Songwriters Billy Rose (co-author of "You Tell Her I Stutter") and Harry Woods (co-wrote "Paddlin' Madeline Home" as well as the evergren "Side By Side") outdid themselves here on this jovial tune that seems tailor-made for the effervescent
team of Billy Jones and Ernest Hare. When this record was made for Edison, on November 13 of 1924, they were indeed being called "The Happiness Boys" as their radio show was being sponsored by the "Happiness Candy Stores". The tune was very
popular, having been covered by Ted Lewis, the Original Memphis Five, Jack Miller's Orchestra, and many others, but none of those versions was as naturally jovial as this one. Besides the written lyrics, lampooning marraige and politics (some
of it frighteningly current), the pair add parodies of grand opera (Jones does a "Pagliacci" excerpt that would do Leoncavallo proud) and also themselves at the end - real entertainment. The disc from which this was sampled was nearly perfect,
only needing rumble removal. (For more reading, check out the "Turtle Services Jukebox" thumbnail history of the pair.)
