Another great hit from the Eddie Cantor musical Whoopee was "My Baby Just Cares For Me," written by the famous songwriting team of Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson. In the film version of the musical, Cantor introduced the song as part of a blackface routine, which was a common and acceptable form of stage presentation in 1930. His energy and unique style allowed Cantor to make the song all his own:
Cantor reprised the song later in the film in a duet number with Ethel Shutta. Music trivia geeks will remember that George Olsen, whose orchestra is featured in the film, was Ethel Shutta's husband at the time:
A number of great recordings of this song were made in 1930. First up is Ted Fiorito and his Orchestra with vocalist Frank Luther, recording for Hit of The Week in September 1930. This is one of my favorite Hit of the Week records, and it epitomizes the quality of both music and sound reproduction that Hit of the Week records offered. Too bad they were only made of cardboard.
Download Ted Fiorito - My Baby Just Cares For Me.mp3
Next is the great Ted Weems band with vocalist Art Jarrett, recording for Victor on July 25, 1930. The Ted Weems band had a number of hits around this time including "Piccolo Pete" and "You're The Cream In My Coffee." The arrangement on this record is probably by Joe Haymes, who later led one of the best big bands that never made it commercially. Ted Weems enjoyed the spotlight briefly again in 1947, when his 1934 recording of "Heartaches" became a surprise hit thirteen years after it was recorded.
