"Sweet Caroline," Ba-Ba-Ba!

[Brettster]

I can remember when "Sweet Caroline" was a radio hit
in the 1960s, and have enjoyed many songs by Mr. Neil
Diamond over the years.

Some years ago, I began taking my vacation on cruise
ships, during which I would frequently participate in the
karaoke performances and attend sing-alongs at the
piano bars. I noticed with some curiosity that when the
song was performed live by the pianist or the karaoke
singer, the "ba-ba-ba" part was vocalized by the whole
crowd, and after the lyric "Good times never seemed so
good" was sung, the crowd invariably sang an added
part: "So good! So good! So good!"

When I heard these ad-libs on the cruise ships, they were
totally new to me. I wondered: How did these passages
get added? Searching for the answer, I found this on
Wikipedia:

Use
The playing of "Sweet Caroline" has become a fixture
at many sporting events in the United States. In this
version, the horn figure after Diamond sings "Sweet
Caroline" in the chorus is replaced by the crowd
singing "ba, ba, ba", and after he sings "Good times
never seemed so good," the crowd sings "So good,
so good, so good." This pattern is repeated whenever
the chorus is played.

Well...OK, I guess. But they never explain the EXACT
origin. Which team/orchestra started doing it like
this? How did they encourage the crowd to join in?
How long before other teams/bands started getting
in on it? How long did it take for every single Neil
Diamond fan to get hip to this bit of nonsense
without me knowing about it?

[danny burstein]

In <f50938cd-0513-461a...@googlegroups.com> Brettster <brett...@gmail.com> writes:

>I can remember when "Sweet Caroline" was a radio hit
>in the 1960s, and have enjoyed many songs by Mr. Neil
>Diamond over the years.

>Some years ago, I began taking my vacation on cruise
>ships, during which I would frequently participate in the
>karaoke performances and attend sing-alongs at the
>piano bars. I noticed with some curiosity that when the
>song was performed live by the pianist or the karaoke
>singer, the "ba-ba-ba" part was vocalized by the whole
>crowd, and after the lyric "Good times never seemed so
>good" was sung, the crowd invariably sang an added
>part: "So good! So good! So good!"

About a decade ago there was a tv talk/variety show
featuring Carolyn Rhea. The opening themes song
was... Sweet Caroline.

During it they showed her walking a half dozen
dogs and... when the time care for the "ba ba ba",
the dogs did a "bark bark bark"





>
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dan...@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

[Alfalfa Bill]

In reality, “Sweet Caroline” became the unofficial song of the Boston Red Sox because a woman named Amy Toby liked the song, played it during a game, and it stuck.

Toby was put in charge of picking out music to be played at Fenway from 1998 to 2004. She liked the song “Sweet Caroline,” and played it. But it didn’t become synonymous with Fenway right off the bat.

The Boston Globe says that when the song was first played at the park, it was only played during random games, between the middle of the 7th and 9th innings and it was only played if the Red Sox were ahead in the game. Toby saw the song as a good luck charm and, in 2002, “Sweet Caroline” became an official Fenway tradition. To this day, the song is played before the bottom of the 8th inning at each home game.



http://981thehawk.com/why-is-sweet-caroline-the-boston-red-sox-theme-song/?trackback=tsmclip

[BillT...@billturlock.com]

On Fri, 18 Aug 2017 17:56:36 -0700 (PDT), Alfalfa Bill
<tedth...@aol.com> wrote:

> But it didn’t become synonymous with Fenway right off the bat.

Heh heh

[Questor]

On Fri, 18 Aug 2017 17:56:36 -0700 (PDT), Alfalfa Bill <tedth...@aol.com>
wrote:

>The Boston Globe says that when the song was first played at the park, it was
>only played during random games, between the middle of the 7th and 9th
>innings and it was only played if the Red Sox were ahead in the game. Toby saw
>the song as a good luck charm and, in 2002, "Sweet Caroline" became an
>official Fenway tradition. To this day, the song is played before the bottom
>of the 8th inning at each home game.

What were once vices are now habits.

[art...@yahoo.com]

On Friday, August 18, 2017 at 6:28:52 PM UTC-4, Brettster wrote:
> I can remember when "Sweet Caroline" was a radio hit
> in the 1960s, and have enjoyed many songs by Mr. Neil
> Diamond over the years.

Yesterday one of my Facebook friends said how much he hates this song. Is it just a coinckydincky or is there some reason this song is in the news?

[Les Albert]

It probably has to do with the anniversary of the burial in Brunswick
Cathedral August 25, 1821 of Queen Caroline, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth
of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, best known as Caroline of Brunswick. She
was Queen of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George IV from
January 1820 until her death in 1821.

Les

[art...@yahoo.com]

But was she sweet?

[Les Albert]

On Sat, 19 Aug 2017 09:35:01 -0700 (PDT), "art...@yahoo.com"

<art...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>On Saturday, August 19, 2017 at 12:26:30 PM UTC-4, Les wrote:
>> On Sat, 19 Aug 2017 08:59:44 -0700 (PDT), "art...@yahoo.com"
>> <art...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >On Friday, August 18, 2017 at 6:28:52 PM UTC-4, Brettster wrote:

>> >> I can remember when "Sweet Caroline" was a radio hit
>> >> in the 1960s, and have enjoyed many songs by Mr. Neil
>> >> Diamond over the years.

>> >Yesterday one of my Facebook friends said how much he hates this song. Is it just a coinckydincky or is there some reason this song is in the news?

>> It probably has to do with the anniversary of the burial in Brunswick
>> Cathedral August 25, 1821 of Queen Caroline, Caroline Amelia Elizabeth
>> of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, best known as Caroline of Brunswick. She
>> was Queen of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George IV from
>> January 1820 until her death in 1821.

>But was she sweet?

That would depend on who is judging her. Here is a tabloid
illustration of her in the bath with her lover:
http://tinyurl.com/y97da5ap This was an important event because it
created modern tabloid coverage of royalty:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
... it is worth remembering the royal scandal that created modern
tabloid coverage of royalty. The 1820 trial of Queen Caroline also
involved evidence of semi-public nudity in a hotel suite by a member
of the royal family traveling abroad, and was the subject of
discussion in both parliament and broader society. ...
In 1816, publisher William Cobbet introduced a single sheet version of
The Register, a political digest available for a tuppence. The
Register brought the news of the trial of Queen Caroline to a wide
public audience ...
The public eagerly followed the scandalous revelations in parliament
through the newly published twopenny broadsheets. Witnesses supporting
the King’s motion presented evidence that the Queen had been seen in
the arms of her Italian lover in various states of undress during her
travels and that they bathed together. One of the Queen Caroline’s
Italian servants testisfied before the House of Lords that the Queen
employed a male exotic dancer and demonstrated aspects of the dance
before the assembled peers. - Carolyn Harris
Historian and Author
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Les

[N J Marsh]

Brettster <brett...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Some years ago, I began taking my vacation on cruise
> ships, during which I would frequently participate in the
> karaoke performances and attend sing-alongs at the
> piano bars. I noticed with some curiosity that when the
> song was performed live by the pianist or the karaoke
> singer, the "ba-ba-ba" part was vocalized by the whole
> crowd, and after the lyric "Good times never seemed so
> good" was sung, the crowd invariably sang an added
> part: "So good! So good! So good!"

Snip

> Well...OK, I guess. But they never explain the EXACT
> origin. Which team/orchestra started doing it like
> this? How did they encourage the crowd to join in?
> How long before other teams/bands started getting
> in on it? How long did it take for every single Neil
> Diamond fan to get hip to this bit of nonsense
> without me knowing about it?

It isn't to do with being a fan of Diamond, it's to do with a song having
an appealing aspect that is easy and fun for a crowd to perform. The song
is certainly catchy, and very easy to sing.

As for the when, the crowd participation thing you're describing is at
least thirty years old.


--
njm

[Lesmond]

I don't know, but reading this made me tear up.

--
She may contain the urge to run away
But hold her down with soggy clothes and breeze blocks

[gkoki...@gmail.com]

On Friday, August 18, 2017 at 6:28:52 PM UTC-4, Brettster wrote:

I first heard the call and response version of this song in the early 90's burlington, VT. an irish band called bootless and unhorsed would play it at last chance saloon and the crown would always do the chorus of bababa and so good, so good. all of the songs had crowd participation so while the claim is unofficial, I believe it all started there. a lot of red sox fans in VT come through VT that go to UVM so I can see where it caught on at fenway

[Bob]

I always mix it up with "Sweet Adeline".