SHEIK OF ARABY (1921) by NOJS'65 (Quartet)

A classic New Orleans Jazz standard. The appeal to New Orleans bands may have lain in "Araby" sharing the same pronunciation as Arabi, Louisiana, a town downriver from New Orleans' 9th Ward and a center for gambling just outside city limits until the early 1950s. Here an our jam by NOJS'65 (Quartet). Some popular performers, in the Thirties, used to sing a joke version where the chorus of other musicians sing "without no clothes on" after every line: "Well I'm the sheik of Araby (without no clothes on) Your love belongs to me (without no clothes on) Well, at night when you're asleep (without no clothes on) Into your tent I'll creep (without no clothes on)" etc.