“Snakes Hips”
The Georgians
(Columbia A-3864 mx 80900) March 14, 1923
“Farewell Blues”
The Georgians
(Columbia A-3864 mx 80887) March 6, 1923
From the Edward Mitchell collection, here is a record featuring The Georgians, an excellent jazz ensemble led by Frank Guarente that was a sub-unit of the larger Paul Specht Orchestra.
The Georgians were the first “band within a band,” something that became common with the more famous bands during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s (for example, Paul Whiteman and His Swing Wing, Tommy Dorsey and His Clambake Seven, Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five, etc.).
“Snakes Hips” was composed by Spencer Williams, who wrote several compositions that continue to be performed by various jazz groups.
The Georgians were the first to record the song, though the Original Memphis Five made a recording for Brunswick three days later, issued under the pseudonym The Cotton Pickers, and a recording for Victor eight days later, issued under their own name.
I’ve seen mention online that “Snakes Hips” refers to belly dancing, but I could not find further information to confirm the accuracy of that.
However, the song came out in an era when there was a fascination in the West with ancient and/or traditional cultures perceived as “exotic,” which had a big influence on everything from architecture to fashion and on music in the form of popular “Oriental foxtrot” compositions.
A few months before this recording, the excavation of the tomb of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun made international headlines and sparked a widespread interest in ancient Egyptian aesthetics, which soon spread through popular culture. The pseudo-Egyptianesque theme of the song and this recording are both consistent with that trend.
“Farewell Blues,” a 1922 composition by Paul Mares, Leon Roppolo, and Elmer Schoebel, was recorded by dozens of groups in the 1920s and 1930s and continues to be performed.
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