Director’s Paducah Ties a Mystery
By Matt Sanders, The Paducah Sun, Ky.
Jul. 20–My inability to do much with a computer other than type news stories is unfortunately well known within the friendly confines of the Sun newsroom.
Younger colleagues show much prowess in online research, while even the most basic Google searches still baffle me as much as long division.
Sometimes ignorance can be bliss.
About a year ago, one of our editors assigned a news story detailing what computer-illiterate parents need to know when buying laptops for the college-bound cherubs. Guess whose experience, or lack there of, was called upon to write the story?
Actually, the Internet fascinates me, as would anything possessing information about seemingly everything under the sun. However, a certain amount of mean spiritedness in online postings keeps me from becoming a true fan. It matters little to me what celebrities have gained weight, are getting divorced, are cheating on their spouses, or signed big fat movie or record contracts.
Tops on my ignore list are videos that are posted seemingly with the sole intent of showing others in humiliating situations.
Fortunately, a friend recently forwarded me a kinder and gentler posting, one that would be of interest to any lifelong Paducah resident.
The setting is a swanky nightclub in the 1943. The tuxedo-clad orchestra strikes up a rhythm that immediately identifies the sound from the Big Band era.
Bandleader Benny Goodman, complete with white carnation and pocket square, plays his clarinet and then starts to sing:
“Paducah, Paducah,
“If you wanna, you can rhyme it with bazooka,
“But you can’t pooh-pooh Paducah,
“That’s another name for Paradise.”
Catchy in a bygone era sort of way, but who knew Goodman was a vocalist?
The show stopper — if a four-minute video can have a show stopper — is when Goodman is joined by Carmen Miranda, dressed as only Carmen Miranda could be dressed — feathery headdress, colorful outfit, puffy shoulders and enough bangle bracelets to set off any metal detector. Tony De Marco joins her for a lively dance — either a merengue or cha-cha — in a sequence that must have been Barry Manilow’s inspiration for creating Lola and bad-boy Rico at the “Copacabana.”
The video triggered several questions — such as where was this video shot and who wrote the song. After a few phone calls and much-appreciated help from others in town, some questions were answered. The song is aptly titled “The Paducah Song” and was part of the musical film “The Gang’s All Here,” released in 1943. The film was directed by Busby Berkeley, known for his lavish big-screen musicals.
The song’s lyrics were written by Leo Robin, with composer Harry Warren writing the music.
This sent me online to find out more about the origin of the song. My search came across other lyrical mentions of Paducah: Tom T. Hall’s “It Rained in Every Town Except Paducah” and the great Roy Acuff’s “Duke of Paducah.”
But questions still linger — does Leo Robin have ties to Paducah and how was a Paducah song picked for a Busby Berkeley musical? An online biography for Robin makes no mention of Paducah. He was born in Pittsburgh, died on the West Coast, and wrote many film scores and memorable songs back in the day when a great song was called a standard.
If anyone has an answer or a theory, please drop me an e-mail.
Sun staff writer Matt Sanders can be contacted at 575-8659 or msanders@paducahsun.com.
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