The song was written by Jack Yellen (words and music) and Lew Pollack (music) in 1925. It was first recorded by Willie Howard, and was made famous in Vaudeville by Belle Baker and by Sophie Tucker, and later by the Barry Sisters.
Sophie Tucker began singing My Yiddishe Momme in 1925, after the death of her own mother. She later dedicated her autobiography Some Of These Days to Yellen, "A grand song writer, and a grander friend". Sophie Tucker made `Mama' a top 5 USA hit in 1928, English on one side and Yiddish on the B-side. Leo Fuld combined both in one track and made it a hit in the rest of the world."The song, in English and Yiddish, sadder in the original Yiddish than in the English translation, the mother implicitly symbolizes a sense of nostalgia for the "old world", as well as guilt for having left it behind in assimilating into American society.
In this video, violinist Itzhak Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot perform this popular Yiddish classic with vaudeville roots with a preface by singer and composer Neil Sedaka explaining the song's history.
We wish a happy Mother's Day to all of our subscribers and casual viewers.
Enjoy!
(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS: THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS. YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)
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