Hellzapoppin' Lindy Hoppin' - the Harlem Congaroos & Slim Gaillard, too

October 11, 2013 12:11 PM

Slim Gaillard & Slam Stewart with The Harlem Congaroos is a clip from Hellzapoppin'.
Just as swingingly and athletically thereafter, The Congaroo Dancers, a Whitey's Lindy Hoppers joint, appeared in Duke Ellington and His Orchestra with the Congaroo Dancers - Hot Chocolate, also know as the Cottontail Soundie.
And, on a side note, Slim Gaillard & His Trio - Chile & Beans O'Vootee and Slim Gaillard & his Orooney Dunkers - Dunkin' Bagels O Voutie Rootie are from Slim Gaillard and his Trio - The Music Album aka O'Voutie O'Rooney.

See also Slim Gaillard - Cement Mixer (Putti Putti).

Famous for his jive, Slim Gaillard was quite the entertainer well acquainted with the bigger beboppers of his time: see also Slim Gaillard and His Orchestra - Slim's Jam

From On The Road by Jack Kerouac: 'Nobody knows where Slim Gaillard is'

To square the Congaroo circle twice betwixt Slim and Duke: Slim Gaillard - Take The A Train

Podtastic for the on the goroonie: from Open Source Music, we have Hit That Jive Jack: The Slim Gaillard Story on Selvin On The City

Upon Review: Previously, empath hopped on Hellzapoppin' and turbodog dug Slim Gaillard. Here, I share, among other information and enhancements, Hellzapoppin' and O'Voutie O'Rooney in their entirety.

posted by y2karl (8 comments total)

Hellzapoppin is quite the experience. It's basically a big-screen variety show, with sketches, dancing, and music connected by vaudeville-style gags and, of interest because we think we made this up, meta-jokes about the entire enterprise. It feels both irretrievably retro and modern at the same time.
posted by dhartung at 12:30 PM on October 11, 2013

No Slim Gaillard post would be complete (or definitely less comprehensible) without the Vout-O-Reenee Dictionary
posted by Perko at 1:02 PM on October 11, 2013 [2 favorites]

It's hard to think of a time when music was just so damn happy!(that first Hellzapoppin' clip. OMG, the dancing!)
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 3:26 PM on October 11, 2013

Slim Gaillard is tons of fun!

Matzahballs...Matzaballs-a-rooney!
Gefilte fish...Gefiltefish-a-vootey
Lox-a-rooney...Lox-a-rooney!
Dunkin' bagel
Dunkin' bagel
Dunkin' bagel
SPLASH in the coffee!
posted by delicious-luncheon at 4:25 PM on October 11, 2013 [2 favorites]

That first link is over the top awesome ... so much joy.
posted by dougzilla at 5:45 PM on October 11, 2013

this is great! thanks for the post!
posted by aka burlap at 5:53 PM on October 11, 2013

Hellzapoppin is quite the experience... It feels both irretrievably retro and modern at the same time.

And located at the corner of postmodern and postcolonial.

See also

"For Hellzapoppin', I started from the beginning of "Jumpin' at the Woodside" and worked with about sixteen bars at a time, choreographing both the solos and the ensemble section as we went along. (Basie used to stay at the Woodside Hotel on 142nd Street when he played at the Savoy, and some of the jam sessions there inspired the song). I hate to keep saying I choreographed this and I choreographed that because it makes me seem egotistical, but for Hellzapoppin' I set up a routine for each team"
. . .
"By the second day, the musical director at Universal started sitting in on rehearsals to listen to the music and watch us dance. His job was to create a composition for our number so the studio wouldn't have to get permission to use Count Basie's song."

-- Exсerpt from "Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop"

In 1929, "Shorty George" Snowden, who allegedly named the dance the Lindy Hop, and his partner, performed the first Lindy Hop on film starting at 1:24 of After Seben.

And, from 1937, here are Shorty George and Big Bea.

And, also from 1937, here is another appearance of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers in A Day at the Races.

As noted at Savoy Swing: This scene, like the Lindy Hop sequence in Hellzapoppin',has no connection to the main plot of the movie, so that it could be cut from the film when it was shown in the Deep South and other segregated venues.

Well, sometimes you don't need a licensed semiotician to know which way the wind blows.
posted by y2karl at 1:48 AM on October 12, 2013 [2 favorites]

He was one froody duderooni, that's for sure.
posted by BungaDunga at 1:43 PM on October 12, 2013