Little Brown Jug (song)

This article is about the drinking song. For the Brown University humor magazine, see The Brown Jug.

"Little Brown Jug" is a song written in 1869 by Joseph Eastburn Winner, originally published in Philadelphia with the author listed as Winner's middle name "Eastburn".

Original 1869 sheet music cover

Background

It was originally a drinking song. It remained well known as a folk song into the early 20th century. Like many songs which make reference to alcohol, it enjoyed new popularity during the Prohibition era.

1939 Glenn Miller recording

1939 Glenn Miller recording on RCA Bluebird, B-10286-A

1953 sheet music cover from the film The Glenn Miller Story, Lew Music, New York

In 1939, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra released a hit version of the song on RCA Bluebird, as an A side 78 single, B-10286-A, in a new arrangement by Bill Finegan backed with "Pavanne". The recording was an early chart hit for Glenn Miller. The song was performed in Glenn Miller's Carnegie Hall concert that year and became a staple of the Glenn Miller Orchestra repertoire, and a classic of the Big Band era.

The personnel on the Glenn Miller recording: Saxes: Hal McIntyre, Tex Beneke, Wilbur Schwartz, Stanley Aronson, Al Klink; Trumpets: Bob Price, R. D. McMickle, Legh Knowles; Trombones: Glenn Miller, Paul Tanner, Al Mastren; Piano: Chummy MacGregor; String Bass: Rowland Bundock; Guitar: Allen Reuss; Drums: Moe Purtill.

The song was featured in and was central to the plot of the 1954 Universal Pictures film biography The Glenn Miller Story starring James Stewart and June Allyson. The Universal International Orchestra under the direction of Joseph Gershenson released a recording of the song from The Glenn Miller Story soundtrack as a single backed with "A String of Pearls" on Decca Records in the U.S. and on Brunswick Records in the UK in 1954.

Other versions

Subsequently, in 1947 it was recorded by the accordionist John Serry Sr. and the guitarist Tony Mottola with the noted Joe Biviano Accordion & Rhythm Sextette for Sonora records.

It was also sung by Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer and Harold "Slim" Switzer in an Our Gang (Little Rascals) short.

Lyrics

The song's lyrics are about a man and his wife and their hard life due to alcoholism. The tone and tune, however, are bright and cheerful, indicating the irony of the singer not knowing his degraded condition. The first verse of the song is:

My wife and I live all alone,
In a little log hut, we called our own
She loved gin, and I loved rum
I tell you what we'd lots of fun.

In the 1948 Famous Studios Screen Song animated short titled "Little Brown Jug", a "bouncing ball" cartoon, it is sung with the music credited to Winston Sharples and entirely new lyrics by Buddy Kaye.

Other recordings

The song has been recorded by the following performers in addition to those listed above:

External audio
You may hear Little Brown Jug performed by the Joe Biviano Accordion and Rhythm Sextette with John Serry and Tony Mottola in 1946 Here on Archive.org

• Joe Biviano, his Accordion and Rhythm Sextette including John Serry and Tony Mottola released a recording of the song as a 78 on Sonora Records.

External links

• "Little Brown Jug" at MusicBrainz (information and list of recordings)
• UCSB cylinder audio archive:
  • Brown wax home recording of Little brown jug, sung by mixed chorus, between 1890 and 1928
  • Little brown jug, performed by The Blue Ridge Duo (Gene Austin and George Reneau), 1925