I had never heard of the Mills Brothers until last year when I was asking my Mom who is 73 what music she likes. She said she loves the Mills Brothers and Kay Starr, Connie Francis (who I saw in San Francisco this year) and many more. I even found out Harry Mills was who Dean Martin styled himself after. That is right, this is why youtube matters. I am so happy to have it!
My first year of college my dad bought himself a victrola. and a stack of mills brothers records. I loved it! Listened to all of them a lot. Glad to see they were filmed.
Great clip. Thanks for posting. Great artists like the Mills Brothers sure know how to exploit both the strengths and weaknesses of the technology available to them. The low fidelity of the sound systems of the time allowed them to use their voices to impersonate band instruments perfectly.
I don't know that there's a specific name for it; it is basically using the voice / lips to mimic band instruments, in this case, a trumpet playing with plunger-cup mute on the "solo" line; the two guys to the left are imitating trombones or saxophones, and of course the fellow playing the big uke is booming along as the "string-bass". Basically the, tone is produced by humming, For another example of this style of vocalization search for the Comedian Harmonists performing "Creole Love Call".
@anlee617 : That little ball was also used on Mitch Miller's TV show, "Sing Along with Mitch" from 1960-1966. The band would play the tunes, with Mitch conducting. Every song played on his show had the lyrics at the bottom of the screen, with that little bouncing ball for each song. Kind of a pre-karaoke thing, where people could sing along at home.
As suggested, the original four are best because the eldest brother was the foundation with his bass and guitar. He died way too young and we all lost.
Can you imagine a modern movie theater audience sing along today! Just follow the bouncing ball - Yeah, right! Love this early precursor to the now familiar “I’m Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody” medley!
This is an amazing piece of history. The Mills Brothers are one of the greatest vocal groups of all time, and this is the original group with all four brothers. Thanks.
@JRR951 It's on a collection of their early stuff from the '30s, before they got super big with 'Til Then and Paper Doll. It's 4 or 5 cds, there's some stuff on it with Louis Armstrong if I remember right, and some with Bing Crosby, who they had a close professional relationship with since the mid-20s. They and Bing pioneered close mic singing, are the progenitors of all modern singings, heavily influencing Dean Martin who was a huge influence on Elvis Presley.
Modern-day audiences really need to watch a series of these films to see how the Mills Brothers evolved--from teen radio/recording stars in the 1930's to the hottest vocal group of WW2 to late-middle age to the early 1980's, before Harry's death.
Though the Mills Brothers are performing the title tune in this clip from the same-named cartoon, the Screen Songs cartoon was really made to capitalize on the "Tiger Rag" hit song in
Whoa!! I can't tell if you're complaining or are just completely unaware. This Mill's Brothers' musical short is one of the earliest examples films with sound. There was no digital recording then since it was shot about 90 years ago. So, I ask you as sarcastically as your comment, are you really that clueless? This film from 1932 was transferred from a 16mm projector and the original audio was from the parallel optical track (look it up). Your attempt at sarcastic humor just falls flat. If you don't like the sound quality here there's always Bieber.
I'm personally not fond of it one bit at all, myself. However as a vocal musician, history buff and former radio personality, I totally understand why it's there, and that's why I can 100% tolerate it. Early analog recording mediums (be they Victrola wax cylinders, early phonograph records, audio from the first talkies, early tape recording systems, and yes - early recordings of radio on any medium) were not of modern quality, seeing as the technology hadn't developed to create clean, perfect recordings. This stuff was recorded before the advent of Hi-Fi (High Fidelity Recording), and before modern analog tapes, modern analog vinyl, and of course, long before digital recording were ever a thing. As such, recordings like this have character, and show part of an era early on in one of the great technological advancements we humans made in the late-19th Century all the way to the present era.
Bittersweet song, really charming. If you start pausing around 1:25 onwards, you can see the 'hidden' text behind the bouncing ball mentions "weirdo video", which is where this video originated from - must be some kind of compression glitch. Shame, because I was looking for some cryptic 1930's secret messages... Anyway, thanks for posting this gem, Weirdo.
C'est absolument captivant, un vrai trésor, du talent...es bellicima y parece un pajaro en el cielo cantando con el sol con la luz, Man thats bring me in a mood to fly and skype the sky
FREDDY von FRANKENSTEIN: Eye-gor! EYE-GOR: Froedrick! FREDDY von FRANKENSTEIN: What are you doing down here? EYE-GOR: I heard the strangest music coming from the kitchen dumbwaiter, and I just... followed it... down. Call it "a hunch"! (** points at hunchback **) Ba-Doom-Tiss!
I see it, but I don't believe it--a video when The Mills Brothers weren't old. They were old when they were young. I'm not sure this meant to be seen of this world. Cab Driver Once More Round the Block.
The human voice as instrument is very African in tradition. A very spiritual way of communicating beyond the human emotive. The anguish of the disembodied soul, without essence, articulates the existentialism of african-americans in america in the early twentieth century. The song is located or coded in terms of his "baby". In this way it appears to be about a forlorn lover, not a protest or social commentary on one's human condition. DGibson
For those who bitch about how come today's artists don't do songs like this anymore outside duets and/or awards shows: Probably with Michael Buble/Harry Connick and Lady GaGa as among the very few notable exceptions, non-jazz singers have little business even attempting it.
Shuda7 It's always been like that for modern-day listeners/viewers, not unlike illustrators Norman Rockwell and J. C. Leyendecker, whose Saturday Evening Post artwork is often confused with one another, distinction between them be damned. Even I had the two groups confused in my mind, until I remembered a famous photo of the young Mills Brothers in concert--and Curly Howard of three stooges fame was on stage with them. I had thought they were the Ink Spots until I remembered Herbert kneeling in front of Curly (with a full head of hair!), whose arms were outstretched.
I had never heard of the Mills Brothers until last year when I was asking my Mom who is 73 what music she likes. She said she loves the Mills Brothers and Kay Starr, Connie Francis (who I saw in San Francisco this year) and many more. I even found out Harry Mills was who Dean Martin styled himself after. That is right, this is why youtube matters. I am so happy to have it!
Nice to see a video with their guitar playing brother, John Jr, on film. He died so young.
My first year of college my dad bought himself a victrola. and a stack of mills brothers records. I loved it! Listened to all of them a lot. Glad to see they were filmed.
The Mills bothers were deservedly -super famous in those days.One of the most popular groups of this century along with the platters among others.
*gapes*bows* Oh..my..goodness! Thanks a thousand times for posting someting so ephemeral and timelessly beautiful!
Talent is timeless.
Great clip. Thanks for posting.
Great artists like the Mills Brothers sure know how to exploit both the strengths and weaknesses of the technology available to them. The low fidelity of the sound systems of the time allowed them to use their voices to impersonate band instruments perfectly.
They could have only gotten away with this gimmick in the early 1930's; both sound and radio (ditto television) were
still in their infancy.
I don't know that there's a specific name for it; it is basically using the voice / lips to mimic band instruments, in this case, a trumpet playing with plunger-cup mute on the "solo" line; the two guys to the left are imitating trombones or saxophones, and of course the fellow playing the big uke is booming along as the "string-bass". Basically the, tone is produced by humming,
For another example of this style of vocalization search for the Comedian Harmonists performing "Creole Love Call".
so much talent they make it look easy, wonderful
Wish they would make more songs like this today. Maybe I'll write some and hope for it to be as good as this.
These guys had an understanding of the sonic spectrum of the devices of the era. It's clear. What a creative bunch. And Talented.
@anlee617 : That little ball was also used on Mitch Miller's TV show, "Sing Along with Mitch" from 1960-1966. The band would play the tunes, with Mitch conducting. Every song played on his show had the lyrics at the bottom of the screen, with that little bouncing ball for each song. Kind of a pre-karaoke thing, where people could sing along at home.
Also the country singer Dick Curless. He recorded the song twice, and the second version charted as a Billboard Country hit in the late 1960's.
Just... plain... amazing!!!
As suggested, the original four are best because the eldest brother was the foundation with his bass and guitar. He died way too young and we all lost.
You got that right!
What great harmony and talent!!! Thanks for posting real professionals.
Beautiful
Awesome super rare! Thanks!
@pkneeno
That's a tenor guitar. Tune in 5ths, like a cello, C,G, D, A
Man, this is way cool! Thank you!!
Can you imagine a modern movie theater audience sing along today! Just follow the bouncing ball - Yeah, right!
Love this early precursor to the now familiar “I’m Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody” medley!
This song was made for me.I ain't got nobody.Forever alone😢
i'm here!
My word, How did this survive to RUclips.
We sure lucked out, Ive only been able to hear this song on Records. o.o
awesome...i've been trying to find this for ten years or so.
The Mills Brothers at their peak!!!
Before the brother passed away and the father took over.
GREAT!!!
This is an amazing piece of history. The Mills Brothers are one of the greatest vocal groups of all time, and this is the original group with all four brothers. Thanks.
So are these the originals...great song!
@JRR951
It's on a collection of their early stuff from the '30s, before they got super big with 'Til Then and Paper Doll. It's 4 or 5 cds, there's some stuff on it with Louis Armstrong if I remember right, and some with Bing Crosby, who they had a close professional relationship with since the mid-20s. They and Bing pioneered close mic singing, are the progenitors of all modern singings, heavily influencing Dean Martin who was a huge influence on Elvis Presley.
Up to--and including the likes of MIchael Buble, Pentatonix, and Srraight No Chaser.
AWESOME... what talent...
The skeletons that live in my attic are always singing this.
beautiful
Modern-day audiences really need to watch a series of these films to see how the Mills Brothers evolved--from teen radio/recording stars in the 1930's to the hottest vocal group of WW2 to late-middle age to the early 1980's, before Harry's death.
I love this song :)
Eventhough I wasn't even born in that time, well more like 60 years after lol.
But I still think its a great song.
From Tiger Rag through Cab Driver, I don't think these guys could make a bad record. I wish they were as known and respected today as they should be.
I brought myself here because this is good music.
Darn tootin'!
Absolutely amazing! Thank you for posting this!
The real music is brought me here, and my good taste!
Fabian Doulton of New Orleans sings this song all the time at Schiro's Restaurant on the corner of St. Roch and Royal in the French Quarter !
Wonderful post! Thanks it's a classic:)
Great!!!
I love the boys Mills.
excellent song :)
Thanks for the video! 2 thumbs up for Mills Brothers~~
Though the Mills Brothers are performing the title tune in this clip from the same-named cartoon, the Screen Songs cartoon was really made to capitalize on the "Tiger Rag" hit song in
Who else likes static background noise in songs?
It's great.
fuckin hate it
Whoa!!
I can't tell if you're complaining or are just completely unaware.
This Mill's Brothers' musical short is one of the earliest examples films with sound.
There was no digital recording then since it was shot about 90 years ago.
So, I ask you as sarcastically as your comment, are you really that clueless?
This film from 1932 was transferred from a 16mm projector and the original audio was from the parallel optical track (look it up).
Your attempt at sarcastic humor just falls flat.
If you don't like the sound quality here there's always Bieber.
Why'd you assume sarcasm? I actually fucking love that sound. It's soothing. Thanks for the videos!
I love it
I'm personally not fond of it one bit at all, myself. However as a vocal musician, history buff and former radio personality, I totally understand why it's there, and that's why I can 100% tolerate it. Early analog recording mediums (be they Victrola wax cylinders, early phonograph records, audio from the first talkies, early tape recording systems, and yes - early recordings of radio on any medium) were not of modern quality, seeing as the technology hadn't developed to create clean, perfect recordings. This stuff was recorded before the advent of Hi-Fi (High Fidelity Recording), and before modern analog tapes, modern analog vinyl, and of course, long before digital recording were ever a thing.
As such, recordings like this have character, and show part of an era early on in one of the great technological advancements we humans made in the late-19th Century all the way to the present era.
They already have some recording techniques of voice and video simultaneously in 1920's. Check out THE JAZZ SINGER made in 1927.
Thumbs up if you dont need anyone to bring you to music.
wow wow wow! extraordinary! thank you so much for this, it's just amazing! =)
lol i didn't think anyone who played fallout 3 would listen to this kind of music. i guess you learn something every day
@alttake This was used a review for a tv show. I'll send you the video so it can make sense.
My computer brought me here. Big shout out to my fingers as well. They had definitely had a hand in it. amirite?
AWESOME=)
Thumbs up if regardless of who brought you here, you keep coming back.
Louis Prima did a medley of the songs "Just a gigolo" and "I aint got nobody".
omg old! but good
damn, that's amazing
this clip can be found on a movie called Jazz Ball,that was made in the fifties.
C'est absolument captivant!!
Introducing the very young Mills Brothers--the first boy band.
Bittersweet song, really charming. If you start pausing around 1:25 onwards, you can see the 'hidden' text behind the bouncing ball mentions "weirdo video", which is where this video originated from - must be some kind of compression glitch. Shame, because I was looking for some cryptic 1930's secret messages... Anyway, thanks for posting this gem, Weirdo.
IT'S THE BEEESTT! THE BEST OF THE BEST, THE BEST THE BEST! LALALAA!...A....A..
it's kewl.
Interesting to see just how far back "Just A Gigolo" originated...how long before Louis Prima was this?
i ain´t got nobody for 6 years :´(
It's sooooooooooo great :-)
Here because of NC :)
The only thing that made me sad is when I thought of the age of these men.
@JD1379 Kutiman - Trumpet woman
@WickedNavajo love that meme
esto ayuda a reconstruir la música.
Is it just me, or does "I'm just a gigolo" sounds exactly like that song?
No vocal group has ever done it better than these guys. I only hate the last few second of this video was cut off.
C'est absolument captivant, un vrai trésor, du talent...es bellicima y parece un pajaro en el cielo cantando con el sol con la luz, Man thats bring me in a mood to fly and skype the sky
Can someone tell me if they made a recording of this that made it on an album? I can't find this song anywhere
Great harmony, great song. Is that a ukulele accompaniment? I only see four strings. Thanks for a great upload.
Technically David Lee Roth, Louis Armstrong, and my general love for Blues/Jazz music brought me here.
this is where scratching and beat boxing must have come from.
"Eyegor!"
"Frodrick."
As I understand it, the early 1930's. -WV
Thumbs up if Nostalgia Critic DIDN'T bring you here.
FREDDY von FRANKENSTEIN: Eye-gor!
EYE-GOR: Froedrick!
FREDDY von FRANKENSTEIN: What are you doing down here?
EYE-GOR: I heard the strangest music coming from the kitchen dumbwaiter, and I just... followed it... down. Call it "a hunch"! (** points at hunchback **) Ba-Doom-Tiss!
I can imagine the audience in the theaters singing along as they follow the bouncing ball.
Would this play before or after the newsreel?
Claude I'm here to give you a notification and remind you of this song if you've forgotten.
I think he's dead
Yeah looks like..
mo fuc ing nice
My fucking theme song..
0:44
I ain't got nobody
Thumbs up if Nostalgia Critic brought you here out of dumb curiosity where that clip from his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Cartoon Review came from!
The Nostalgia Critic brought me here.
It doesn't appear to have been recorded, at least if you consider the "Chronological Mills Brothers" collection to be complete as it claims to be.
I see it, but I don't believe it--a video when The Mills Brothers weren't old. They were old when they were young. I'm not sure this meant to be seen of this world. Cab Driver Once More Round the Block.
He's an internet comedian who reviews bad movies and TV shows from the 80s and 90s. He used part of this video for a joke in one of his reviews
if you can't find it I can send some of their songs!
True - text: "I ain't got nobody" :D
Someone needs to put up the Patti Smith version at some point
This song could be great for Fallout 3 :D
Çok güzel
i played this song when i proposed matrimony and she said NO T_T
The human voice as instrument is very African in tradition. A very spiritual way
of communicating beyond the human emotive. The anguish of the disembodied
soul, without essence, articulates the existentialism of african-americans in america in the early twentieth century. The song is located or coded in terms of his "baby". In this way it appears to be about a forlorn lover, not a protest or social commentary on one's human condition. DGibson
Deborah Gibson deep
Open your eyes to the lies you live with...
For those who bitch about how come today's artists don't do songs like this anymore outside duets and/or awards shows: Probably with Michael Buble/Harry Connick and Lady GaGa as among the very few notable exceptions, non-jazz singers have little business even attempting it.
thumbs up if you're foreveralone.jpg.
When I first heard this song, I thought it was by the Ink Spots, my bad. Amazing song!
Shuda7 It's always been like that for modern-day listeners/viewers, not unlike illustrators Norman Rockwell and J. C. Leyendecker, whose Saturday Evening Post artwork is often confused with one another, distinction between them be damned. Even I had the two groups confused in my mind, until I remembered a famous photo of the young Mills Brothers in concert--and Curly Howard of three stooges fame was on stage with them. I had thought they were the Ink Spots until I remembered Herbert kneeling in front of Curly (with a full head of hair!), whose arms were outstretched.