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Ja-Da
Song written & published in 1918 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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"Ja-Da (Ja Da, Ja Da, Jing, Jing, Jing!)" is a hit song written in 1918 by Bob Carleton. The title is sometimes rendered simply as "Jada." The song has flourished through the decades as a jazz standard.

In his definitive American Popular Songs, Alec Wilder writes about the song's simplicity:
... It fascinates me that such a trifling tune could have settled into the public consciousness as Ja-Da has. Of course it's bone simple, and the lyric says almost nothing, except perhaps the explanation of its success lies in the lyric itself. "That's a funny little bit of melody—it's soothing and appealing to me." It's cute, it's innocent, and it's "soothing." And, wonderfully enough, the only other statement the lyric makes is "Ja-Da, Ja-Da, Ja-Da, Ja-Da, Jing, Jing, Jing."[1]
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Selected renditions
- Player piano roll, Vocalstyle Company, #11302. Vodvil Series, as played by Cliff Hess
- 1918 — Original New Orleans Jazz Band
- 1918 — Arthur Fields
- 1938 — Tommy Ladnier and Sidney Bechet
- 1939 — Alice Faye sings it in the musical film Rose of Washington Square (1939)[2]
- 1945 — Bunk Johnson and Don Ewell
- 1947 — Frank Sinatra & Peggy Lee
- 1947 — Muggsy Spanier
- 1954 — Big Chief Jazzband (on the 78 rpm record His Master's Voice A.L. 3401)
- 1955 — Marian McPartland - At the Hickory House
- 1957 — Pee Wee Hunt
- 1958 — Ted Heath Orchestra
- 1961 — Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons
- 1966 — The Fireballs
- 1982, 1986, and 1987 — Musical entertainers Sharon, Lois & Bram & The Mammoth Band, recorded live and in studio
- Al Hirt
- Oscar Peterson
- Erroll Garner
- Louis Armstrong
- Al Jarreau
- Hot Tuna as "Keep On Truckin'"[3]
- Johnny and The Hurricanes
- Bobby Hackett
- God-des and She
- Scott Walker chorus sung in song "Psoriatic" from 2006's The Drift
- Sonny Rollins 're-invented it' using the Ja-Da chords for his composition "Doxy" in 1954.[4]
Comedy rendition
- In the 1970s, the tune was appropriated by the Canadian comedy duo Maclean and Maclean, who recorded it as their signature piece, with bawdy lyrics added.
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See also
References
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