Old Yazoo
Old Yazoo is a 1932 song written by Fats Waller[1] and released by the Boswell Sisters. This song burst in popularity in 2024, when it was included in the horror game Bad Parenting. Since Bad Parenting received mass success on YouTube, Old Yazoo showed noticeable spikes in popularity.[2]
| "Old Yazoo" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Boswell Sisters | |
| Released | August 8 1932 |
| Genre | Jazz, Holiday |
| Length | 3:06 |
| Songwriter(s) | Fats Waller |
Composition
[edit]The song highlights characteristic features of Boswell arrangements: tempo changes, choruses in minor keys, and subtle changes of chord structure and melodic lines.[3] Other than that, this song simply uses the same instruments that the Boswell Sisters use in other songs.
Versions
[edit]There have been 15 versions of Old Yazoo, 7 out of the 15 were either released in 1932 or 2008.
1932 versions
[edit]- Cab Calloway and his Orchestra (October)
- Waring's Pennsylvanians - Vocal Refrain by Frank Zullo and Chorus
- The Boswell Sisters
- Baron Lee and his Blue Rhythm Boys - Vocal by Billy Banks
2008 versions
[edit]- The Pfister Sisters (April 23)
- Fred Sokolow (October)
- The Hunger Mountain Boys
Other versions
[edit]- Washboard Rhythm Kings - Vocal Chorus by Steve Washington (1933)
- W. Lee O'Daniel and His Hillbilly Boys (May 1939)
- Swing Sisters & The Pasadena Roof Orchestra (1994)
- Guy's All-Star Shoe Band with Guest Garrison Keillor (1996)
- Tom Baker & Bob Barnard (1997)
- Hal Smith's Rhythmakers featuring Rebecca Kilgore (August 10 1999)
- Royal Society Jazz Orchestra (2002)
- Neville Dickie (2003)[4]
Bad Parenting 1: Mr. Red Face
[edit]Bad Parenting 1: Mr. Red Face is an indie horror game released on August 18, 2024 by 2oo2 Studio. This game blew up online, being played by popular content creators such as IShowSpeed, CaseOh, and Kubz Scouts. This is relevant to Old Yazoo because this song plays on the game's menu screen, which resulted in a new found popularity for this song. Old Yazoo became the most streamed song from the Boswell Sisters on Spotify, with over 1.7 million streams.
References
[edit]- ^ "Song: Old Yazoo written by Fats Waller | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
- ^ Songstats. "Old Yazoo | Track Analytics". Songstats. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
- ^ "Boswell Sisters Jukebox". www.hnoc.org. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
- ^ "Cover versions of Old Yazoo written by Fats Waller | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2024-11-11.