Jim Dandy (song)
{{Short description|Popular R&B song}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Jim Dandy
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = LaVern Baker
| album = LaVern Baker
| B-side = Tra La La
| released = 1956
| format =
| recorded = December 1955
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Rhythm and blues
| length = 2:26
| label = Atlantic
| writer = Lincoln Chase
| producer =
| prev_title = I Can't Love You Enough
| prev_year = 1956
| next_title = Tra La La
| next_year = 1956
}}
"Jim Dandy" (sometimes known as "Jim Dandy to the Rescue") is a song written by Lincoln Chase, and was first recorded by American R&B singer LaVern Baker on December 21, 1955.{{Citation |title=LaVern Baker - Real Gone Gal |year=1984 |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/2542944-LaVern-Baker-Real-Gone-Gal |language=en |access-date=2022-05-02}} It reached the top of the R&B chart{{cite web
|url = http://www.uncamarvy.com/LavernBaker/lavernbaker.html
|title = Lavern Baker
|last = Goldberg
|first = Marv
|website = Uncamarvy.com
|access-date = 2010-09-09
}} and #17 on the pop charts in the United States. It was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and was ranked #352 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.{{citation
|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/4
|title=The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
|access-date=2010-09-09
|publisher=Rolling Stone
|date=2004-12-09
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621075825/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/4
|archivedate=2008-06-21
|url-status=dead
}}
The tenor saxophone solo is by Sam "The Man" Taylor.{{cite web|author=John Laughter |url=http://cafesaxophone.com/content.php?208-History-Top-40-Saxophone-Solos |title=Top 40 Saxophone Solos |publisher=Cafe Saxophone |date=31 July 2015 |access-date=6 November 2015}} The drummer on the session was veteran Panama Francis.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8U83AgAAQBAJ&q=drums+%22lavern+baker%22+%22jim+dandy%22&pg=PA330 |title=Encyclopedia of Percussion |author=John H. Beck |page=330 |date=2013-11-26 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317747680 |access-date=2016-08-29}} The backing vocals are provided by Atlantic's in-house backing group at the time, the Cues (credited as the Gliders), consisting of first tenor Abel DeCosta, second tenor Ollie Jones (formerly of the Ravens), bass Edward Barnes, and baritone Winfield Scott.{{cite web |url=http://www.uncamarvy.com/Cues/cues.html |title=Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks - CUES |website=www.uncamarvy.com |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624010732/http://www.uncamarvy.com/Cues/cues.html |archive-date=24 June 2010 |url-status=dead}}
Background
The song is about a man (Jim Dandy) who rescues women from improbable or impossible predicaments. It proved popular enough that Chase wrote a second song for Baker entitled "Jim Dandy Got Married."
The American English term jim-dandy for an outstanding person or thing predates the song; first attested in 1844, it may itself come from the title of an old song, "Dandy Jim of Caroline".{{OEtymD|jim-dandy|access-date=1 February 2012}}
Black Oak Arkansas recording
{{Infobox song
| name = Jim Dandy
| cover =
| alt =
| type = Single
| artist = Black Oak Arkansas
| album = High on the Hog
| B-side = Red Hot Lovin'
| released = 1973
| format =
| recorded = 1973
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Southern rock{{cite book|title= Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s|first1=Don|last1=Breithaupt|first2= Jeff|last2= Breithaupt|date= October 15, 1996|chapter= Planet of the Apes: Hard Rock|page= 106|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=031214704X|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RMPCAwAAQBAJ}}
| length = 2:38
| label = Atco Records
| writer = Lincoln Chase
| producer =
| prev_title = Hot and Nasty
| prev_year = 1973
| next_title = Hey Y'all
| next_year = 1974
}}
In 1973 the song was recorded by southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas. It hit #25 on the pop chart and featured Jim Mangrum (who had already been using "Jim Dandy" as a stage name before they covered the song) and female vocalist Ruby Starr trading off vocals. It was the first single from their 1973 album High on the Hog, the band's most commercially successful album. In Canada, the song reached #13,{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.4966a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - February 23, 1974}} and was #131 in the year-end top 200.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.3893b.pdf| title=RPM Top 200 Singles of 1974 - December 28, 1974}}
Other recorded versions
- Ann-Margret recorded a version on her 1962 album The Vivacious One.{{cite web|title=www.allmusic.com|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-vivacious-one-mw0000469182|website=allmusic.com|accessdate=November 29, 2023}}
- The song is the B-side to James Reyne's 1989 single, "One More River".{{cite web|title=www.discogs.com|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/1837171-James-Reyne-One-More-River|website=discogs.com|accessdate=November 29, 2023}}
Popular culture
- The song was featured in the 1972 John Waters film Pink Flamingos.
- The Black Oak Arkansas recording of the song was used in the 1993 film Dazed and Confused.
- A version by the Wright Brothers Band was used in the 1987 film Overboard.
- In the early-to-mid 2000s, a used car lot called J. D. Byrider produced a version replacing "Jim Dandy" with "JD" to advertise that they would "rescue" buyers with bad credit.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}
- Also featured in the 1987 movie "The Big Town" starring Matt Dillon
References
{{Reflist}}
{{LaVern Baker}}
{{Black Oak Arkansas}}
{{Ann-Margret}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Songs written by Lincoln Chase
Category:Atlantic Records singles
Category:Songs about fictional male characters
{{1950s-single-stub}}