Tuxedo Junction
Encyclopedia
"Tuxedo Junction" is a song co-written by Birmingham, Alabama
composer Erskine Hawkins
and saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson
. Julian Dash
is also credited for the music. The song was introduced by Hawkins's orchestra. Lyrics were by Buddy Feyne
. This original version, by the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra (the new name for the college dance band known as the Bama State Collegians
) rose to number 7 on the national hit parade.
Glenn Miller
and His Orchestra had the most successful recording of the song in a best-selling (Billboard
Number 1) record, RCA Bluebird B-10612-A, in 1939 in an arrangement by Glenn Miller which slowed down the tempo and added trumpet fanfares. The Glenn Miller recording sold 115,000 copies in the first week alone. It was featured in the 1953 Glenn Miller biopic The Glenn Miller Story
starring James Stewart
and Harry Morgan
.
It was covered by numerous bands and Swing orchestras and solo artists such as Ella Fitzgerald
, Duke Ellington
, Frankie Avalon
and Joe Jackson
, and became the theme song for The Manhattan Transfer
, first recorded on their album The Manhattan Transfer
in 1975. Bob Marley
used this song as an inspiration for his hit called "Kaya". It was also the inspiration for an all-girl disco group, entitled "Tuxedo Junction".
The song is about a jazz
and blues
club in the Birmingham, Alabama
suburb of Ensley
. The area is referred to as "Tuxedo Junction", even though the building is called the "Nixon Building" (built in 1922). This is due to the location of a streetcar crossing at Tuxedo Park, hence "Tuxedo Junction". The empty building still stands at 1728 20th Street as a testament to the musical heritage of the area. A punk rock venue bearing the same name operated near there briefly in the mid 1980s.
The song was originally written as an instrumental. When it was given to Lewis Music Publishing, they farmed it out to several prospective lyricists to see who could write the best words that matched the song. Buddy Feyne
asked Erskine Hawkins
why he titled it as such. Erskine mentioned that it was a whistle stop on the "Chitlin' circuit
", which led to Feyne's lyrics. Hawkins selected his above the other candidates. Once the song had been published, then the white bands added it to their playlist.
The song has been used in various movies, including Big Band films The Glenn Miller Story
, The Gene Krupa Story
and the Woody Allen
film The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
.
, Canada
.
Tuxedo Junction is a company started in Buffalo, New York
in 1969 and has since become a nationwide chain.
Tuxedo Junction is where Felice's parents live in Toni Morrison
's Jazz
.
Tuxedo Junction was a disco group that recorded the song in the 1970s.
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
composer Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Ramsay Hawkins was an American trumpet player and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson...
and saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson
Bill Johnson (reed player)
Bill Johnson was an American alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and arranger....
. Julian Dash
Julian Dash
Julian Dash was an American swing music jazz tenor saxophonist born in Charleston, South Carolina, probably better known for his work with Erskine Hawkins and Buck Clayton.-Discography:...
is also credited for the music. The song was introduced by Hawkins's orchestra. Lyrics were by Buddy Feyne
Buddy Feyne
Buddy Feyne was an American composer and lyricist of the swing era.He penned the lyrics for the standards "Tuxedo Junction" and "Jersey Bounce"...
. This original version, by the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra (the new name for the college dance band known as the Bama State Collegians
Bama State Collegians
The Bama State Collegians is a student jazz orchestra made up of students at Alabama State University. This group, founded in the 1930s, has been directed by a number of notable musicians, including Tommy Stewart and Erskine Hawkins....
) rose to number 7 on the national hit parade.
Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller
Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
and His Orchestra had the most successful recording of the song in a best-selling (Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Number 1) record, RCA Bluebird B-10612-A, in 1939 in an arrangement by Glenn Miller which slowed down the tempo and added trumpet fanfares. The Glenn Miller recording sold 115,000 copies in the first week alone. It was featured in the 1953 Glenn Miller biopic The Glenn Miller Story
The Glenn Miller Story
The Glenn Miller Story is a 1954 American film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their first non-western collaboration.-Plot:...
starring James Stewart
James Stewart
James Stewart was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart may also refer to:-Noblemen:*James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland*James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn James Stewart (1908–1997) was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart...
and Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...
.
It was covered by numerous bands and Swing orchestras and solo artists such as Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
and Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson (musician)
Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
, and became the theme song for The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both...
, first recorded on their album The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer (album)
The Manhattan Transfer is the second album by The Manhattan Transfer. However, it is the first of four albums to be released by the line-up of Tim Hauser, Laurel Massé, Alan Paul and Janis Siegel, and the first to establish the sound and style for which the group would become known...
in 1975. Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
used this song as an inspiration for his hit called "Kaya". It was also the inspiration for an all-girl disco group, entitled "Tuxedo Junction".
The song is about a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
club in the Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
suburb of Ensley
Ensley
Ensley may refer to:* Ensley, Birmingham, Alabama* Ensley, Florida* Ensley Township, Michigan...
. The area is referred to as "Tuxedo Junction", even though the building is called the "Nixon Building" (built in 1922). This is due to the location of a streetcar crossing at Tuxedo Park, hence "Tuxedo Junction". The empty building still stands at 1728 20th Street as a testament to the musical heritage of the area. A punk rock venue bearing the same name operated near there briefly in the mid 1980s.
The song was originally written as an instrumental. When it was given to Lewis Music Publishing, they farmed it out to several prospective lyricists to see who could write the best words that matched the song. Buddy Feyne
Buddy Feyne
Buddy Feyne was an American composer and lyricist of the swing era.He penned the lyrics for the standards "Tuxedo Junction" and "Jersey Bounce"...
asked Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Ramsay Hawkins was an American trumpet player and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed "The 20th Century Gabriel". He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard "Tuxedo Junction" with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson...
why he titled it as such. Erskine mentioned that it was a whistle stop on the "Chitlin' circuit
Chitlin' circuit
The "Chitlin' Circuit" was the collective name given to the string of performance venues throughout the eastern and southern United States that were safe and acceptable for African-American musicians, comedians, and other entertainers to perform during the age of racial segregation in the United...
", which led to Feyne's lyrics. Hawkins selected his above the other candidates. Once the song had been published, then the white bands added it to their playlist.
The song has been used in various movies, including Big Band films The Glenn Miller Story
The Glenn Miller Story
The Glenn Miller Story is a 1954 American film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their first non-western collaboration.-Plot:...
, The Gene Krupa Story
The Gene Krupa Story
The Gene Krupa Story is a 1959 biopic of American drummer and bandleader Gene Krupa. The conflict in the film centers around Krupa's rise to success and his corresponding use of marijuana.-Plot synopsis:...
and the Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
film The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion is a 2001 American film written, directed by, and starring Woody Allen. The cast also features Dan Aykroyd, Elizabeth Berkley, Helen Hunt, John Schuck, Wallace Shawn, David Ogden Stiers, and Charlize Theron. The plot concerns an insurance investigator and an...
.
Cultural references
Tuxedo Junction is the name of a fine formal wear company founded in 1957 in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Tuxedo Junction is a company started in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
in 1969 and has since become a nationwide chain.
Tuxedo Junction is where Felice's parents live in Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved...
's Jazz
Jazz (novel)
Jazz is a 1992 historical novel by Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning American author Toni Morrison. The majority of the narrative takes place in Harlem during the 1920s, however, as the pasts of the various characters are explored, the narrative extends back to the mid-19th century American...
.
Tuxedo Junction was a disco group that recorded the song in the 1970s.