Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr. was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, and started out only 16 years later in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with big band leader Russ Morgan in the famous pick-up band of the 1920s "The Scranton Sirens".
Tommy and his brother Jimmy worked in several bands, including those of Rudy Vallee, Vincent Lopez, and especially Paul Whiteman, before forming the original Dorsey Brothers Orchestra in 1934. Ongoing acrimony between the brothers, however, led to Tommy Dorsey's walking out to form his own band in 1935, just as the Orchestra was having a hit with "Every Little Moment."
Tommy Dorsey's first band formed out of the remnant of the Joe Haymes band, and his smooth, lyrical trombone style – whether on ballads or on no-holds-barred swingers – became one of the signature sounds of both his band and the Swing Era. The new band hit from almost the moment it signed with RCA Victor with "On Treasure Island", the first of four hits for the new band that year. That led to a run of 137 Billboard chart hits, including his theme song, "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" (which showcases his phenomenal range and masterful mute use, reaching up to the high C #), "Marie", "The Big Apple", "Music, Maestro, Please", "I'll Never Smile Again", "This Love of Mine", "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "T.D.'s Boogie Woogie", "Well, Git 'It", "Opus One", "Manhattan Serenade", and "There Are Such Things" – among many others.
The band featured a number of the best instrumentalists in jazz at the time, including trumpeters Bunny Berigan, Ziggy Elman, George Seaberg, Carl "Doc" Severinsen, and Charlie Shavers, pianist Jess Stacy, trumpeter/arranger/composer Sy Oliver (who wrote "Well, Git 'It" and "Opus One"), clarinetists Buddy DeFranco, Johnny Mince and Peanuts Hucko drummers Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson, Gene Krupa and Dave Tough and singers Jack Leonard, Edythe Wright, Jo Stafford, Dick Haymes and Frank Sinatra. Sinatra achieved his first great success as a vocalist in the Dorsey band and claimed he learned breath control from watching Dorsey play trombone. Dorsey said his trombone style was heavily influenced by that of Jack Teagarden. Another member of the Dorsey band probably spent considerable time observing and listening to Sy Oliver's striking arrangements: trombonist Nelson Riddle, whose later partnership as Sinatra's major arranger and conductor is considered to have revolutionised post-World War II popular music.
Dorsey might have broken up his own band permanently following World War II, as many big bands did due to the shift in music economics following the war, and he did disband the orchestra at the end of 1946. But a top-ten selling album (All-Time Hits) made it possible for Dorsey to re-organise a big band in early 1947.
The biographical film of 1947, "The Fabulous Dorseys" describes sketchy details of how the brothers got their start from-the-bottom-up into the jazz era of one-nighters, the early days of radio in its infancy stages, and the onward march when both brothers ended up with Paul Whiteman before 1935 when The Dorsey Brothers' Orchestra split into two.
The Dorsey brothers themselves later reconciled – Jimmy Dorsey had had to break up his own highly successful big band in 1953, and brother Tommy invited him to join up as a feature attraction – but before long Tommy renamed the band the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra. On December 26, 1953, the brothers appeared with their orchestra on Jackie Gleason's CBS television show, which was preserved on kinescope and later released on home video by Gleason. The brothers took the unit on tour and onto their own television show, Stage Show, from 1954 to 1956, on which they introduced Elvis Presley to national television audiences, among others.
The Dipsy Doodle
Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The dipsy doodle will get in your hair
And if it gets you, it couldn't be worse
The things you say will come out in reverse
Like "You love I and me love you!"
That's the way the dipsy doodle works.
You can't eat, you can't sleep. You go crazy.
You're just a victim of the dipsy doodle
It's your heart that's at fault - not your noodle.
You better listen and try to be good
And try to do all the things that you should
The dipsy doodle will get you some day
And when it gets you the things you will say
Like the moon jumped over the cow - hey diddle!
That's the way the dipsy doodle works.
In Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra feat. Edythe Wright's song, The Dipsy Doodle, the lyrics describe a whimsical and seemingly harmless dance, but with a warning of its potential dangers. The "dipsy doodle" is a metaphor for a state of mind that takes control and makes the person act erratically. Once it takes hold, the victim cannot speak or think coherently, and ideas become a jumble of words and phrases that don't make sense. The lyrics emphasize that the "dipsy doodle" is not a physical illness, but rather a condition of the heart. It is something that one cannot control, and it takes over one's thoughts and actions.
The song also encourages the listener to try to resist the "dipsy doodle" and to do the right thing to avoid its pitfalls. The lyrics suggest that the only way to avoid the "dipsy doodle" is to listen and be good and to live a healthy, responsible life. The song portrays the "dipsy doodle" as a tempting but dangerous force, and it warns that it could happen to anyone.
Line by Line Meaning
The dipsy doodle is the thing to beware
Be careful of the dipsy doodle
The dipsy doodle will get in your hair
It will confuse you
And if it gets you, it couldn't be worse
It will be bad if you fall for it
The things you say will come out in reverse
You will say things in the opposite way
Like "You love I and me love you!"
For example, saying "You love I and me love you!"
That's the way the dipsy doodle works.
That's just how it is
You can't eat, you can't sleep. You go crazy.
You will feel crazy and unable to eat or sleep
You're just a victim of the dipsy doodle
You are a prisoner to the dipsy doodle
And it's not your mind that's hazy
Your mind isn't the problem
It's your heart that's at fault - not your noodle.
Your heart is responsible, not your mind
You better listen and try to be good
Pay attention and behave well
And try to do all the things that you should
Do the right things
The dipsy doodle will get you some day
You will fall for the dipsy doodle eventually
And when it gets you the things you will say
When you fall for it, you will say things
Like the moon jumped over the cow - hey diddle!
Such as "the moon jumped over the cow - hey diddle!"
That's the way the dipsy doodle works.
That's just how it is
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kartikeyajuneja4925
I cannot stop listening to this song and the great Tommy Dorsey!
@richardyancy2903
Otis Campbell sent me
@Novatogal1
Me too!
@troyglaus7029
How many are here from Mayberry? Did Otis send you?
@johncox8938
Otis Campbell "I came to fill my vase."
@arthurwild5734
He sure did!
@scotnick59
@@arthurwild5734 Hahaha
@BladeRunner25463c
Otis was so dang drunk he peed in that vase and Aunt Bee dumped it on him
@thestytch
lol, exactly why I just went looking for it
@craig101.2
man im glad you're back! its such a shame you're original channel got taken down. half of my playlist had you're uploads in it. but im thankfull that you're back and i hope that your channel continues to stay up!