It's Obscure Disney Song Week here at Covering the Mouse and I have a spooky Halloween song for you! This month's obscure Disney song is The Headless Horseman from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow segment of The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad. The song was originally sung in 1949 by BING CROSBY and covered a few months after the films release by jazz singer, KAY STARR.
This version of Headless Horseman reminds me of classic Disney music from the shorts of the 40s. It has that distinct pop jazz sound to it. In fact, it is not that different from the Bing Crosby original but her sweet jazz voice is, dare I say it, nicer to listen to than Bing's. She is backed by the BILLY BUTTERFIELD QUINTET with background vocals by the THREE BEAUS AND A PEEP.
In 1948, the American Federation of Musicians was threatening a strike so Capitol Records, Starr's label, made all of their singers record a bunch of popular songs so that they could continue to release music while the strike was on. But Starr was new to the industry at the time so all of the good songs were given to the "popular" singers and she was left with the scraps. Is this why she recorded Headless Horseman? Because the all the good ones were taken? It certainly isn't a pop hit and it does fit with the timing of the strike. That's my guess.
3 comments:
That is fantastic. Fun.
This song has always been a favorite of mine since I was a tyke. I heard the Kay Starr version for the first time last year and I am very thankful that I did.
I love this jazzy version of the song... but then again, I like this kind of jazz music anyway.
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