Margie

Margie, also known as My Little Margie, is an American popular song from 1920, with music by Con Conrad and J. Russel Robinson and lyrics by Benny Davis. Emerging at the beginning of the Jazz Age, the song quickly became a major popular success and developed into a lasting jazz standard performed by generations of musicians.

Django Reinhardt recorded Margie three times. He first recorded it in Paris on 22 February 1940, returned to it on 22 October 1940, and recorded a final version on 10 February 1951. These recordings span more than a decade of Django's musical development and show how an American popular song could remain part of his repertoire while his own jazz language continued to evolve.

Musical character:
Margie is a cheerful, energetic 32-bar standard with a simple and highly memorable melody. Its clear harmonic structure and strong rhythmic movement provide an excellent framework for swing improvisation, helping the song move easily from popular entertainment into traditional jazz and later Manouche Jazz repertoire.

Connection to Manouche Jazz:
The connection is direct through Django Reinhardt's repeated recordings. Although Margie began as an American Tin Pan Alley song rather than a Manouche composition, Django transformed it through his phrasing, rhythmic attack, and improvisation. The tune remains part of the wider repertoire shared by traditional jazz and Gypsy Jazz musicians.

Interesting facts:

• The music was written by Con Conrad and J. Russel Robinson, with lyrics by Benny Davis, and the sheet music was published in 1920.
• J. Russel Robinson was a pianist with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, one of the pioneering groups of recorded jazz.
• The Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded Margie in December 1920, helping introduce it to the early jazz repertoire.
• The song was named after Marjorie “Margie” Cantor, the five-year-old daughter of entertainer Eddie Cantor.
• Eddie Cantor subsequently helped make the song enormously popular, and his 1921 recording became a major hit.
• Django recorded Margie three times — twice in 1940 and once in 1951.
• The tune was later recorded by musicians including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Sidney Bechet and many other major jazz artists.

Margie is a perfect example of a Tin Pan Alley hit that grew into a genuine jazz standard. From the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and Eddie Cantor to Django Reinhardt and later generations of swing musicians, its simple melody and flexible harmony have allowed it to survive for more than a century.