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May Song Of The Month: The Shiek Of Araby
May's song is one of my favorite up-tempo tunes to call. My trio does it in Bflat, which provides a great break in the set from all those GJ standards in G, D and C. It was written in 1921 by Harry B. Smith & Francis Wheeler, with the music composed by Ted Snyder. Evidently the writers wanted to call it The Rose Of Araby, but when the Rudolph Valentino movie The Shiek emerged and was such a hit, they changed the name to ride the waves of popularity. The first notable recording was by Ray Miller in 1922. Even the Beatles covered it. Some bands pair it up with When You're Smiling. My favorite Django version is from 1937, here's a link to this driving classic:
I'll post my chart separately.
Comments
My favorite version besides the one above. Not only because of Tchavolo's playing and the fantastic old school rhythm (with Gogo Berbedes and Hono Winterstein, who also are part of the band on that sensational "Kali Sara/Tchavolo Swing" recording in the "Latcho Drom" movie https://youtu.be/2OH18sYPQO0) but also because it contains what you don't hear every day in gypsy jazz: a bass solo (by Laurent Gauthier).
Nice Willie. I like the slowed down form as an intro. Here's the chart we use--
Also one by Tchan Tchou Vidal
Usually I loathe GJ played on nylon string guitars, but I'll make exception for Sandro who gets a good sound somehow!
A killer version of this tune is on Entre Amis (2005) but I could not find it anywhere on youtube, so I've uploaded it myself..
What I like is that they play that minor verse as an intro, almost nobody plays it or even knows it exists. My band back in Melbourne used to play this verse but I don't think I've met anyone else who does it. We also like to shout "with no pants on" , if you know you know...
For reference the earliest recording I could find (1921):
And this may be the closest The Beatles got to Django too...
Does anybody have the chords for the minor verse/intro?
Decided to just figure it out myself:
Bbm Bbm Gb7 F7 | Bbm - - - | Bbm Bbm Gb7 F7 | Bbm - - - |
Ebm - - - | Ebm - - - | Ebm - - - | F - - - |
Bbm Bbm Gb7 F7 | Bbm - - - | C7 - - - | F7 - - - |