Mack the Knife - Bobby Darrin - Origins

[italiansport]

Everyone has heard this song multiple times but how many of you know the origin?
Jim

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEllHMWkXEU[/ame]

It originates from the Berthold Brecht Play/Opera The Three Penny Opera!

Threepenny Opera

Reading the above synopsis will detail for you just who Suky Tawdry and Lucy Brown are!

 

[vytoland]

"Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" (later known as "Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife") is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

I walked into the BX record section.
Way back then, They had turntables so you could play the new 45s.
A clerk lady was playing a record on one.
So I listened. Interesting and unusual song.
She played it Over and over.
Mac the Knife?
So when I heard it, I heard it 5-6 times!

 

[Absalom]

The “original” from the 1931 movie version. Nazi stormtroopers frequently crashed showings of the film, among other reasons because Kurt Weill was Jewish.

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HxVcDPtDnjM[/ame]

 

[Eric300]

Interesting. I never knew all that. I just always like the song.

 

[oink]

That was interesting. All I ever knew was the Bobby Darin song.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

We all have different taste. Saying that I can't stand that song.

 

[les.b]

Thanks for the background information on this song...I remember liking it when it came out, and later learned a little of its history. But this is fascinating....

Best Regards, Les

 

[rockquarry]

Bobby Darin was one of the best. His "Mack the Knife" was easily the most popular version, as it should have been.

 

[Jack Flash]

I remember reading Three Penny Opera for a class long ago. Gave me the creeps then as now. Obviously, things were really decadent in Berlin as they were in Chicago in the '30s. Social commentary through art, ok, but not for the faint of heart.

The Doors covered this in the '60s, but here is the '30s version:
Alabama Song
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUjGPrfA6U[/ame]

 

[bluetopper]

I just know my mother was in love with Bobby Darin.....and yes I I've always liked his version of the song too. Plus his Dream Lover and Beyond the Sea. If Bobby Darin sang it, he owned it.

 

[Cardboard_killer]

Mack the Knife was the most recorded song in America of the 20th century. I have over thirty mp3 versions. It is the quintessential be-bop song, in large part because when it was translated to English, almost all the words are either one or two syllables, which allows for the be-bop sound as well as an overall flexibility that most songs of the era did not have.

My favorite version is the Brian Setzer Orchestra version, which is pretty traditional.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7khYFzKdnMQ[/ame]

 

[Cardboard_killer]

The playwright Betrolt Brecht was an anti-Nazi German that fled the country and lived in exile in the USA until after the war was over.

 

[Jack Flash]

A little drift here, but I had always thought of Bobby Darin as pretty much a dime a dozen teenage heartthrob. Ok, except for Mack the Knife. But I had forgotten this beautiful song of his:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyh-0jY2YV4[/ame]

 

[Truckin]

I had to see Three Penny Opera for a class in High school at the Cincinnati Playhouse. Loved it. My dad loved the BDarin version but I never knew the origins until I saw the play. I think of him singing along with the radio every time I hear this song. Thanks OP (Jim) for the good memories!!

 

[Golddollar]

Kevin Spacey did a great job portraying him in the movie about Bobby Darin's life.

 

[Absalom]

More Americans probably remember the song from the McDonald’s commercial than from any performing arts context

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dHNuOiZpnEc[/ame]

 

[RobertJ.]

Not too long ago someone posted a link to a website that would tell you the #1 song in the US on the day you were born.

On October 30th, 1959, Mack the Knife was the #1 song. I knew there must be a reason why I've always liked it!

 

[Jack Flash]

Not too long ago someone posted a link to a website that would tell you the #1 song in the US on the day you were born.

On October 30th, 1959, Mack the Knife was the #1 song. I knew there must be a reason why I've always liked it!

Here is one such site. You don't have to sign up for anything like some other websites require.
I tried it for 10/30/59 and did indeed get "Mack the Knife".

#1 Song On Your Birthday

 

[les.b]

Thanks, Jack.... the #1 song the day I was born was....appropriately enough...”'Its Been a Long, Long Time - Harry James”

Oh, Boy!!

Best Regards, Les