83. 15 January 1921
Original Dixieland Jazz Band
Palesteena
Written by Con Conrad & Joseph Russel Robinson
No.2 for 4 weeks
No.1 at the time Art Hickman’s Orchestra – Avalon & Gene Rodemich’s Orchestra – Margie
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band spent four weeks at no.2 with Palesteena also known as Lena from Palesteena. It was composed as an instrumental by Joseph Russel Robinson who was the pianist of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band who had replaced original member Henry Ragas after he had died of influenza in the 1918 flu pandemic. Lyrics were added afterwards by Con Conrad but the band decided to keep his name as a credit on the record label as a co-composer as Eddie Cantor had also helped to popularise the song with a vocal version although this was the era of instrumentals with no fewer than five songs in the top ten played without any vocals, giving the musicians an opportunity to be the stars rather than singers. Conrad’s lyrics were about a girl from The Bronx named Lena who wasn’t very pretty and her biggest asset was that could brilliantly play one song on the concertina. She was good enough to secure a position across the sea to play for the Arabs in Palesteena. They loved her over there, even though she never got the song right, she was the queen and they wanted more of her. She was also fat, but she got learner pushing on her concertina down old Palesteena way. There was a second verse, not sung by Eddie Cantor about her friend Arabella who got involved with an Arab fella named Yusef who took her for a ride on his camel but actually it appeared he was only interested in Arabella in order to get close to Lena and hear her play. This was in an era when songs about Mammy and life on the plantations were becoming unacceptable, but it was perfectly fine to mock Arab culture in this way.
84. 1 April 1921
Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra
I Never Knew (I Could Love Anybody Like I’m Loving You)
Written by Raymond B Egan, Roy Marsh, Tom Pitts & Earl Burtnett
No.2 for 1 week
No.1 at the time Paul Whiteman – Bright Eyes
When Paul Whiteman moved into the number two position in April 1921, with I Never Knew (I Could Love Anybody Like I’m Loving You) he was also at no.1 that week with Bright Eyes and also was dominating the bi-weekly charts with songs at no.3, no.7 and no.9. I Never Knew was slightly different to his previous hits as it was also a medley, spliced together with another unrelated but similar song Do You Ever Think Of Me? Which had been written by Earl Burtnett but unlike previous medleys, the companion song was on the other side of the record, giving both songs a full three minutes of playing time. The musicians featured on this hit included Hale Byers and Ross Gorman on saxophones, Mike Pingatore on banjo, Harold McDonald on drums, Ferde Grofé on piano, Sam Lewis on trombone, Henry Busse on trumpet and Sammy Heiss on Tuba, none of whom were credited except Whiteman himself who as well as leading and conducting the orchestra, played the viola on both songs. Once again, it was Eddie Cantor who recorded a vocal version with lyrics that said, I never knew I could love anybody honey like I’m lovin’ you, I couldn’t realise what a pair of eyes and a baby smile could do, I can’t sleep I can’t eat I never knew a single soul could be so sweet, for I never knew I could love anybody honey like I’m lovin’ you.
85. 1 June 1921
Nora Bayes
Make Believe
Written by Jack Shilkret & Benny Davis
No.2 for 3 weeks
No.1 at the time Paul Whiteman – My Mammy & Van & Schenck – Aint We Got Fun
Nora Bayes continued her run of solo hit singles, not composed by either herself or her husband Jack Norworth with the song Make Believe and like Marion Harris with her hit Look For The Silver Lining, she was looking on the bright side of life, but her advice was that if you should find yourself sad and blue, if something is wrong and you don’t know what to do, just make believe that everything’s all right and soon it all will be after all, smile though your heart may be broken, don’t grieve just make believe. The song takes the same style as Eddie Cantor’s Margie with Nora Bayes speaking rather than singing one of the verses, as if her advice might carry more weight that way. When you think your luck is bad and you’re feeling mighty sad, put all your cares and troubles far behind, keep on smiling that’s the way and remember what I say, perfect happiness is just your state of mind, don’t be grouchy what’s the use though your lonesome its abuse, just because you think you’ve lost your bosom friend, if you’ve been to one at all why you’re not worth a pinch of salt, if you cannot ask forgiveness in the end, never worry never frown when another turns you down, don’t you know that all things happen for the best, for your better off by far, makes no difference who you are, when you lose the friends who couldn’t stand the test, so remember what I say it’s the smile that wins the day, when you have a life ambition to achieve, don’t grieve just make believe. There were indeed, a lot of unhappy people in the early 1920s having lived through a devastating war and this song may not have helped. But it did sell a lot of copies.
86. 15 July 1921
Billy Jones
Peggy O Neill
Written by Ed Nelson, Gilbert Dodge & Harry Pease
No.2 for 3 weeks
No.1 at the time Van & Schenck – Aint We Got Fun & Ted Lewis – All By Myself
Billy Jones partner in the Happiness Boys Ernest Hare had already achieved a solo number three single in February with Old Pal Why Don’t You Answer Me and Jones went one better to no.2 with his first solo hit Peggy O Neill. He was born William Reese Jones in New York City in 1889 and was therefore six years younger than his comedy partner. It is unknown whether Billy Jones had any Irish ancestry but the song Peggy O Neill was as Irish as one could wish for, stating that Peggy O’Neill is a girl who could steal any heart anywhere any time, and I’ll put you wise how you’ll recognise this wonderful girl of mine, if her eyes are blue as skies why that’s Peggy O’Neill, if she’s smiling all the while that’s Peggy O’Neill, if she walks like a sly little rogue and if she talks with a cute little brogue, sweet personality full of rascality that’s Peggy O’Neill, everything’s planned for a wedding so grand in the spring I will bring her the ring, then somewhere in town we’ll both settle down and all through the day I’ll sing. He then launched into one of the fastest choruses to date, Annie Rooney set a fellow looney but a million fellows now are feeling spoony, when they meet Peggy O’Neill Molly O was never never slow but I want you to know she couldn’t make a show, along o’ Sweet Peggy O’Neill Rose O’Grady was a perfect lady, with a simple winning baby smile, Peggy isn’t simple that is why she has the other girlies beat a mile, so if you meet a girl who’s sweeter than Bedelia and you feel you want to say I’d like to steal yer, that’s Peggy O’Neill.
87. 1 September 1921
Aileen Stanley
My Man (Mon Homme)
Written by Channing Pollock & Maurice Yvain
No.2 for 3 weeks
No.1 at the time Ted Lewis – All By Myself
My Man began as a French song Mon Homme, originally by Mistinguett and already an instrumental hit by Paul Whiteman and recorded onto disc as a vocal version first by Fanny Brice but her version was beaten in the bi-weekly charts by Aileen Stanley, born Maude Elsie Aileen Muggeridge in Chicago, Illinois in 1893. Where Whiteman had performed the song as a fox-trot, Fanny Brice reverted to the original blues tempo which was made for listening and crying rather than dancing and she sadly poured her heart out, and would hit the charts for the only time in March 1922 with the English language version, giving a musical credit to the composer Maurice Yvain and English lyrics by Channing Pollock, not mentioning the original French lyricists Jacques Charles and Albert Willemetz. She sang I got a beau I want the world to know that I love him, and that fires up my heart and I love him, it seems when he’s near all my troubles disappear I love him, I’m please to say he’s crazy over me and I love him, and there’s nothing more to say, oh there never was a man just like my man, never was another man talk like he can, in the morning in my plan he’ll always be my man, oh I never knew that he could be so sweet, he really swept me off my feet, everybody envies me when they see me with my man. These lyrics were completely different to the abusive man that almost every other version of the song had where the women who sang it, sang of a man who cheats on her, beats her and even though she says she’s leaving, it makes no difference because she knows she’ll come back on her knees someday for whatever her man is, she loves him and she is his forever more.
The pop music charts 