Joe Marsala (January 4, 1907 – March 4, 1978) was an Italian-American jazz … Read Full Bio ↴Joe Marsala (January 4, 1907 – March 4, 1978) was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist and songwriter, born and based in Chicago. He was active during the big band era. Marsala is notable as one of the early employers of drummer Buddy Rich. Among his other musicians included pianist Joe Bushkin and guitarist Jack Lemaire, Carmen Mastren. Leonard Feather, among others, gives him a good deal of credit for breaking down race segregation in jazz.

Marsala's own playing was rich and graceful, owing a lot to Jimmie Noone. Although usually thought of as a "dixielander" along with Eddie Condon, Marsala was more adventurous: in the 1940s he used Dizzy Gillespie on a recording session, for instance.

That said, he did have some difficulties adjusting to the bebop era and other clarinetists also found their skills less in demand. By 1949 he partly switched to writing songs in the genre now called classic pop. He did this primarily for Frank Sinatra and Patti Page. Among these songs was the hit Don't Cry, Joe (Let Her Go, Let Her Go, Let Her Go), which led friends to the unfounded fear his marriage to Adele Girard was over. He also wrote And So to Sleep Again for Patti Page.

According to his wife, Adele, Joe Marsala also suffered from chronic colitis and was unable to drink alcohol. He died in Santa Barbara, California.

On the Alamo
Joe Marsala Lyrics

We have lyrics for 'On the Alamo' by these artists:

Al Cohn - Zoot Sims Quintet Where the moon swings low On the Alamo, In a garden fair…
Alvino Rey & His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
Art Van Damme Where the moon swings low On the Alamo, In a garden fair…
Benny Carter & His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
Benny Goodman / Edmond Hall Where the moon swings low On the Alamo, In a garden fair…
Bert Kaempfert And His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
Betty Carter Where the moon swings low On the Alamo, In a garden fair…
Bing Crosby Where the moon swings low On the Alamo, In a garden fair…
Bob Crosby and his Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…

Clark Terry Where the moon swings low On the Alamo, In a garden fair…
Claude Hopkins and His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
Dizzy Gillespie Where the moon swings low On the Alamo, In a garden fair…
Dizzy Gillespie & Johnny Richards and His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
Eddie Heywood and His Orchestra Lonely through the long weary day, Lonely in the gloaming…
Georgie Auld And His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
Gus Kahn Lonely through the long weary day, Lonely in the gloaming…
Harry James & His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
Isham Jones Lonely through the long weary day, Lonely in the gloaming…
Isham Jones Orchestra Lonely through the long weary day, Lonely in the gloaming…
Jack Parnell & His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
Jo Stafford Where the moon swings low on the Alamo In a garden…
Jo Stafford with Paul Weston and His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
Jones Lonely through the long weary day, Lonely in the gloaming…
Les Brown & His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
Roy Eldridge Dizzy Gillespie Clark Terry Where the moon swings low On the Alamo, In a garden fair…
Stan Getz & His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
T.N.T. Tribble My war buds and I Spend our long nights Swapping stories of…
Tex Beneke & His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
The Al Cohn & Zoot Sims Quintet Where the moon swings low On the Alamo, In a garden fair…
The Hi-Lo's Bonito el mes de las madres, el Álamo que es…
Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra Across the alley from the Alamo Lived a pinto pony and…
Toots Thielemans Where the moon swings low On the Alamo, In a garden fair…
V.A. My war buds and I Spend our long nights Swapping stories of…
Wild Bill Davison Where the moon swings low On the Alamo, In a garden fair…

We have lyrics for these tracks by Joe Marsala:

Cherokee Sweet Indian maiden, since first I met you, I can't…
East of the Sun East of the sun and west of the moon We'll build…
Tiger Rag Where's that tiger! Where's that tiger! Where's that tiger!…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

TRACKS