Eckstine was an American jazz singer and bandleader who also played trumpet, valve trombone, and guitar. He also performed briefly as Billy X. Stine. His nickname was Mr. B. Although best known as a singer, his openness to new music made him a strong influence on modern jazz, particularly bebop, as he gave employment to many of the musicians who founded the style.
After singing with the Earl Hines band from 1939 to 1943 he led his own band from 1944 to 1947. The band featured at various times a large number of rising jazz stars, including:
Saxophones: Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, Lucky Thompson, Charlie Parker, Wardell Gray, Budd Johnson, Leo Parker
Trumpets: Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham, Fats Navarro
Drums: Art Blakey
Singers: Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan
Eckstine later formed an octet, then went solo, becoming a popular ballad singer while remaining an important figure in jazz. His huge, distinctive baritone made him one of the first African American singers to have mainstream success. He was the composer of the blues classic "Jelly, Jelly" and also recorded the R&B top hit "Stormy Monday Blues" in 1942 (not to be confused with T-Bone Walker's 1947 "Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad)"). Most of his success as a singer came with ballads, including "Everything I have is Yours", "Blue Moon", "Caravan," "Prisoner of Love," "You Go to My Head," and "That Old Black Magic". His last hit was "Passing Strangers", a duet with Sarah Vaughan released in 1957.
Eckstine was a style leader and noted sharp dresser. He designed and patented a high roll collar that formed a B over a Windsor-knotted tie, which became known as a Mr. B. Collar. In addition to looking cool, the collar expanded and contracted without popping open, which allowed his neck to swell while playing his horns. The collars were worn by many a hipster in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
In 1984, Eckstine recorded his final album, I Am A Singer, featuring beautiful ballads arranged and conducted by Angelo DiPippo.
Jelly Jelly
Billy Eckstine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hello baby, I had to call you on the phone
`Cause I feel so lonesome
And daddy wants his baby home
It's a down-right rotten,
Low down dirty shame
It's a down right rotten
The way that you're treatin' poor me
I know I'm not to blame
Jelly jelly jelly
Jelly stays on my mind
Jelly jelly jelly
Jelly stays on my mind
Jelly roll killed my pappy,
And wrung my mama stone blind.
The lyrics to Jelly Jelly by Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra depict a man who is feeling incredibly lonely and misses his partner. He calls her on the phone and sings about how he is not to blame for their separation, and that it is a "low down dirty shame" the way she is treating him. As he laments about his love life, he turns to the metaphor of "jelly" to express his pain. He repeats the phrase "jelly stays on my mind" multiple times, indicating that this pain is not something that he can easily shake off. He then goes on to explain that his affection for jelly is not entirely positive, as it has caused him great strife. He suggests that his father died from eating too much jelly roll, and that his mother was blinded by it, likely suggesting that it caused them emotional and/or physical harm.
The use of "jelly" in this song can be understood in multiple ways. On the one hand, it serves as a metaphor for a kind of emotional residue that lingers in the mind, much like the sticky consistency of jelly stays on one's hands. On the other hand, the introduction of jelly roll as a food item suggests a kind of addiction or unhealthy attachment to something that is ultimately harmful. These elements come together to create a deeply emotional and introspective song about love and heartache, one that is still beloved by many today.
Line by Line Meaning
Hello baby, I had to call you on the phone
I called you because I'm feeling lonely and I miss you
Cause I feel so lonesome
I'm feeling very lonely and sad without you here with me
And daddy wants his baby home
I really want you to come home to me, I miss you so much
It's a down-right rotten, Low down dirty shame
It's really terrible and unfair what you're doing to me
The way that you're treatin' poor me, I know I'm not to blame
I don't deserve to be treated this way, and I know it's not my fault
Jelly jelly jelly, Jelly stays on my mind
I can't stop thinking about that sweet jelly, it's always on my mind
Jelly roll killed my pappy, And wrung my mama stone blind.
Jelly roll music was so good, it caused my dad to die and blinded my mom
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: EARL HINES, WILLIAM ECKSTEIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Nick Zoohowza
The “meaning” of Jelly Jelly seems to have been written by ChatGPT. Surely “jelly”, like “jelly roll” was intended in this song to refer to sex/genitalia, and not something to spread on toast.
@hilmarwensorra1215
In very loving memory of Mr. B (1914 - 1993 R.I.P. Gone but NOT forgotten).
@chuckdieselkicksdisks2380
Very cool he's a local Pittsburgh Legend and to see the original spelling of his last name is also very neat
@georgec.6871
EARL HINES & HIS ORCHESTRA Hollywood, Dec. 2, 1940
Harry “Pee Wee” Jackson, Rostelle Reese, Leroy White (tp), Joe McLewis, John Ewing, Edward Fant (tb), Scoops Carry, Leroy Harris (cl, as), Willie Randall, Budd Johnson, Franz Jackson (ts), Earl Hines (p, ldr), Hurley Ramey (g), Truck Parham (b), Alvin Burroughs (dm), Billy Eckstine, Madeline Greene (vo). Classic sound! Scoops Carry (as) solo.
@Parlezvouscrochet
Whose here from Sanford n Son??
@mwash52
Actually this is music mention by Iceberg Slim, in his autobiography. Pimp: The story of my life. Red Fox was Detroit Redd. A gangster/thug in Chicago hanging with Malcolm Little aka Malcolm X.
@henridelagardere264
2:35 "Jelly roll killed my pappy, it wrung my mammy stone blind." With an unforgettable final couplet like that we have, for once, to remind ourselves of the musicians behind Mister B. Altoist Scoops Carey, who once named this as his own favorite solo, later went to law school and established himself in Chicago, representing a. o. Local 208 AFM (the black musicians' union). A fascinating and inspiring time, years of real advancement, in Mr. Carey's case the '50s and '60s, for he died at the age of only 55 in 1970. Many years later, I got to meet several musicians of the AACM, who told me about their formative years in Bronzeville, and how fertile the intergenerational exchange was, with oldtimers of Scoops' and earlier vintage passing on their musical knowledge as well as loads of stories and anecdotes to the increasingly woke young'uns. I can't remember whether his name was dropped or not, but I can clearly hear the rich musical heritage in even the rather abstract ventures of the AACM. Having said that, I'm happy to find this ageless recording among the more ephemeral Kysers and Kayes. I really wish Earl Hines, who seems to be getting not enough airtime (or podtime) these days, would get full attention and recognition. His fingers spanned two octaves, and his artistic influence several generations. Whether the list of greatest pianists is ten names long or only five, he's on it.