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Can't We Be Friends?

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Written: 1929

Music by: Kay Swift

Words by: Paul James
(aka James Paul Warburg)

Written for: The Little Show
(revue, 1929)

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On the Main Stage at Cafe Songbook


(Please complete or pause one
video before starting another.)

Jim Cullum Jazz Band with guests
singer Catherine Russell and pianist Dick Hyman

performing

"Can't We Be Friends?"

at Pearl Stable, San Antonio, TX, May, 2010, for the Public Radio program "Riverwalk Jazz"

JCJB members: Jim Cullum, cornet; Ron Hockett, reeds; Mike Pittsley, trombone; Jim Turner, piano; Howard Elkins, guitar; Ric Ramirez, bass; Mike Waskiewicz, drums.

More Performances of "Can't We Be Friends?" in the Cafe Songbook
Record/Video Cabinet

 

Cafe Songbook Reading Room

"Can't We Be Friends?"

Critics Corner || Lyrics Lounge

About The Little Show

Other songs written for The Little Show currently included in the Cafe Songbook Catalog of The Great American Songbook:

1. I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan

2, Moanin' Low

 

More details about The Little Show at Wikipedia

 

Howard Dietz, Dancing in the Dark, photo of book jacket
Howard Dietz. Dancing in the Dark: Words by Howard Dietz. New York: Quadrangle,
The New York Times Book Co., 1974

The Little Show was a revue which, according to Howard Dietz, should not be compared to the large and lavish revues of Ziegfeld and Earl Carroll but rather to something like the topical and witty Garrick Gaities. Comparisons have also been made to the previous decade's intimate Princess Theater shows of Jerome Kern, P. G. Wodehouse and Guy Bolton and the British Charlot Revues. The show was produced by Dwight Deere Wiman and William A. Brady in association with Tom Weatherly, the latter two of whom recruited Dietz in a speakeasy on West 49th Street to do the lyrics and some sketches. George S. Kaufman also wrote sketches and the producers suggested to Dietz that he work with composer Arthur Schwartz for the music. All the songs in the show, with the exception of "Can't We Be Friends? (music by Kay Swift, words by Paul James), "Moanin' Low" (music by Ralph Rainger, words by Howard Dietz) and "A Little Hut in Hoboken" (words and music by Herman Hupfeld) had music by Schwartz and lyrics by Dietz. The Little Show was the first of eleven collaborations for Broadway shows by that songwriting team.

The more well known members of the cast included Fred Allen, Libby Holman and Clifton Webb the last of whom introduced "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan." The show opened on April, 30, 1929 and ran for 321 performances at The Music Box theater.

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Lyrics Lounge (This section is currently in preparation.)

 

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Credits

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Credits for Videomakers of custom videos used on this page:

  • Jim Cullum Jazz Band and guests—singer Catherine Russell and pianist Dick Hyman: Riverwalk Jazz Radio

Borrowed material (text): The sources of all quoted and paraphrased text are cited. Such content is used under the rules of fair use to further the educational objectives of CafeSongbook.com. CafeSongbook.com makes no claims to rights of any kind in this content or the sources from which it comes.

 

Borrowed material (images): Images of CD, DVD, book and similar product covers are used courtesy of either Amazon.com or iTunes/LinkShare with which CafeSongbook.com maintains an affiliate status. All such images are linked to the source from which they came (i.e. either iTunes/LinkShare or Amazon.com).

 

Any other images that appear on CafeSongbook.com pages are either in the public domain or appear through the specific permission of their owners. Such permission will be acknowledged in this space on the page where the image is used.

 

For further information on Cafe Songbook policies with regard to the above matters, see our "About Cafe Songbook" page (link at top and bottom of every page).

 

This section is currently incomplete.

The Cafe Songbook
Record/Video Cabinet:
Selected Recordings of

"Can't We Be Friends?"


(All Record/Video Cabinet entries below
include a music-video
of this page's featured song.
The year given is for when the studio
track was originally laid down
or when the live performance was given.)

Performer/Recording Index
(*indicates accompanying music-video)

  • Performer 1 (year)
  • Performer 2 (year)

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Amazon iTunes

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