As a vocalist, Maxine Sullivan was active for half a century, from the mid-1930s to just before her death in 1987. She is best known for her 1937 recording of a swing version of the Scottish folk song "Loch Lomond". Throughout her career, Sullivan also appeared as a performer on film as well as on stage. A precursor to better-known later vocalists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan, Maxine Sullivan is considered one of the best jazz vocalists of the 1930s.
Maxine Sullivan was born in Homestead, Pennsylvania in 1911. Sullivan began her music career singing in her uncle's band, The Red Hot Peppers, in her native Pennsylvania, in which she occasionally played the flugelhorn and the valve trombone, in addition to singing. In the mid-1930s she was discovered by Gladys Mosier (then working in Ina Rae Hutton's big band). Mosier introduced her to Claude Thornhill, which led to her first recordings made in June of 1937. Shorty thereafter, Sullivan became a featured vocalist at the Onyx Club in New York. During this period, she began forming a professional and close personal relationship with bassist John Kirby, to whom she was married from 1938 to 1941.
Early sessions with Kirby in 1937 yielded a hit recording of a swing version of the Scottish folk song "Loch Lomond" featuring Sullivan on vocals. This early success "branded" Sullivan's style, leading her to sing similar swing arrangements of traditional folk tunes mostly arranged by pianist Claude Thornhill, such as "Darling Nellie Gray", "I Dream of Jeanie", "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes", and "If I Had a Ribbon Bow". Her early popularity also led to a brief appearance in the movie Going Places opposite Louis Armstrong. In 1940, Sullivan and Kirby were featured on the radio program Flow Gently Sweet Rhythm, making them the first black jazz stars to have their own weekly radio series. From 1940-1942, Sullivan often performed with her husband Kirby's sextet. During the 1940s Sullivan then performed with a wide range of bands, including those of Teddy Wilson, Benny Carter, and Jimmie Lunceford. Sullivan also performed at many of New York's hottest jazz spots such as the Ruban Bleu, the Village Vanguard, the Blue Angel, and the Penthouse.
In 1956, Sullivan shifted away from her earlier style and recorded the album A Tribute to Andy Razaf. Originally on the Period record label, A Tribute to Andy Razaf featured Sullivan's interpretations of a dozen tunes featuring the lyrics of the poet and lyricist Andy Razaf. The album also highlighted the music of Fats Waller, including versions of "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now", "How Can you Face Me?", "My Fate is in Your Hands", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'", and "Blue Turning Grey Over You". Sullivan was joined by a sextet that was reminiscent of John Kirby's group of 15 years prior, including trumpeter Charlie Shavers and clarinetist Buster Bailey. In 1953 Sullivan starred in the play, Take a Giant Step.
From 1958 to 1966, Sullivan began working as a nurse and raising her children, which largely consumed most of her time. Her music career did not reassert itself until 1966, when she began performing in jazz festivals alongside her new husband, Cliff Jackson, who can be heard on the 1966 live recording of Sullivan's performance at the Manassas Jazz Festival.
Sullivan continued to perform throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and produced an output of recordings during the 1980s despite being over 70 years old. She was nominated for the 1979 Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in My Old Friends. She participated in a documentary film portrait, Maxine Sullivan: Love to Be in Love, shortly before her death.
Maxine Sullivan died in 1987 in New York. She was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998.
Mad About the Boy
Maxine Sullivan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I know it's stupid to be mad about the boy
I'm so ashamed of it but must admit
The sleepless nights I've had about the boy
On the silver screen
He melts my foolish heart in every single scene
Although I'm quite aware that here and there
Lord knows I'm not a fool girl
I really shouldn't care
Lord knows I'm not a school girl
In the fury of her first affair
Will it ever cloy
This odd diversity of misery and joy?
I'm feeling quite insane and young again
And all because I'm mad about the boy
So if I could employ
A little magic that will finally destroy
This dream that pains me and enchains me
But I can't because I'm mad, I'm mad about the boy
Maxine Sullivan's song "Mad About the Boy" is a soulful and melancholic ode to a man who has captured the singer's heart. In the opening lines, Sullivan states that it is "stupid" to be mad about the boy, implying that the infatuation is irrational and perhaps unwarranted. However, despite her awareness of the folly of her feelings, Sullivan cannot help but admit to the "sleepless nights" that he has caused her. As she observes his performances on the silver screen, she acknowledges that he is not without flaws, but his charm and charisma are nonetheless powerful enough to captivate her heart.
The song's chorus captures the contradiction and complexity of the emotion Sullivan is grappling with. She notes that, while she is not a "fool girl" or a "school girl," she cannot help but feel consumed by her feelings for this man. The emotion is a mixture of "misery and joy," and Sullivan acknowledges that she feels "quite insane and young again" as a result. In the final verse, Sullivan expresses a desire to be free of this infatuation, but she acknowledges that she cannot because she is simply "mad about the boy."
Line by Line Meaning
Mad about the boy
I am completely infatuated with this man.
I know it's stupid to be mad about the boy
I am aware that my feelings are irrational.
I'm so ashamed of it but must admit
I am embarrassed by my feelings, but cannot deny them.
The sleepless nights I've had about the boy
I cannot sleep, as I am consumed by thoughts of this man.
On the silver screen
In movies.
He melts my foolish heart in every single scene
My heart is completely taken by this man whenever I see him on screen.
Although I'm quite aware that here and there
While I do acknowledge that sometimes, he is not so admirable.
Are traces of the cad, about the boy
He can also be unscrupulous.
Lord knows I'm not a fool girl
I am not inexperienced.
I really shouldn't care
I absolutely should not be allowing myself to feel like this.
Lord knows I'm not a school girl
I am not a naive child.
In the fury of her first affair
But I feel like a teenager in the throes of her first relationship.
Will it ever cloy
Will my love for him ever diminish?
This odd diversity of misery and joy?
It is strange to be both happy and sad at the same time.
I'm feeling quite insane and young again
I feel crazy and as if I am a young girl once more.
And all because I'm mad about the boy
All of this is happening because I am so infatuated with him.
So if I could employ
If I had the chance to do so.
A little magic that will finally destroy
If I could rid myself of these feelings completely.
This dream that pains me and enchains me
This reverie that causes me both emotional and physical upset.
But I can't because I'm mad, I'm mad about the boy
Unfortunately, I cannot let go of these feelings because I am so enamored with him.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Noel Coward
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
guitaress1
Thanks for posting. Maxine Sullivan is one of my favorite singers and this is an interesting arrangement with the strings and harp.
Sofia Grande
the accomp is incredible, so abstract and atonic, fantastic!!
MrDEMcT
Thanks for the recording date, Frank(ly). It's a Noel Coward tune from 1932.
Mark Thompson
6 years before Dinah Washington's "definitive" version, yet here are shades and nuances all of her very own. Maxine Sullivan has been overshadowed because she never, ever blared. Her performances were always understated. You have to go to her, if you like, and her renditions are there, to pull at the heartstrings of those with a keen enough ear. "Folks who live on the Hill" never fails to do me in, and I've listened to it hundreds of times.
Juan Fecit
Muchas gracias por compartirlo.
p y r u v i c a c . i d
I thought the first version dates back to the early thirties but i like this version though
dizzyspell
the accompaniment is a bit off, check out Dinah Washington's version--better IMO