The Borscht Belt is a nickname for the Catskills resorts largely frequented by New York Jews from the 1920s to the 1970s. The name comes from the popular Eastern European soup, Borscht, which was popular among Jewish immigrants. (The movie Dirty Dancing highlights one such Borscht Belt resort.) One of the many musical acts working the Borscht Belt circuit were the Barry Sisters, performing jazz and other popular songs in Yiddish. As teenagers in the late 1930's, the Barry Sisters started their act under their real name, The Bagelman Sisters. It was after they recorded a Yiddish version of the hit "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" by the Andrew Sisters, that they changed their name.

The Andrew Sisters scored their first major hit with the song in 1937, with a Germanized title and lyrics mostly translated to English by Tin Pan Alley songwriter Sammy Cahn. However, it was written in 1932 for a play by Sholom Secunda with Yiddish lyrics and titled "Bei Mir Bistu Shein." Cahn purchased the songs rights from Secunda and lyricist Jacob Jacobs for $30, then re-wrote a great deal of song, but the feeling and meaning are similar.

The irony of the Barry Sisters performing this in the Catskills years later is that the song was being played, while still relatively unknown, by many musical acts in The Borscht Belt throughout the 1930's, including by an African-American duo named Johnnie and George. It was at a Johnnie and George performance, years later, at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, that Sammy Cahn heard the crowd go wild which inspired his translation and the Andrews Sisters' big hit - transforming it into an American Songbook standard!

Today the song is known worldwide, has grossed over $3 million, appeared on countless movie soundtracks and albums, including my own Live in Philadelphia, featuring Jesse Selengut. Fortunately for Secunda & Jacobs, the rights reverted back to them in 1961, so they were able to gain more than the $30 from this amazing song.

On this Single of the Month Club recording, we have the talented and effervescent Tamar Korn, inspired by the Barry Sisters, recognizing and honoring the song's Jewish-Yiddish roots. Gordon and the rest of the band are joined by fiery klezmer violinist Jake Shulman-Ment.