Be-bop Be-bopped

Be-bop Bebopped

As such things usually do, it began on Manhattan's 52nd Street. A bandleader named John ("Dizzy") Gillespie, "looking for a way to emphasize the more beautiful notes in swing," explained: "When you hum it, you just naturally say 'bebop, be-de-bop.' " What be-bop amounts to: hot jazz overheated, with overdone lyrics full of bawdiness, references to narcotics, and doubletalk.

Today the bigwig of be-bop is a scat named Harry ("The Hipster") Gibson, who in moments of supreme pianistic ecstasy throws his feet on the keyboard. No. 2 man is Bulee ("Slim") Gaillard, a skyscraping, zooty Negro guitarist. Gibson & Gaillard have recorded such hep numbers as Cement Mixer, which has sold more than 20,000 discs in Los Angeles alone; Yop Rock Heresay, Dreisix Cents and Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine? Sample lyrics:

She'd never, ever been so happy since she left old Ireland, Till someone prowled her pantry--man --and tampered with her can! (Wham!) . . .

She stays up nights making all the rounds,

They say she's lost about fifty-seven pounds.

Mr. Murphy claims she's getting awful thin,

And all she says is, "Gimme some skin!" (Mop!)*

Last week, in Los Angeles, be-bop got bebopped. Radio Station KMPC, outraged by both words and music, banned all Gaillard & Gibson records. Said Program Director Ted Steele: "Bebop . . . tends to make degenerates, out of our young listeners. . . ."

Angelenos young & old promptly loosed a flurry of brickbats or bouquets, according to their convictions. Slim and The Hipster were unruffled. The Los Angeles nightclub where the two play was more crowded than ever with teen-agers anxious to be bebopped; Gaillard got an invitation to play on Bing Crosby's radio program. Said The Hipster: "I do shows at high schools every week. . . . They don't seem to think there is anything degenerative about me."

* By permission of copyright owner, Warock Music Co., 1946.

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