AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Les Brown and his Orchestra

Artist:Les Brown and his Orchestra f/Betty Bonney
Song:Joltin' Joe DiMaggio
Album:Baseball: Original Soundtrack Recording





Here's a great novelty song that was a 1941 hit for bandleader Les Brown. Most baseball fans have probably heard Joltin' Joe DiMaggio but don't know the song's history. This was very early in Les Brown's recording career. The band would become a much bigger deal a few years later when Doris Day was the lead singer. Of course the inspiration for this song was when New York Yankees outfielder Joe DiMaggio went on a 56 game hitting streak. New York disc jockey Alan Courtney wanted to write a song about DiMaggio and he asked Brown to help him. It was Courtney's first attempt at songwriting though he subsequently wrote a few other songs. Courtney wrote the lyrics and the music was written by Ben Homer who also wrote Brown's biggest hit Sentimental Journey. The singer is Betty Bonney. She appeared on several other songs for Brown until she left to go solo and was replaced by Doris Day. She ended up doing a lot of regional stage work. Joltin' Joe DiMaggio reached #16 on the hit parade. But the song is still popular today with baseball fans. You can get it on the soundtrack of the Ken Burns documentary series Baseball. Like I said, this was at the start of a long string of hits for Brown. After much success as a songwriter, Ben Homer quit the music business in the 50s and became a Jehovah's Witness minister. Here's a video for Joltin' Joe DiMaggio by Les Brown and his Orchestra featuring Betty Bonney.