Cow Cow Boogie - Ella Mae Morse & Liberace
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- Ella Mae Morse was the sultry, swinging pop-jazz singer whose 1942 hit, ''Cow Cow Boogie,'' became the first million seller for Capitol Records and helped establish the label. This film clip is from a 1954 Liberace television show.
Morse's musical style blended jazz, blues, and country, she has sometimes been called the first rock 'n' roll singer.
The audio track is available from SnailWorx on the Liberace CD "Piano On Fire".
"Cow Cow Boogie" performed by Liberace (featuring Ella Mae Morse). Written by Benny Carter, Gene DePaul & Don Raye. Published by Bee Cee Music Company/Hub Music Co Inc/Universal Music Corporation (ASCAP)
"He was raised on local weed. He's what you call a swing half-breed." I have questions, but this song is undeniably great, and she sings it so well.
I'm pretty sure it's locoweed
Her version of THE HOUSE OF BLUE LIGHTS has an intro that includes the word 'homie' which is clearly being used in the sense we use it today, some 50 years early.
I think she's singing loco weed, which answers the questions pretty well even then. :)
These are interesting lyrics with an early mention of mixed races. Which suggests interracial sex. It's quite provocative for the day.
Dorothy Dandrige has a vid here too.
I only recently learned that Ella mae was my dads (paternal) 1st cousin! I dont even think my dad knew about that he was an incredible vocalist too but never got to pursue it 😔
She was truly great and one of my favorite female vocalists who appealed to black and white audiences around the country!
That's awesome, Scott. My wife's paternal grandmother is Ella Mae's sister. (Flo Hendelman) I would imagine that makes you and her related in some distant way.
That's awesome. Love her song mr. 5x5 😂
Cool! 👍😃
It looks like talent is in your family! I’m sorry that your father didn’t get to pursue his! I hope that you can pursue your’s. I hope that your other family members can pursue their’s!
Wow...I really like that jazzy stuff she does with her voice. And her facial expressions add a lot to it.
What a fun, enchanting performance! Ella Mae really knew how to work that camera lens. She barely moves for the first part of the song, but she weaves a spell so well that it's trance inducing (side effects may include a tapping foot and a big grin). She was a true professional, and remember that TV was still a new medium when this was filmed; Ella Mae was a big band singer, and she worked hard to keep current and to learn how to engage the camera as she had done years earlier for her live audiences. There will never be another Ella Mae Morse...
She had stage presence.
Absolutely agree
Loved this singer for many years, what a treat to see her performing, never seen her before.
Her speaking voice is smooth as silk
Ella Mae was years ahead of her time.
What a wonderful performance. Liberace was very popular when I was a kid in the '50s and my mom watched him and about anything musical on television back then. It was a good time to be a kid.
WHY IS THIS THE FIRST TIME I'VE HEARD ELLA MAE MORSE IN 5 DECADES ON EARTH?! 😭😍🙏
She was just stunning.
Ella Mae was just greatness.
Liberace was a great musician, perfect
This would've been about 10 years after she had her big hit with this song, and she sounds great. As for that kiss at the end - well - those weren't the kind of kisses that Lee really wanted...
Show biz is a tough business. Lee was a talented actor.
I DONT CARE WHAT PEOPLE SAY. LIBERACE WAS A HIGH CLASS MAN AND A FANTASTIC TALENT. AND ELLA MAE IS FANTASTIC TOO
I love this and Ella Mae’s facial expressions selling the song. She understood that television was a close-up medium. Not sure if many people caught in the lyrics that the peculiar cowboy “ was raised on loco weed”. What kind of weed is that Martha? Must be like that danged crab grass in the garden or sumthin.
'Loco weed" is the bane of cow ponies. An alkaloid that destroys "horse sense" in horses.
Jimson weed is another name for it, dangerous stuff.
Ella Mae has a country drawl which is charming!
The ridiculous meets the sublime: Ella Mae Morse meets Liberace and even gives him an on-the-lips kiss which he makes it look like he enjoyed. I noticed Liberace kept a good boogie rhythm with his left hand but did almost nothing with his right (unlike Freddie Slack, the great white boogie pianist with whom Ella Mae first recorded this), but Ella Mae was so good she keeps the beat going for everybody. It's also interesting that she has more of a Texas country twang here than she did on her 1942 record. ¡Viva Ella Mae Morse!
I was thinking that - but wondered if he wasn't making an effort not to showboat! He seems to be really into the song and that left hand boogie is sublime!
She was such a great singer & swinger. Thanks so much for posting!
I have a notion to second that emotion ! Ella Mae was quite lovely and a gifted performer ! Thanx for your comment ! :-)
I dunno if she was a swinger
@@Mr.Classic91 "I dunno if she was a swinger" Definitely a swing musician.
I agree 100%.-
Never realized how lovely she was💕
See liberace before the sparkle. Looking cool
A great summit meeting: one of the world's premier keyboard virtuosos along with one of the forerunners of country rock. Magnificent.
I've heard a few versions of this song and hers is the best.
Get along, little dogies.
I did not know that this song would become "a train kept a rollin ". It's interesting to listen to old songs being remade especially if you didn,t know it was a cover.
*I just now discovered her. Wow!* 👍
Haha have fun I've been listening to her for a year now!! She's amazing
Fitting . She is infact from Mansfield,Texas. By God shes a Texan, and you dont mess with em.
Damned right! She was truly great!
Lyrics of Cow Cow Boogie by jazz saxophonist, trumpeter and arranger Benny Carter.
It was written for Ella Fitzgerald for the 1942 Abbott & Costello movie "Ride 'Em Cowboy". However, Ella's part was cut from the movie.
Merci beaucoup from Paris France, great powerful sound. 👍
this is SO fun, on SO many levels!
I love this boogie woogie. Ella is simply great!
Another version of COW COW BOOGIE that is a good listen is the version by The Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald from, I believe, 1944.
Can remember my mother singing this in the late 40's. . . thanks for posting!
Nice song and beautiful mix of sub culture music and lyrics back in the day of 1942! Even her assertiveness is refreshing and different! Can't say the last time I saw a woman kiss a man on the lips on live TV. She even sounds mixed And comfortable with herself. First time I'm hearing this.
That is some talented voice. And attractive personality. I think I would have liked her eh alot !!!
My aunt Josie used to sing this when ironing clothes at my grandparents apt. when I was in elementary school. Made me want to boogie!
George was conducting in 2/4 and the song is in 4/4. But the musicians are listening to the drums & bass and not watching the conductor as often happens in "Popular Music". Ella Mae is always great on this tune. She also sings that on a 1959 video with Freddie Slack and that show is hosted by Ronald Reagan (The Swingin' Singin" Years) Maybe still be on UA-cam.
Oooofff, Wowwww, Ella Mae Morse !!!
Great sound.
Why have I never heard of her? She's great! I've loved Liberace all my life.
This is the third version of "Cow Cow..." Besides Ella Mae I've heard Dorothy Dandridge and Steve Gibson's Red Caps. All great and well done. Cool song that translates well to different styles.
I like Dorothy's the best . Her dancing and the flirty way she sings the lyrics. But all are great !
The song was written for and performed by Ella Fitzgerald in the 1942 Abbot and Costello film, "Ride 'em Cowboy." Composed by jazz bandleader and frequently uncredited Hollywood music composer, Benny Carter, the song was cut from the film and later given to Ella Mae Morse to perform at fledgling Capitol records. Morse learned the song listening to Fitzgerald's soundtrack arrangement and had Capitol's 1st hit record. Fitzgerald recorded the song with the Ink Spots a year after the movie which was a Top 10 hit and #1 R&B chart hit.
Fitzgerald's appearance in this film was a reflection of her multiple hit success singing with Chick Webb. Her blockbuster hit, "A Tisket a Tasket" had already achieved signature song status; Director John Ford famously used it in his opening scene to "The Grapes of Wrath" and Ella performed it with Abbot and Costello in 'Ride 'em Cowboy." Why the studio chose to cut her other tune in the film, "Cow Cow Boogie" is a mystery. Morse certainly didn't complain about the cut, lol.
An unsung architect of R&R (like Martha Carson) - wish people would give these gals the credit they deserve.... THANKS!!!!
A "wow" from Germany
Thanks.
This has a great sound
Cool and laidback voice
This is really great! Thanks for posting. This will make a lot of Ella Mae Morse fans happy.
Thank you from Amsterdam.
Super!
Loved her House of Blue Lights.
Great speaking voice as well as singing voice. Sexy without even trying. Love her little flirty-flirty with the band. 😄
this is great!
I just remembered that there’s a short comedy film from when this song was a hit in the early 1940s - it consists of film clips of real cows whose mouths have been animated to “sing” this song!
Sounds great...! One of the best I've heard on UA-cam. Thanks, SCargo.
Our pleasure!
Reading the comments, I see these people are too young to know Ella May was a Big Band singer (as was Doris Day). She was on radio, had some film cameos but was heavily pursued by recording companies (vinyl to the youngsters). She was a WWII radio star and the blurb here tells about Capital Records.
It’s THE ELLA MAE❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤FOR MEEEEEEEE 🗣️REplayMORSE
Who knew Liberace could swing?
EXCELLENT🐎 FABOULOUS🐎 AWESOME 🐎
Heaven on earth!
Top !
I remember Liberche hosting a 15 minute daytime show back in the mid 1950's. Wonder if this great clip of Ella Mae is from that show.
Yes. from 1954.
A surprise that Liberace played boogie woogie !
No surprise. The man could play any style at any speed, backward, even piling different songs on top of one another etc. A musician whose talent went unappreciated to the larger public.
There are videos on UA-cam where Liberace plays speedy boogie-woogies...
Oh how i need a time machine
The real "godmother" of Rock'n'Roll.
lol, get real
Nice answer....without any discussion. Isn't it funny that us who actually lived through the birth of R'n'R regard Ella as the Godmother....but people like you, who can't even put a sentence together "lol", seem to think they know better. You were not even born then. @@waldolydecker8118
I WANT THE REAL AUDIO PERFORMANCE!
Love Libber
love
good Lord, I'm smiling like an idiot watching this video ^____________^
She had A voice, he really could play piano.
He was gay, and had to hide it.
Brilliant professional performance by both of them were them
I don't know for sure - but Ella Mae looks genetically mixed race to me - stunningly beautiful none the less.
Cool video
Bravo ,vivat Ela Mae morse!boogie woogie.number oné hits.ela_icone world culture and popculture.40.and50.years_time old,tíme gold.basic modern world music.time jazz swing.ela_genre music jazz,blues ,country and rock n roll....songs and music ela_beatifull Melody,tonally,Harmony,tempe and rhythm ,vocals,lyrics and sound music.aestetics,poetics.miracle.ela died 19.10.1999.ela,good bye!thanks your very múch.peter ragac,slovakia
This is HOT!
People were made different back then.
it's too bad the audio has been messed with. just because you can do something,doesn't mean you should.
Not bad. Dorothy Dandridge's version is my favorite.
Thanks for posting.
Definitely needs more cowbell.
What did you do to change the sound during the song? Is that an attempt to create a stereo effect? Is one of the channels (left or right) delayed or out of phase with the other channel?
Tommy Dorsy took her on tour without knowing she was underage. Almost got in hot water
@garystefanski7227 It was Jimmy Dorsey, not Tommy.
So she sang this before Dorothy Dandridge? This is a good song.
Better by Dorothy.
Dorothy's version, very, very good. Ella Mae's version, even better.
Ella Fitzgerald had a very early version, don't see it here on UA-cam.
From what I read, the song was originally composed for--get this--an Abbot&Costello movie. It got cut out. Ella Fitzgerald did it first, with the Ink Spots. It's here on the Tube. Almost immediately after, Morse recorded her famous version, with Freddie Slack and company. DD's version--also here on the Tube--came I think the following year, 1943. All three are excellent. Ella Mae is my favorite though; just phenomenal. Maybe a Texan would have an advantage on a song like this.
@@henrybrowne7248 If you're a born Texan the drawl and accent are ingrained in you from birth; I'm a long time transplant and trying to perfect my accent. lol.
Where is his candelabra?
Thank you fallout 76 for introducing to her!
Lovely version but Dorothy Dandrige's version from 1942 blows it away. She was perfect!!!
I would say Liberace was happy with that kiss.I am not sure though
Card I B's version?
I knew the ''cow cow blues'' before this song. And I happy wonder: ''Wow, that blues has a text...!'' and then I understand. :(
but I don't say that cow boogie is terrible ;)
Where’s George 0:40
Right there @0:42
I'm surprised being raised on loco weed made it by the censors of the day....
Songs in this era generally were not censored for booze or drug referral.
The term “loco weed” was created for a western plant that poisoned cows and horses that ate it, so it didn’t mean marijuana. Obviously in these lyrics you can interpret it differently.
She is soo cool, she makes liberace look like a nerd. Sad he didnt enjoy that kiss like the rest of us would have. What a waste.
Jonathan - you must not be familiar with the histories of American pop culture and/or homosexuals. Liberace had a top-rated TV show in the mid-'50s and the viewing public in general was not aware of his orientation, even after the Confidential scandal magazine article. Take a listen to "Mr. Sandman." Also, he was trained as a classical pianist, but was such a versatile professional that he could also "get down" with the best of musicians. And just because a gay male receives a kiss from a woman does not mean it's not pleasurable. It is. It simply isn't sexual. And that wouldn't have been what the sponsors were looking for anyway.
Your logo is excessive, annoying, and TOO LONG
Lol! Liberace isn't even looking at the music.. Also, this seems like a slower version of The Andrews' Sisters song, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy :(
her original version is better,this is too fast
Her original--here on YT--is an absolute masterpiece in my opinion. Freddie Slack orchestra deserves credit too.
Also done by Ella Fitzgerald…
Liberace didn't want the kiss and Ella didn't want to kiss that creep but for the show you know.
Maybe she wanted to get him in the straight path! lol.
I love Dorothy Dandridge version
She's great, but the sound changed when she's singing, that should have been taken off.
Could that be considered a mullet?
I prefer Dorothy Dandridge version
Tempo is much too fast.
Not really
Putin ca swing
Dorothy Dandrige's version is better.
Heaven on earth!
Yep!