My Wife's Gone To The Country," and "Oh You Beautiful Doll."

Because he was in top vocal form and the best available recording technology was used, Kaufman himself told Quentin Riggs that he would be happy if future generations judged him on these Thesaurus recordings.

Promotional literature for the radio show states, "Kaufman is well-remembered for a five year coast-to-coast network stint as 'Lazy Dan, The Minstrel Man' and his many characterizations on top network and local programs. He is a master dialectician specializing in Irish, Jewish, Scotch, Negro, Italian and Chinese."

He continued making the occasional 78 rpm recording until 1947, the last being "The Curse of an Aching Heart" coupled with "Think It Over Mary" (originally issued on the Sterling label, also issued on the Bennett label). Around this time he also recorded for Sterling some Yiddish comedy songs like "Moe the Schmo Makes Love" and "Moe the Schmo Takes a Rhumba Lesson."

As recording studios relied less on him, he worked more on radio, sometimes accompanied by his wife Belle Brooks on organ or piano.

He continued performing on radio, in Broadway stage productions (including Kurt Weill's Street Scene in 1947), and in nightclubs until a heart attack in 1949 put a stop to these professional activities.

In August 1974 he recorded in his California home eight songs for a two-album set that reissued some of his old recordings, which means Kaufman's recording career spanned six decades, from 1914 to 1974. Titled Reminisce With Irving Kaufman, the lp was only briefly available.

He died in Indio, California, a month before his 86th birthday.