A Gal in Calico was written by Leo Robin and Arthur Schwartz for a rather dumb film from Warner Bros. called The Time, the Place and the Girl. Released the day after Christmas in 1946, the B-movie was a post-war good-time jubilee featuring a dopey plot and a mess of stage talent and dance numbers. But nestled within the movie morass was a Western scene with lariat twirlers. The Oklahoma-like production needed a song, so Robin and Schwartz wrote A Gal in Calico.
The song was gold in the late 1940s. Artists who recorded it wound up with a hit, since the public couldn't seem to get enough of the upbeat, post-war, settling-down song. Perhaps the best version during this period was by Johnny Mercer (above) and the Pied Pipers in 1947 with Paul Weston's arrangement and band. Here it is...
Two terrific jazz versions stand out at the dawn of the the LP era: Ahmad Jamal's revival of A Gal in Calico in 1952 on his The Piano Scene (Epic) and Miles Davis's rendition in 1955 on The Musings of Miles (Prestige), with Red Garland on piano....
The Jamal and Davis recordings are pure perfection and now are jazz classics. But a recent favorite of mine was by pianist Hod O'Brien's on drummer Aaron Binder's album, Fortune Smiles on Aaron Binder, from 2000. O'Brien was backed by bassist Scott Fitzsimmons and drummer Binder.
Here's Hod O'Brien playing A Gal in Calico, a robust and addictive tribute to Red Garland's feel...
