When The Midnight Choo-Choo
Leaves For Alabam'
music by irving berlin
WHEN THE MIDNIGHT CHOO-CHOO LEAVES FOR ALABAM'
WHEN THE MIDNIGHT CHOO-CHOO LEAVES FOR ALABAM'
(SONG CAR-TUNES) 1926
WHEN THE MIDNIGHT CHOO-CHOO LEAVES FOR ALABAM'
(SONG CAR-TUNES) 1926
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When That Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves For Alabam' was written in 1912 by Irving Berlin. At the time, songs like this that idealized the South were popular among Tin Pan Alley songwriters. The song was produced about a year after Berlin's first big hit, Alexander's Ragtime Band, which was published in 1911. In his phenomenal career that followed these hits he published over 1,500 songs. When That Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves For Alabama' has become a jazz standard, despite that there really was no midnight train to Alabama - which is a state and not a city. In 1926, the song was used for an installment of Max Fleischer's Song Car-Tunes series. Later, in 1938, Tommy Dorsey had a big hit with this song. In 1948 the song was a hit once again, for Judy Garland in the Fred Astaire musical film Easter Parade. That popular and successful film featured a soundtrack of over a dozen Berlin songs.
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1912
OPRAPHONE LONDON ORCHESTRA |
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1912
COLLINS & HARLAN |
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1913
G.H. ELLIOTT |
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1913
VICTOR MILITARY BAND |
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1913
HARRY LONG |
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19??
RAGTIME KNUTS |
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19??
THE LONDON ORCHESTRA |
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1938
BING CROSBY |
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19??
TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS CLAMBAKE SEVEN |
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19??
JUBALAIRS |
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1947
THE ANDREWS SISTERS |
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1948
FRED ASTAIRE & JUDY GARLAND from the film EASTER PARADE |
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1951
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD (12 YEARS OLD) |
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1954
from the film THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS |
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19??
DEAN MARTIN & ALICE FAYE |
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1973
CLAY HART |
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1985
TIMMY BURTON |
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1987
MICHAEL FEINSTEIN |
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1998
JACKIE WASHINGTON |
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19??
ROBERT ARTHUR ALTMAN from I LOVE A PIANO |
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2003
SISTER SWING |
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2008
LINDA ENSIGN |
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2009
SAN FRANCISCO STARLIGHT ORCHESTRA |
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20??
JACK SALEEBY & EMILY BORDON |
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2017
ALEXANDER HONKY-TONK BAND |
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WHEN THE MIDNIGHT CHOO-CHOO LEAVES FOR ALABAM'
I've had a mighty busy day
I've had to pack my things away
Now I'm going to give the landlord back his key
The very key
That opened up my dreary flat
Where many weary nights I sat
Thinking of the folks down home who think of me
You can bet you'll find me singing happily
[chorus:]
When the midnight choo-choo leaves for Alabam'
I'll be right there
I've got my fare
When I see that rusty-haired conductor-man
I'll grab him by the collar
And I'll holler
"Alabam'! Alabam'!"
That's where you stop your train
That brings me back again
Down home where I'll remain
Where my honey-lamb am
I will be right there with bells
When that old conductor yells
"All aboard! All aboard!
All aboard for Alabam'"
The minute that I reach the place
I'm goin' to overfeed my face
'Cause I haven't had a good meal since the day
I went away
I'm goin' to kiss my Pa and Ma
A dozen times for ev'ry star
Shining over Alabama's new mown hay
I'll be glad enough to throw myself away
I've had a mighty busy day
I've had to pack my things away
Now I'm going to give the landlord back his key
The very key
That opened up my dreary flat
Where many weary nights I sat
Thinking of the folks down home who think of me
You can bet you'll find me singing happily
[chorus:]
When the midnight choo-choo leaves for Alabam'
I'll be right there
I've got my fare
When I see that rusty-haired conductor-man
I'll grab him by the collar
And I'll holler
"Alabam'! Alabam'!"
That's where you stop your train
That brings me back again
Down home where I'll remain
Where my honey-lamb am
I will be right there with bells
When that old conductor yells
"All aboard! All aboard!
All aboard for Alabam'"
The minute that I reach the place
I'm goin' to overfeed my face
'Cause I haven't had a good meal since the day
I went away
I'm goin' to kiss my Pa and Ma
A dozen times for ev'ry star
Shining over Alabama's new mown hay
I'll be glad enough to throw myself away
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