Saturday, April 28, 2007

Boswell Sisters: Heebie Jeebies

Here is a great clip from 1932 with the Boswell Sisters singing Heebie Jeebies.



The clip is from the movie The Big Broadcast. The Boswell Sisters were Connee, Martha and Vet.

The origin of the expression Heebie Jeebies is explained here. In the song they mention the "Heebie Jeebie dance", does anyone know if this was an actual dance or purely fictional? If you got some information, please tell me.

What do you think of this video clip with Boswell Sisters singing Heebie Jeebies? Tell me.

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5 comments:

  1. Amiene RevApril 29, 2007 at 2:59 AM

    hebi mean snake in japanese.

    but i wonder what jeebi mean?

    but i remember about jeeper creepers.

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  2. AnonymousMay 4, 2007 at 4:32 PM

    There was an actual dance called Heebie-Jeebies. It’s mentioned in an article in the swedish magazine Charme (#12 1927 pp.18-19): ”..Ingen Charleston längre. På det flottare dansställena i Paris dansas ej Charleston. Inte ens Black Bottom. Man dansar Heebie-Jeebies och New Washington blues, Budapest och Camel Stride..” // “..Heebie-Jeebies ser riktigt trevligt ut” // ”..De utförde en boston och en slags Heebie-Jeebies (en dans som i förbigående sagt påminner mycket om Charleston, men är totalt befriad från dessa bryska och groteska rörelser, som gjort den impopulär bland omdömesgillt folk) och jag måste erkänna, att denna form av dans var något helt annat än det löjliga och oestetiska negersprattel, som hittills dominerat på alla danslokaler. Heebie-Jeebies är en mycket harmonisk och graciös dans och bör utföras med smidighet och mjukhet mera än med niggerhumör och excentricitet”... Unfortunately I can’t find any more information, but I’ll try to remember to bring a copy of the article on Tuesday – have a nice weekend! : )

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  3. HenrikMay 6, 2007 at 1:35 PM

    Thank you for the info Veronika, I'm looking forward to that article.

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  4. AnonymousAugust 4, 2010 at 10:11 PM

    The term heebie-jeebies came from an American comic strip, "Barney Google". It was a slang term for being uneasy or nervous. The original song, Heebie Jeebies, was published by Boyd Atkins in 1926, and it included a diagram of the steps to the dance. Louis Armstrong did a very successful recording of the song in 1926. Connee Boswell heard it, liked it, and the Boswell Sisters rearranged it to suit their own style. They recorded it twice, and used it all the time in performance. They called it their "lucky song".

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  5. AnonymousMarch 10, 2011 at 8:40 PM

    Heebie Jeebies was first mentioned in Louis Armstrong's song.

    ReplyDelete