Organ Grinder's Swing


"Organ Grinder's Swing" is a song composed by Will Hudson, with lyrics credited to Mitchell Parish and Irving Mills, published in 1936. It became associated with the Jimmie Lunceford orchestra. Hudson based the "Organ Grinder's Swing" on the nursery rhyme "I Love Coffee, I Love Tea".

Recordings

recorded the song in November 1936 with her Savoy Eight, and recorded it for a second time with the Count Basie Orchestra for her last album with Basie, 1979's A Classy Pair. Other contemporary versions were recorded by Benny Goodman, Django Reinhardt and the Mills Brothers. It was also featured in a 1937 Popeye short Organ Grinder's Swing.
Organist Jimmy Smith recorded "Organ Grinder's Swing" on his 1965 album Organ Grinder Swing. Vibraphonist Milt Jackson recorded it again in 1976 live at the Kosei Nenkin, Tokyo, with Teddy Edwards, Cedar Walton, Ray Brown and Billy Higgins.