Lyr Req: Jean Harlow Died the Other Day

Subject: Jean Harlow died the other day
From: GUEST,John Blackwood
Date: 02 Sep 01 - 05:40 PM

Wacky song with lots of bop shubas, wacky do's etc. Anyone know it?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow died the other day
From: Tedham Porterhouse
Date: 02 Sep 01 - 05:59 PM

It's a Lead Belly song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow died the other day
From: 8_Pints
Date: 02 Sep 01 - 06:22 PM

I know it as a multi-part song.

Jean Harlow died the other day, And these were the very last words I heard her say Repeat and canon

Whilst there are 3 ostinatos running concurrently:- Mama don't walk, Mama talk, Yeah! (All 3 have the same words, different tune!)

2nd Verse The doctor came and his eyes were looking sad, He said this is the very worst case I've ever had.

You can come in and out with all the parts pretty much as you like, double speed, half speed etc and it works! We usually finish at a given signal with "New York!"

Have fun, Sue vG

Subject: Lyr Add: JEAN HARLOW DIED THE OTHER DAY
From: Llanfair
Date: 03 Sep 01 - 03:27 AM

I do it different to that, Sue:-

JEAN HARLOW DIED THE OTHER DAY

1. Jean Harlow died the other day.
These are the very last words I heard her say. (x2)
Jing a lang a jing a lang a ba da de'n de. (x2)
Mamma gonna walk, mamma talk, yea,
Mamma gonna walk, mamma talk, yea,
Mamma gonna walk, mamma talk a New York.

2. When the doctor came, her ma was running wild,
Saying, "Doctor, Doctor can't you save my child?" (x2)
Jing a lang... etc.
Well, the very last words she spoke before she died,
There's one more movie star I gotta ride. (x2)
Jing a lang... etc.

I use the same chord sequence all the way through. C, Am, F, G. (Same as "If I had a hammer!)
I presume you know that she was a Christian Scientist, and died of peritonitis because her mother wouldn't call a doctor till it was too late.
Cheers, Bron.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow died the other day
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 03 Sep 01 - 05:32 PM

Bron, I heard it was uraemia. Does anyone know for sure? (Just to get the 'useless fact of the day' out of the way ... :-)
Hamish Imlach and Iain MacKintosh used to do it and divide the audience up for the 'ting a ling' bits, to compete with each other. Great fun, in spite of the subject. And I loved it when once, after singing 'There's one more movie star I'd like to ride', Hamish added under his breath 'Not Ronald Reagan!'

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow died the other day
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 03 Sep 01 - 07:07 PM

We've got a pub in Harlow Towb Centre called The Jean Harlow.

It's a sort of pun. It used to be called The Painted Lady, which is a kind of butterfly.

And, no, the town's not called after her.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow died the other day
From: Snuffy
Date: 03 Sep 01 - 07:19 PM

Aren't all the pubs in Harlow called after butterflies?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow died the other day
From: Llanfair
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 03:39 AM

You're right, Susanne, I just looked it up, and it was kidney failure due to uraemic poisoning.
She used to put herself about a bit, and Bette Davies is supposed to have quipped "The T is silent as in Harlow"
Cheers, Bron.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow died the other day
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 06:11 AM

Moths or butterflies. If we ever come up against a butterfly or moth question in Trivial Pursuit we've a flying start.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow died the other day
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 04 Sep 01 - 06:08 PM

Llanfair, it's at times like this that I know why I love the English language. (I DO love Welsh, too, I just can't speak it ...)

Subject: Lyr Add: JEAN HARLOW DIED THE OTHER DAY
From: GUEST,Jim I
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 02:21 PM

These are the neasrest I can find although I don't think they are quite what Hamish used to sing.

JEAN HARLOW DIED THE OTHER DAY
(Leadbelly, as sung by Hamish Imlach)

Jean Harlow died the other day,
Jean Harlow died the other day,
Jean Harlow died the other day,
And these are the very last words she did say

Chorus
And she said "Tang a lang a Tang a lang a
be dab a doodah   (x2)
Mamma gonna walk, mamma talk, yea,
Mamma gonna walk, Mamma talk, yea,
mamma gonna walk, mamma talk a New York.

The doctor came in and his eyes were looking sad,
He said this is the worst case I ever have had.
Chorus

When the doctor came,her Ma was running wild,
Saying Doctor, Doctor can't you save my child?
Chorus

Well the very last words she spoke before she died.
There's one more movie director I gotta ride.
Chorus

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow
From: Peace
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 03:40 PM

"Jean Harlow Died the Other Day -- Several Times"

Available on CD "Hamish Imlach: The Definitive Transatlantic Collection."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow
From: GUEST,theballadeer
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 04:22 PM

Danny Kyle also recorded a very nice Live version...

Nick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 03:48 AM

For the record, Jean Harlow was born March 3, 1911 - Kansas City, Missouri. She died at the age of 26 June 7, 1937 - Hollywood, California. The All-Movie Guide (allmovie.com) says Harlow had suffered from kidney disease most of her life, and that she died of acute uremic poisoning.
She certainly was a beautiful woman.

The song is on the 1947 volume (Volume 6) of Document's collection titled Leadbelly: Complete Recorded Works, 1939-1947, in Chronological Order

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow Died the Other Day
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 03 Nov 10 - 11:24 AM

Interesting thread... I've had the Leadbelly recording for years but never knew that anyone else was known for doing this song. The version I do is pretty much what Leadbelly wrote (though I don't play a 12 string), and his original lyrics are somewhat different from what has been posted. I see it's not in DigiTrad, so I'll take the liberty of setting it down here.

It was also published in The Leadbelly Songbook, edited by Moses Asch and Alan Lomax. (The second verse is not on the recording I have, and I omit it because it's nearly identical to the first verse.)

JEAN HARLOW
(Leadbelly)

Jean Harlow died the other day,
These are the words I heard her say;
Her mother was sitting at her bedside and cryin',
"I believe to my soul that my child's dyin'."

(Chorus:)
Tang-a-lang tang-a-lang, ba-da-da deedle-de
Tang-a-lang tang-a-lang, ba-da-da deedle-de
Tang-a-lang tang-a-lang, ba-da-da deedle-de, oh!

Her mama goin' to walk, her mama talk, yes
Her mama goin' to walk, her mama talk, yes
Her mama goin' to walk, her mama talk, New York!

I looked out the other day,
These are the words I heard her say;
Her mother was settin' by her bedside a-cryin',
"I believe to my soul that my child is dyin'."

(Chorus)

Send for the doctor, the doctor come,
Mother says, "Doctor, can you save me one?"
Doctor says, "Well, I believe I will go,
Need me tomorrow, you can let me know."

(Chorus)

Doctor left, he was looking mighty sad,
"This is the hardest case I ever had."
Jean Harlow said just before she died,
"Two more moving pictures I would like to write."

(Chorus)

Asch's note to the song (in the book) says, "Leadbelly told me that at night in prison when thoughts turned to women he composed this song. Since guitars were forbidden he played it on the concertina." According to the book The Life and Legend of Leadbelly by Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell, Leadbelly was not incarcerated in 1937 (the year Jean Harlow died). His next stint in jail would not come until mid-1939, in New York City. In any case, it appears that he did not record the song until 1944.

Harlow's reputation and personal life were thoroughly trashed when a lurid book came out in the early 1960's titled Harlow: An Intimate Biography. Mostly fictitious claptrap, it was, unfortunately taken as truthful by a public that ate it up - despite people like Sally Rand and Myrna Loy publicly stating that much of what author Irving Shulman wrote was fabrication. Two (!) film versions were made in 1965. Recent biographies have attempted to set the record straight and do justice to the memory of a talented star whose life ended far too soon.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow Died the Other Day
From: GUEST,ladlad
Date: 27 Dec 12 - 12:38 PM

Back in the early 1970s I got to know Hamish Imlach somewhat as he spent some time doing a number of shows in the town where I lived - I think I attended all of them. He was a real character and a great folksinger. And as Susanne (skw) on 03 Sep 01 (above) notes, this song was in his repertoire.
It's good to know Leadbelly's original version and I respect it for what it is. However, I prefer Hamish's version. The lyrics as I hear them are:

Jean Harlow died the other day
And these are the last words I heard her say
Yes, Jean Harlow died the other day
And these are the last words I heard her say

Refrain:
Tingalinga tingalinga ba da ba doo ba da ba,
Tingalinga tingalinga ba da ba doo ba da ba,
Tingalinga tingalinga ba da ba doo ba da ba day, and
Her mama's gonna walk, and mama talk,
Her mama's gonna walk, and mama talk,
Her mama's gonna walk, and mama talk, in New York

Well, her mama come in, she was lookin' mighty wild
She said, "Doctor, doctor, please save my child"
Yes, her mama come in, she was lookin' mighty wild
She said, "Doctor, doctor, please save my child" and...

And the doctor come in, he was lookin' mighty sad
He said, "This is the worst case I ever have had"
Yes, the doctor come in, he was lookin' mighty sad
He said, "This is the worst case I ever have had"

Well just before Jean Harlow died
She said "There's just one more movie picture I'd like to ride"
Yes, just before Jean Harlow died
She said "There's just one more movie picture I'd like to ride" and...


This Hamish Imlach version can be heard at this website:
http://topmp3lyrics.com/lyrics/Jean-Harlow-Died-The-Other-Day-Several-Times/6997895
Note: the added noises at the beginning does not extend through the song.

Here's where you can hear Leadbelly's version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OufFJiFgYrI

Added note:
CRUDITY WARNING:
To add to the point from Susanne, Hamish could get pretty ribald in his live shows, especially in bars, and when I saw him back then, he sang the last verse using "There's one more movie star I'd like to ride" ending with "- Trigger"

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow Died the Other Day
From: Young Buchan
Date: 28 Dec 12 - 12:28 PM

Shall we now have the argument as to whether it was Margot Asquith or Margot Grahame to whom she said 'Hello Mar-got' only to be met with 'It's pronounced Mar-go. The T is silent. As in Harlow'?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow Died the Other Day
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 28 Dec 12 - 04:44 PM

The story is mentioned as "possibly apocryphal" in the Margot Asquith Wikipedia biography.

Margot Asquith


Jay

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow Died the Other Day
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Mar 16 - 09:49 AM

She died of complications from kidney failure. The line about the silent T as in Harlow has been ascribed to Bette Davis (although it makes more sense from a 'Margot').
The Vindscreen Vipers did the song but they apper to have used Hamish Imlach's version.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow Died the Other Day
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Mar 16 - 03:02 AM

Had some great fun doing this song in Alice Springs in the 80's. We were a six person A'capella group called 'Ockerpella' - and it doesn't get more 'ocker' than Alice Springs!
YIU
gecko

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow Died the Other Day
From: GUEST,JOHN FROM DEVON
Date: 17 Sep 17 - 04:55 PM

I discovered this one through a version recorded by Paul King, then of Mungo Jerry, on his first solo album 'Been in the Pen too Long' (1972). I think Mungo Jerry have performed it live since then. Ironic that a sad subject should have given rise to
such an infectious song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Jean Harlow Died the Other Day
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Sep 17 - 06:32 PM

I remember Hamish's introduction to this: "I'm a great one for topical songs ... this one was topical about 40 years ago!"