Georgia Gibbs (born Frieda Lipschitzin on 17 August 1919 in Worcester, Mass… Read Full Bio ↴Georgia Gibbs (born Frieda Lipschitzin on 17 August 1919 in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA – 9 December 2006) was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz.

Gibbs was the youngest of four children of Russian Jewish immigrant parents.Her father died when she was six months old, and she spent her first seven years in an orphanage in Worcester, separated from her other siblings.

She revealed a natural talent for singing at a very young age, and was given the lead in the orphanage's yearly variety show. She was reunited with her mother (who had visited her once every other month) when the latter found employment as a midwife. However, her job often forced her to leave her daughter alone for weeks at a time with only a Philco radio for company.

Gibbs began her professional career at the age of thirteen, and was singing in Boston's Raymor Ballroom the following year. She cut her first record with the Hudson-DeLange Orchestra in 1936 (aged 16 or 17). "You don't really know loneliness unless you do a year or two with a one-night band, Gibbs said of her life on the big band circuit. sing until about 2 a.m. Get in a bus and drive 400 miles. Stop in the night for the greasy hamburger. Arrive in a town. Try to sleep. Get up and eat." (Worcester Telegram & Gazette, May 12, 1994.)

She soon found steady work on popular radio shows including Your Hit Parade, Melody Puzzles and The Tim And Irene Show. Gibbs freelanced in the late 1930s and 1940s singing with the bands of Frankie Trumbauer, Hal Kemp, Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw. It was with Shaw's band (then billed as Fredda Gibson) that she scored her first hit, Absent Minded Moon (1942).

In 1943, she changed her name to Georgia Gibbs and began appearing on the popular Camel Caravan radio program, hosted by Jimmy Durante and Garry Moore (it was Moore who bestowed the famous nickname "Her Nibs, Miss Georgia Gibbs" upon her). The nickname is a playful reference to her diminutive stature of barely over 5 feet. She was a regular performer on this show until 1947.

Gibbs signed with Majestic Records in 1946, and while she recorded many great records she would have to wait until 1950 for her first hit single, If I Knew You Were Coming, I'd Have Baked A Cake (on the Coral label). During this period she also was the featured singer on tours with comedians Danny Kaye and Sid Caesar. Miss Gibbs had a natural talent for comedy as well, and worked well in support of the immensely popular Kaye. But success as a singer continued to elude her. As noted in a 1952 Time article:

"Georgia," they kept telling her, "you gotta get a sound." Musical soothsayers were trying to get Songstress Georgia Gibbs into line with the latest fashion. Perhaps, they thought, she should sing mechanized duets with herself (like Patti Page), or she might try an echo chamber background (like Peggy Lee). But gimmicks were not Georgia Gibbs's cup of tea. She had a big, old-fashioned voice, a good ear, a vivacious personality, and she knew how to sing from the shoulder. She would stick with plain Georgia Gibbs.

And she eventually had success "sticking with plain Georgia Gibbs". Possessed of a versatile voice, she cut a long list of great records in every category from torch songs to rock-and-roll, to jazz, swing, old fashioned ballads and cha-chas. Her most successful record was Kiss Of Fire which reached the #1 position on the pop music charts in 1952. Kiss of Fire was adapted from the Argentinian tango El Choclo and the lyrics, arrangement and delivery communicate passion on a Wagnerian scale. It immediately became one of the defining songs of the era.

Sultry and throbbing, with a touch of vibrato, Georgia Gibbs' voice is best showcased on romantic ballads and torch songs like Melancholy Baby, I'll Be Seeing You, Autumn Leaves and You Keep Coming Back Like A Song. Yet she could be equally thrilling belting out a red hot jazz numbers like Red Hot Mama and A-Razz-A-Ma-Tazz, or jiving with tunes like Ol Man Mose and Shoo Shoo Baby. Her Swingin' With Her Nibbs album (1956) demonstrated her natural affinity for improvisation as well.

Gibbs continued to be a frequent visitor to the charts throughout the first half of the decade (with over 40 charted songs), and was briefly successful doing rock 'n' roll songs as well. She appeared on many television shows throughout the decade, including the legendary Ed Sullivan show, and hosted one of her own, Georgia Gibbs And Her Million Record Show. She cut her final album, Call Me (1966) and rarely performed after that.

She spent many years being best known for her cover versions of Etta James' The Wallflower (recorded by Gibbs with modified lyrics under the title Dance With Me Henry) and of LaVern Baker's Tweedle Dee (which created some ado due to Ms. Baker's vociferous complaints) and for her novelty number The Hula Hoop Song, which was her last hit, in 1958.

Georgia Gibbs died of leukemia on December 9, 2006, aged 87, at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Sweet And Gentle
Georgia Gibbs Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I was sweet and gentle
(She was sweet and gentle)
Kind of sentimental
(Kind of sentimental)

No one will deny it
(No one will deny it)
I was once so quiet

And then one magic night
I learned to do the Cha Cha
(Cha Cha, Cha Cha)
And now I'll never be the same

For I have turned into
A dancing cucaracha
(Cha Cha, Cha Cha)
And my muchacho is to blame

How can I be gentle
(Cha Cha, Cha Cha)
Sweet and sentimental
(Cha Cha, Cha Cha)

While the Cha Cha's playing
(Cha Cha, Cha Cha)
And my heart is swaying

I find that I am even
Dancing when I'm walking
(Cha Cha, Cha Cha)
I'm haunted by that Cha Cha beat

I hear the rhythm start
Whenever we are talking
(Cha Cha, Cha Cha)
I do the Cha Cha in my sleep

Cha Cha Cha
Cha Cha Cha
Cha Cha Cha

Cha Cha Cha
Cha Cha Cha Cha

How can I be gentle
(How can she be gentle)
Sweet and sentimental
(Sweet and sentimental)

While the Cha Cha's playing
(While the Cha Cha's playing)
And my heart is swaying

I find that I am even
Dancing when I'm walking
(Cha Cha, Cha Cha)
I'm haunted by that Cha Cha beat

I hear the rhythm start
Whenever we are talking
(Cha Cha, Cha Cha)
I do the Cha Cha in my sleep

Please be sweet and gentle
Treat me sentimental
For I'm temperamental
When I Cha Cha with you

Cha Cha Cha

Cha Cha Cha
Cha Cha Cha Cha

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Sweet and Gentle by Georgia Gibbs describe how the power of music and dance can transform a once quiet and gentle girl into a lively and rhythmically driven person. The song is structured in a way that explains a tale of transformation, where the singer went from being sweet and laid-back to being a dancing cucaracha. This transformation began one magic night where she learned to do the Cha Cha — a dance from Cuba. The magic of this night changed her forever, making her much more lively and energetic.

Through the lyrics, Georgia Gibbs sings about how she finds herself dancing even when she is walking down the street, and the Cha Cha beat follows her everywhere she goes, even in her sleep. She is haunted by the Cha Cha as it has become a part of her, and she is forever transformed by this rhythm, thus asking her dance partner to be sweet and gentle with her, even during their dancing sessions.

In summary, the song Sweet and Gentle by Georgia Gibbs talks about the transformative power of music and dance, giving a story about how a gentle girl transformed into a dancing cucaracha through the Cha Cha dance. Gibbs' narrative in this song echoes the essence of how music can change people's perceptions and how it can affect their lives profoundly.

Line by Line Meaning

I was sweet and gentle
She used to be sweet and gentle

Kind of sentimental
Somewhat emotionally expressive

No one will deny it
It is undeniable

I was once so quiet
She used to be quite calm

And then one magic night
But then one special night

I learned to do the Cha Cha
She learned to dance the Cha Cha

And now I'll never be the same
After that, she changed forever

For I have turned into
She has transformed into

A dancing cucaracha
A dancing cockroach

And my muchacho is to blame
Her partner is responsible for this change

How can I be gentle
She wonders how she can still be gentle