The Moon Has His Eyes on You - REDUX

Bessie Wynn as Sir Dashemoff

I just ran across a splendid new performance of "The Moon Has His Eyes on You" on YouTube — a link to the video is shared below.

This song was originally performed by Sir Dashemoff Daily in Act I of The Wizard of Oz during the tour in the 1905 season. The song was also recorded by Ada Jones on both cylinder and disc during that year. Her Edison cylinder recording can be heard on my 2 CD set Vintage Recordings from the 1903 Wizard of Oz.

In the shared video, the song is performed by Robert Lamont and Gabrielle Lee. They put the song over in a slower, more sultry fashion than the fast-paced, crooning voice of Ada Jones on the recordings from the early 1900s. I suspect the original stage performance rather split the difference. 

The song features music by Tin Pan Alley composer Albert Von Tilzer (1878-1956) and lyrics by African-American lyricist Billy Johnson (1858-1916). They each wrote several other songs used in The Wizard of Oz.

Here is a link to the contemporary performance on the Robert Lamont - Tin Pan Alley YOUTUBE channel: https://youtu.be/g3x-Ze29gec?si=GnBNCh-dGrROYx0p

Enjoy! There are many other enjoyable links on this YOUTUBE channel if you click-through.

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