B-side "Hop Head" Format 78 RPM record Length 3:03 | Released 1927 Genre Jazz | |
Recorded March 1927,
New York City, New York | ||
"East St Louis Toodle-Oo" is a composition written by Duke Ellington and Bubber Miley and recorded several times by Ellington for various labels from 1926-1930 under various titles. This song was the first charting single for Duke Ellington in 1927 and was one of the main examples of his early "jungle music". This composition was covered by Steely Dan on their 1974 album Pretzel Logic.
Contents
Recording history
Ellington first recorded "Toodle-Oo" in November 1926 for Vocalion Records, which was released as Vo (1064). He recorded the composition twice more in early 1927 for Brunswick Records; the first version was not released at the time, but the second was released as Br (3480). He recorded his hit version in March 1927 for Columbia Records, under the name "the Washingtonians". Along with recording "Toodle-Oo", two other compositions were recorded at the same session, "Hop Head" and "Down in Our Alley Blues", the former of which would be released as the B-side of Columbia 953-D.
Music
"East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" features a growling plunger-muted trumpet part played by co-composer Bubber Miley, one of the first jazz trumpeters to utilize the style. This style was carried on by later Ellington trumpeters Cootie Williams (1937 recording), and Ray Nance (1956 recording).
For Steely Dan's 1974 cover of the song, Walter Becker sang the melody through a talk box to imitate Miley's trumpet style, while Jeff "Skunk" Baxter used a pedal steel guitar for the trombone part.