David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016)
Moon of Alabama Musikladen Recorded May 30, 1978
David Bowie: Keys, Vocals
George Murray: Bass
Dennis Davis: Drums, Percussion
Carlos Alomar: Guitar
Simon L'House: Violin
Sean Mayes: Keys
Roger Powell: Synt
Adrian Belew: Guitar
The "
Alabama Song" (also known as "
Whisky Bar," "
Moon over Alabama," or "
Moon of Alabama") was originally published as a poem in
Bertolt Brecht's
Hauspostille (1927). It was set to music by
Kurt Weill for the 1927 "Songspiel"
Mahagonny and used again in Weill's and Brecht's 1930
opera Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.)
In the latter, it is performed by the character Jenny and her fellow
prostitutes in the first act. The song was first performed and recorded
by the Viennese actress and dancer
Lotte Lenya (Weill's wife).
[1] She first publicly sang the song as the character Jessie in the 1927 Baden-Baden Festival performance of
Mahagonny Songspiel.
Lenya first recorded the song in 1930 for the Ultraphon record label.
This recording was released to coincide with the Leipzig premiere of
Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny despite the fact that Lenya was not a member of the cast.
[2]
Lenya continued to perform and record the song throughout her life.
Later Lenya recordings include one made for the 1955 album, "Lotte Lenya
singt Kurt Weill" (released in the United States as "Berlin Theater
Songs").
[3]
The lyrics for the "Alabama Song" are in English (albeit specifically
idiosyncratic English) and are performed in that language even when the opera is performed in its original
German. The English text was made by Brecht’s close collaborator,
Elisabeth Hauptmann, on the author’s behalf. The text dates back to 1925
