July 2025 - "Get Out and Get Under the Moon"

This month’s free tab is an arrangement of another classic Tin Pan Alley era tune. Composer Larry Shay had just completed work on his first big hit “When You’re Smiling” in 1928 (see the free tab entry for June 2025). Later that same year, he collaborated with lyricists Charles Tobias and William Jerome to come up with “Get Out and Get Under the Moon”. The song captures the carefree spirit of the Jazz Age, encouraging listeners to shake off their worries and bask in the glow of moonlight — a sentiment that resonated deeply during a decade of both exuberance and uncertainty.

The fact that both songs came out the same year but with different lyricists wasn’t unusual for the time. Tin Pan Alley operated much like a songwriting assembly line — composers and lyricists often mixed and matched based on availability, chemistry, or publisher assignments. This reflected the fast-paced, opportunistic nature of the music business at the time. Charles Tobias would go on to pen hits like “Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else but Me)” and “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer”, showcasing his knack for catchy, feel-good lyrics. William Jerome, the most senior of the three, had already made his mark in the early 1900s with vaudeville-era hits like “Bedelia” and “Chinatown, My Chinatown”.

“Get Out and Get Under the Moon” quickly became a favorite among performers and audiences alike. In 1928 alone, it was recorded by Helen Kane (the inspiration for Betty Boop), Annette Hanshaw, the comedic duo Van and Schenck, and Paul Whiteman’s orchestra — the latter featuring a young singer named Bing Crosby on vocals. Later renditions by Nat King Cole, Doris Day, and Michael Feinstein helped cement its place in the Great American Songbook. The song even found new life in 1968 as part of a promotional campaign for the Apollo space program’s mission to the moon.

Here’s a link to a YouTube video of the tune being performed by the group known as Doozy, featuring Doug Freeman on guitar and Christie Mellor on vocals:

Enjoy!

In music and friendship,

—Tull

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