Columbia Rhythm Boys -- Kappore (かっぽれ)

Kappore! Kappore! Yoito-na!

Some time ago, I mentioned that my eyes were treated to a "Day in the Life at Columbia Records 1937" vlog at the Yuji Koseki (古関裕而) Memorial Hall on a recent trip to Fukushima. Koseki's vlog had a clip of Akira Matsudaira (松平晃) doing some vocal warm-ups, but what really sent me over the moon was live footage of Tadaharu Nakano (中野忠晴) and his Columbia Rhythm Boys. Up to that point, I'd never seen them move. I'd never seen Mr. Nakano sing. There was no audio, but I died, then quickly resuscitated so that I could watch it again. Three more times... I intended to spend an hour at the museum, but spent almost two.

Returning to reality (and home base), I contemplated about how Koseki sensei's footage may have been the only moving pictures of Mr. Nakano and the Jazzy Bois I will get to see, and that was a bit sad. Then I decided to watch a movie I'd saved some time ago: "Junjou no Nijuusou" (純情二重奏) from August 1939 (video below... no English subs, unfortunately). I saved that movie because I knew that Akira-san had a minor role in it and was curious to see his acting chops. When the beginning credits rolled, the bit of sad from earlier fizzled out when the name "Nakano Tadaharu" appeared along side a roster of Columbia Records artists, including the Rhythm Boys. Nakano quite literally appeared for 20 seconds and muttered a "Sumimasen ne." I wanted to hear and see more of him, but other singers like Ms. Columbia had zero lines and simply showed up for a scene or two, so I am grateful with my 20 seconds of Nakano. Besides, he reappeared in the final scene with everyone else for the main character’s (played by movie star Mieko Takamine (高峰三枝子)) final send off. 

Mr. Nakano: 8:25; Rhythm Boys: 18:55;

Rhythm Boys vs Cha-san: 20:26; final send-off: 1:09:33

The ones who actually got a decent amount of screen time were the Rhythm Boys, appearing in multiple scenes and even getting to showcase their musical chops. This, at long last, allowed me to place faces to the voices, albeit just the group's 3rd generation members. The Rhythm Boys’ members shuffled over the years since they formed in 1934, but the composition in "Junjou Nijuusou" was the 3rd gen bunch. This line-up comprised of  tenors Hideo Akiyama (秋山日出夫) and Reisuke Harada (原田礼輔), baritone Dairyo Momose (百瀬大了) a.k.a. Bin Takakura, and bass Eiichi Hagihara (荻原栄一). Exactly when this 3rd generation Rhythm Boys was formed, I'm not sure, but based on the info I have at the moment, it was at least after February 1939, when Momose was recruited. This should be the same crew who did "Yurei wa Odoru" (幽霊は踊る) and "Tarinai Song" (タリナイ・ソング) 

Anyways, as you can see in the movie above, the Jazzy Bois played a rival enka-shi/nagashi gang to Hisao Ito’s (伊藤久男) minor street musician character. Side character antagonists had never been this adorable. The group made their first appearance on screen at a cafe entertaining guests, snazzily-dressed in coordinated suits and newsboy caps. Ordinarily, it takes me some amount of trial and error to figure out a song sung in passing in movies like this, but I didn't need to this time. I think it's safe to say that the song where the guys go "Kappore! Kappore! Kappore! Kappore!" would be called "Kappore." Okay, to be fair, it was also because I saw a song titled "Kappore" in the Nakano-Rhythm Boys compilations, so I just put two and two together.

The "Kappore" was originally quite a well-known celebratory zokuyo (folk/pop song) from the late Edo-era (early 1800s) that was used in conjunction with the Hounen Odori (Bountiful Harvest Dance) or Sumiyoshi Odori (Sumiyoshi Dance) as a form of street entertainment by street performer priests. The titular term apparently originated from a phrase in the "Toba Bushi" minyo from the Kii region (the Wakayama and some of Mie prefectures), which goes "Watasha omae ni okapporeta" (I'm head over heels with / have a crush on you). Looking at the words for our song in question, though, I don't think it has anything to do with romance. Coming into the Meiji era, "Kappore" and its dance turned into a side show incorporated into kabuki, yoseseki entertainment (traditional arts like rakugo, manzai, etc.), geisha parties, or dinner gatherings. This was where its popularity took off. I got this information from kotobank.jp and its various definitions. You can check it out here.

The popularity of the "Kappore" meant that many singers had their own versions of it. Many of these renditions were by geisha-turned-singers like Ichimaru (市丸), Kimie Nihonbashi (日本橋きみ栄), and the first of their kind, Fumikichi Fujimoto (藤本二三吉). I've put Fujimoto's version above. The shamisen-filled music and the reedy voices of these uguisu geisha are perhaps what one would expect from an old-style Japanese folk tune. But not so much when you put the ditty into the hands of the composer with a penchant for jazz and give it to the prewar jazz chorus group.

While we got an acapella teaser in “Junjou Nijuusou”, The Rhythm Boys officially released their funky version of "Kappore" a few months later in November 1939. Managing the zokuyo's arrangement and lyrics was Ryoichi Hattori (服部良一). From the get go, the full orchestra with horns blasting and thumping percussions and the Jazzy Bois spiritedly chanting, "Kappore!" cranks up the original zokuyo's celebratory vibe by a few notches. What made it particularly Western or “jazz” on the music-front were the smooth notes of the tenor sax piping in ever so often and the group's signature barbershop quartet style of delivery with Akiyama in the lead. Despite that, "Kappore" still maintained some semblance of the traditional Japanese flavour from its source material, I feel. This fun piece of east-meets-west still makes you want to dance, but you'll probably end up doing the Swing in the midst of an odori. 

The words the Hattori fitted into "Kappore" were part of the oft sung original, pointing to the tale of the Kii region's local hero, the sea-faring businessman Kinokuniya Bunzaemon (紀伊国屋文左衛門... Bunza, for short) and his mandarin ship. The video above features Houkan entertainer (an entertainer who performs for dinner parties/gatherings) Hachiko Matsunoya (松廼家八好) doing the Kappore dance, and he gives a brief rundown of the zokuyo's meaning beforehand. 

I could not fully catch all that he said, but there is apparently the Fuigo festival celebrated by blacksmiths where it was tradition to fling mandarin oranges. One year during the Edo era, the mandarins to be used had gone bad, but there was a bumper crop in the Kii region, and so enterprising folks wanted to ferry the mandarins where they are wanted, one of them being Bunza. However, as dear Haruo Minami's (三波春夫) kayo-rokyoku on Bunza and the Heike Story has taught me anything, is that the waters around the Kii region are terribly rough and shipwrecks were the norm. This was the unfortunate case for those mandarin-carrying ships, save for one: Bunza's small vessel. Thus, Bunza became uber rich and celebrated for the feat. That seems to be the main idea for "Kappore," and it was this bit that Hattori kept for the Rhythm Boys' version.

Y'know, because the Rhythm Boys' snazzy take of "Kappore" was the first time I heard the zokuyo as a whole, I can only associate the "Kappore" to them now. Also, speaking of Haru-san, I've been listening to his kayo-rokyoku version of Bunza's tale "Gosho Ichidai Kinokuniya Bunzaemon" (豪商一代紀伊国屋文左衛門) for years. But it took me that many years and the Jazzy Bois' introduction to "Kappore" to finally realise that Minami had added the zokuyo at the very end of his epic... You learn something new everyday.