"Just a Gigolo" is a popular song, adapted by

Irving Caesar Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 18, 1996) was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including " Swanee", "Sometimes I'm Happy", " Crazy Rhythm", and " Tea for T ...

into English in 1929 from the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n tango "Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo", composed in 1928 in Vienna by Leonello Casucci to lyrics written in 1924 by Julius Brammer.

History

The song was first published by Wiener Boheme Verlag in 1929 and performed by several orchestras in Germany that year, including Dajos Béla's orchestra with the singer Kurt Mühlhardt. Daniele Serra sang a version entitled "Gigolo" in Italy, followed by Sirio Di Piramo and his orchestra in 1930, while other countries provided their own versions. The original version is a poetic vision of the social collapse experienced in

after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, represented by the figure of a former hussar who remembers himself parading in his uniform, while now he has to get by as a lonely hired dancer. The music features a simple melodic sequence, but nonetheless has a clever harmonic construction that highlights the mixed emotions in the lyrics, adding a nostalgic, bittersweet effect. The success of the song prompted publishers Chappell & Co. to buy the rights and order an English version from

, a very popular lyricist of the time. Caesar eliminated the specific Austrian references and, in the often-omitted verse (but included in the 1931 recording by Bing Crosby), set the action in a

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

cafe, where a local character tells his sad story. Thus, the lyrics retained their sentimental side but lost their historic context. Popular versions in 1931 were by Ted Lewis,

Ben Bernie Benjamin Anzelwitz, known professionally as Ben Bernie (May 30, 1891 – October 23, 1943),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. ...

, Bing Crosby and

Leo Reisman Leo F. Reisman (October 11, 1897 – December 18, 1961) was an American violinist and bandleader in the 1920s and 1930s. Born and reared in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, he was of Jewish ancestry; from German immigrants who immigrated to th ...

. "Just a Gigolo" appeared in a 1931 film, a 1932 Betty Boop cartoon and a 1993 TV series, all titled after the song. The song was recorded by many musicians of the time, including Louis Armstrong and (in German)

Richard Tauber Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor. Early life Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...

. The film '' Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo'', directed by David Hemmings in 1979, was titled after the first verse of the original lyrics, but the ''Just a Gigolo'' title was used for US distribution. In this film, the song was performed by

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

, in her last film appearance.

"Just a Gigolo"/"I Ain't Got Nobody" medley

Origin

"Just a Gigolo" is best known in a form recorded by

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he forme ...

in 1956, where it was paired in a medley with another old standard, "

I Ain't Got Nobody "I Ain't Got Nobody" (sometimes referred to as "I'm So Sad and Lonely" or "I Ain't Got Nobody Much") is a popular song copyrighted in 1915. Roger A. Graham (1885–1938) wrote the lyrics, Spencer Williams composed it, and Roger Graham Music Pub ...

" (words by

Roger A. Graham Roger A. Graham (12 June 1885 – 25 October 1938) was an American lyricist, composer, singer, and music publisher who flourished from 1906 to 1920 — a period that included World War I, the golden age of Tin Pan Alley (from about 1915 to 1920), ...

and music by Spencer Williams, 1915). This pairing links the life of a gigolo ("people know the part I'm playing, paid for every dance..."), to the outcome for singer ending up alone ("I ain't got nobody"). The popularity of Prima's combination, and of

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the releas ...

's 1978 and David Lee Roth's 1985 cover versions of the medley, has led to the mistaken perception by some that the songs are two parts of a single original composition. The coupling of the two songs had its genesis in an earlier Louis Prima recording from 1945 (V Disc 554, side A), which was then adapted by Sam Butera for Prima's 1950s Las Vegas stage show, during which Prima would revisit his old hits in a new, jive-and-jumping style. The success of that act gained Prima a recording deal with Capitol Records, which aimed to capture on record the atmosphere of his shows. The first album, titled '' The Wildest!'' and released in November 1956, opened with "Just a Gigolo"/"I Ain't Got Nobody", which then became Prima's signature number and helped relaunch his career.

Louis Prima's recording

The recording session took place on 23 April 1956 at Capitol Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, and was produced by Voyle Gilmore. Prima was backed by his Las Vegas group, Sam Butera & the Witnesses, in its original line-up: Sam Butera ( tenor sax), James "Red" Blount (

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

), William "Willie" McCumber (

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

), Jack Marshall (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

), Amado Rodriques ( bass) and Robert "Bobby" Morris ( drums). Keely Smith, who was Prima's wife and an important part of his act, joined the Witnesses for the characteristic backing vocals. Prima sang the lead but didn't play the trumpet on this track.

List of versions

The following artists have released or performed versions of the song: * Fats Waller * Sol Hoʻopiʻi (1928) * Louis Armstrong March 9 (1931) *

and His Orchestra (Brunswick 6023) (1931) * Bing Crosby with The Gus Arnheim Orchestra (recorded March 2, 1931) – includes Paris verse. * Damia (1931) as "C'est mon Gigolo" (French version adapted from L. Casucci by A. Mauprey, J. Lenoir) * Ted Lewis and His Band (Columbia 2378 D) (1931) *

and His Orchestra (Victor 22606) (1931) *

Art Tatum Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

and

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997, born Stefano Grappelli) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the fi ...

in Rome (1949) *

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

(1952) * Jaye P. Morgan (1953) - a minor hit, reaching No. 22 in the Billboard charts. *

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...

(1954, 1958, 1962) *

(1956) * Sarah Vaughan - included in the album '' At Mister Kelly's'' (1957) * Eino Virtanen, a Finnish version called "Kaunis Gigolo" (1958) *

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpre ...

- included in her album ''Song Time'' (1960). * Gus Backus *

Jean Shepherd Jean Parker 'Shep' Shepherd Jr. (~July 21, 1921 – October 16, 1999) was an American storyteller, humorist, radio and TV personality, writer, and actor. With a career that spanned decades, Shepherd is known for the film ''A Christmas Story'' ...

(1965) opened the July 29, 1965 episode of his show with the song *

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad " Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first r ...

(1965) *

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

- for the album ''

Connie & Clyde – Hit Songs of the 30s ''Connie & Clyde – Hit Songs of the 30s'' is a studio album recorded by U. S. Entertainer Connie Francis. Allegedly inspired by the success of Arthur Penn's 1967 motion picture '' Bonnie & Clyde'', Connie Francis decided in March 1968 to re ...

'' (1968) * Oscar Peterson (1970) * Peter Allen (1974) * Chris DeMarco as Michel Delon (1976) * Prima's version was covered by Alex Harvey in 1979 on his '' The Mafia Stole My Guitar'' album. *

(1978) recorded a cover of Prima's version. *

title song of film '' Just a Gigolo'' (1978) * Barbie and the Kens (1980) * Javier Gurruchaga during the film ''Besame Tonta'' (1981) * David Lee Roth (1985) (reached No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100). The music video for his recording parodies a number of well-known pop-music performers

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper Thornton (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. Her career has spanned over 40 years. Her album ''She's So Unusual'' (1983) was the first debut album by a female artist to achi ...

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

, Culture Club, cameos appearances and cultural trends of the first half of the 1980s. * Bob (Rivers) & Zip (1985), with alternate lyrics "Just a Big Ego" * Tony Martin (1985) *

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

dansband (; "dance band"), or in Norwegian and Danish, is a Swedish term for a band that plays ("dance band music"). ' is often danced to in pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. The music is primarily inspired ...

Ingmar Nordströms Ingmar Nordströms was a dansband from Växjö, Sweden that was established in 1955 by Ingmar Nordström. Their first appearance occurred in the Eringsboda folkpark. Their last appearance occurred in Växjö on 19 December 1991. In 1987, the band ...

recorded a Swedish-language version of the song, called "Gösta Gigolo", on the 1985 album ''Saxparty 12''. The title is pronounced the same as in English, but refers to a man named Gösta and is hanging around the dance floor in the hotel of a small town. * Tiny Tim (1987) on the record "

Tiptoe Through the Tulips "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", also known as "Tip Toe Through the Tulips with Me", is a popular song published in 1929. The song was written by Al Dubin (lyrics) and Joe Burke (music) and made popular by guitarist Nick Lucas. On February 5, 1968, ...

" * Tapani Kansa, a Finnish version called "Vastustamaton" on his album ''Anna mulle aikaa'' (1990) *

Marty Grosz Martin Oliver Grosz (born February 28, 1930) is an American jazz guitarist, banjoist, vocalist, and composer born in Berlin, Germany, the son of artist George Grosz. He performed with Bob Wilber and wrote arrangements for him. He has also worked ...

(1992, 2005) *

Leningrad Cowboys The Leningrad Cowboys are a Finnish rock band who perform rock and roll covers of other songs. They have exaggerated pompadour hairstyles and wear long, pointy shoes. They often work with the Russian military band the Alexandrov Ensemble. Be ...

(1993) * Tony Slattery (1993) as the closing song for the TV show " Just a Gigolo" in which he also stars. *

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 1939) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress, and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s, and went on to model for Paco Rabanne, Ossie Clark, and ...

utilizes the song in her live repertoire and a 1998 recording can found on the compilation ''Made of Blood and Honey'' (reportedly a #1 hit in Hungary, Romania, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Andorra). * Dick Hyman Group and Howard Alden (1999) in

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

Sweet and Lowdown ''Sweet and Lowdown'' is a 1999 American comedy-drama mockumentary film written and directed by Woody Allen. Loosely based on Federico Fellini's film ''La Strada'', the film tells the fictional story, set in the 1930s, of self-confident jazz g ...

* Lou Bega (2001) * In 2003 Israeli singer and TV star,

Gidi Gov Gideon "Gidi" Gov ( he, גידי גוב; 4 August 1950) is an Israeli singer, TV host, entertainer, and actor. He was married to the late Anat Gov with whom he had three children. Biography Early life Gov was born in Rehovot, Israel, to Da ...

, released a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

version of Prima's medley, called "Gigolo" on his album ''Moondance'' (Hebrew: ריקוד ירח). * Sergio Pángaro & Baccarat (Spanish version, 2003) * Tyler Lewis (2006) * In 2007 Paolo Belli released "''Io Sono Un Gigolò''", an Italian version of the song. *

Paul Motian Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. He first came to prominence in the ...

recorded the song on his 2009 album On Broadway Volume 5. * Lucio Dalla and

Francesco De Gregori Francesco De Gregori OMRI (born 4 April 1951) is an Italian singer-songwriter. In Italy, he is popularly known as "Il Principe dei cantautori" ("The Prince of the singer-songwriters"), a nickname referring to the elegance of his lyrics. He is of ...

, with new Italian text, on their 2010 live album ''Work in Progress''. *

Mina (Italian singer) Mina Anna Maria Mazzini (born 25 March 1940) or Mina Anna Quaini (for the Swiss civil registry), known mononymously as Mina, is an Italian-Swiss singer and actress. She was a staple of television variety shows and a dominant figure in Italian ...

recorded and released the song on her 2012 album ''

12 (American Song Book) ''12 (American Song Book)'' is an album by Italian singer Mina, released in 2012. In the album, Mina covers 12 standards of American music, originally published between 1930 (" Just a Gigolo") and 1970 (" Fire and Rain"). Among the others, she s ...

''. * The Jive Aces on the 2012 album ''King of the Swingers: A Salute to Louis Prima''. * Frank D'Angelo recorded and released the song on his 2015 album I Want to Live Forever: Official Soundtrack from the Feature Film Sicilian Vampire. * Gregory Golub - Israeli composer and jazz pianist recorded and released a single "Just a Gigolo" (Remembering Louis Prima) (2020) * Michael Ball and Alfie Boe recorded a version for their album Together in vegas 2022. * The

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

Marching Illini are also well known for performing the song as part of their post-game show.

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
as sung by Bing Crosby at Lyrics.com {{Authority control 1985 singles 2001 singles Songs written for films Village People songs David Lee Roth songs Lou Bega songs Amanda Lear songs Songs about loneliness Songs with lyrics by Irving Caesar 1929 songs Ingmar Nordströms songs Articles containing video clips Marlene Dietrich songs Cultural depictions of Michael Jackson