Bud Green

Bud Green (19 November 1897 – 2 January 1981) was an American songwriter. Bud Green (Buddy) grew up in Harlem at 108th & Madison Avenue at the turn of the 20th century, the eldest of seven. He dropped out of elementary school to sell newspapers and help the family. While selling papers, he decided to become a songwriter and started keeping a notebook of poems and rhymes that he thought would be useful someday. He was the brother of writer Hannah Russell (1913 – 2002) (Song About the Sky, who also wrote scores for children's film in London in the late 1950s; see Who's Who in American Women). He was also the brother-in-law of the great lyricist Bob Russell (1914 – 1970), who wrote "Brazil", "Frenesi", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" and many other songs. Green was also the granduncle to Luther Russell, a singer songerwriter in his own right (www.lutherrussell.com).

At 21, Bud Green married a girl from the Ziegfeld Follies, Nan Hinken, they were together until her death in the early 1960s. They had two sons, both now deceased. Green worked as a salaried writer for music publishers. By 1928 he had written "Alabamy Bound" and "That's My Weakness Now", which became a huge hit for Ukulele Ike and Helen Kane, Kane's version including the suggestive scat phrase "boop boop ba doo." This line and Kane's stage persona made the song synonymous with the flapper era; Kane and the song became the inspiration for the Betty Boop cartoons that debuted in 1930. The song was self-published by Green and Stept. They were in the Brass Rail Building at 745, 7th Avenue. They then went to Hollywood to work for the movie industry. He and Sammy eventually sold their company to Warner Bros. and returned to New York. He moved his family to Yonkers, New York, where he lived the rest of his life commuting to NYC every day.

Boogie-woogie

Boogie-woogie is a musical genre that became popular during the late 1920s, but developed in African American communities in the 1870s. It was eventually extended from piano, to piano duo and trio, guitar, big band, country and western music, and gospel. While the blues traditionally expresses a variety of emotions, boogie-woogie is mainly associated with dancing. The lyrics of one of the earliest hits, "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie", consist entirely of instructions to dancers:

It is characterized by a regular left-hand bass figure, which is transposed following the chord changes.

Boogie-woogie is not strictly a solo piano style; it can accompany singers and be featured in orchestras and small combos. It is sometimes called "eight to the bar", as much of it is written in common time (4/4) time using eighth notes (quavers) (see time signature). The chord progressions are typically based on I - IV - V - I (with many formal variations of it, such as I/i - IV/iv - v/I, as well as chords that lead into these ones).

Boogie-woogie (dance)

Boogie-woogie is a form of swing dance and a form of blues piano playing.

Terminology

The name boogie-woogie is used mostly in Europe; the closest thing in the US is probably East Coast Swing. What today is called boogie-woogie would during the 1950s have been called rock'n'roll. The term boogie woogie is confusing; the dance can be danced to the music style called boogie-woogie but is most often danced to rock music of various kinds. The name was taken since the name rock'n'roll used in competition dance was already taken by a highly acrobatic dance form. Boogie woogie as a competition dance is a led dance, not choreographed, and can contain acrobatic elements, but not like in acrobatic rock'n'roll. The limitation of aerials are various in European countries, but by the strong Lindy Hop influence, they cannot be completely removed from the dance. Mainly the couples have to maintain some contact during the acrobatics, this rule helps to avoid moves like double/triple saltos and the like.

Boogie-woogie (disambiguation)

Boogie-woogie is a piano-based music style.

Boogie-woogie may also refer to: