Anita O'Day: Just a Little Bit South of North Carolina

Track

Just a Little Bit South of North Carolina

Group

Gene Krupa Orchestra

CD

Let Me Off Uptown: The Best of Anita O'Day (Columbia/Legacy 65625)

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Musicians:

Anita O'Day (vocals), Gene Krupa (drums),

Norman Murphy, Torg Halten, Graham Young, Shorty Sherock (trumpets), Pat Virgademo, Jay Kelliher, Babe Wagner (trombones), Clint Neagley, Mascagni “Musky” Ruffo (alto saxes), Walter Bates (tenor sax), Sam Musiker (clarinet, tenor sax), Bob Kitsis (piano), Ray Biondi (guitar), Ovid “Biddy” Bastien (bass)

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Composed by Sunny Skylar, Bette Cannon & Arthur Shaftel

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Recorded: New York, March 19, 1941

Albumcoveranitaoday-genekrupa-letmeoffuptown

Rating: 88/100 (learn more)

Just a Little Bit South of North Carolina For a 60-mile stretch along North Carolina's southwest border, going a little bit south puts you in Georgia. Anita O'Day, however, leaves no doubt she's pining for South Carolina, where paradise awaits. This perky, pleasant track illustrates how close to the tree Gene Krupa fell when he left Benny Goodman to form his own band, which resembles a worthy edition of B.G.'s ensemble, right down to Sam Musiker's Goodman-styled clarinet solo. (Talk about being born into one's occupation: Musiker is German for musician!)

While just a little bit south of a Swing Era classic, this track is nonetheless cheerfully representative.

Reviewer: Alan Kurtz

Tags: ·

  • 1 dada head // Jul 06, 2008 at 11:02 PM
    what a cool number
  • 2 Tom Strider // Jan 24, 2009 at 04:44 PM
    I believe Betty Cannon wrote the lyrics.
  • 3 Alan Kurtz // Jan 28, 2009 at 09:58 AM
    Thanks, Mr. Tom Strider, for pointing out my inadvertent omission of Miss Bette Cannon as co-writer. I have now added her name to the credits above. Incidentally, to confirm the spelling, I located the 1941-vintage sheet music (shown above), which when blown up really big and squinted at really hard with Bette Davis eyes reveals her name to be Bette.