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Israelite House of David - Popular Hit Tune
  
Gee! But ain't it grand to hear that band
play the House of David Blues.
All the folks in town gather around
To see the funny things they do.
A little story that I want to tell
about a certain band that you know well.
An aggregation down in Michigan
with a leader man by the name of Ben.
Gee! But ain't it grand to hear that band
play the House of David Blues.
All the folks in town gather around
To see the funny things they do.
They started Jazzin back in ninety-two
and entertained the folks with music blue.
No one has ideas like this leader has
That's why the call it the "Harbor of Jazz"
By the end of 1923, no less than 9 different versions of the tune had already been recorded and released on about 27 different record labels. The House of David Blues has been recorded many times in the eighty years since then. It evolved from a popular hit tune into a jazz standard, and later became a fiddle mainstay of the Grand Ol' Opry. In the process it slipped into the vernacular. Today few know the original words and the famous bands they memorialized.
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