The Only, Only One For Me

Lowry mentions the above song in a letter to Carol Brown in June 1926. There is a suggestion that the version he is referring to was recorded by the Savoy Orpheans. I have been unable to find such a recording. It is possible that the song, which was a hit in its day, was only played on the Savoy Orpheans radio show.

I believe the original song to have been recorded by Gene Austin in 1924.The lyrics were written by Bud Green - Music by James V. Monaco & Harry Warren with a ukulele arrangment by Dick Konter.Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a copy of the song by Gene Austin to post. However, I did find a copy by Cliff Edwards from 1924:



I did discover that Josephine Baker also recorded The Only, Only One For Me which I am waiting to hear and I will post the song as soon as it arrives. In the meantime, while searching for the song, I came across these an exceptional pieces of video of Josephine Baker which was new to me called The Plantation - Les Revue Des Revues from 1927.

Gabrielle, an ambitious but innocent would-be young chorine, trumps a music hall publicity stunt to become the new Parisian nightclub Cinderella. But this lighter-than-champagne-bubbles story is only a pretext for La Revue des Revues white-hot, non-stop precession of outrageously and scantily attired exotic dancers, showgirls and acrobats. But its Josephine Baker, "the high priestess of primitivism" (J. Hoberman - Village Voice), who triumphs in two show stopping numbers in which "her clownish backfield-in-motion Charleston shimmy is unlike anything else in the movie and perhaps unlike anything anyone ever did.

Josephine Baker Haiti

I have recently received a copy of the catalogue of Edward Burra's jazz collection held in the Tate London. One of the sides which the Tate have on 78 is Josephine Baker's Haiti/C'Est Lai on Columbia. The song is from the film Zou Zou which was released in late 1934. We can only speculate whether Lowry knew the film but Lowry did travel to Haiti in 1946 - Haiti - "where what goes on is simple nature and scenery" La Mordida