She’s Just a Baby

This 1921 song by George Gershwin and Arthur J. Jackson is the last of my Gershwin-Jackson collaborations to write about, so I was going to tell all there was to tell about the most mysterious lyricist in Gershwin history, Arthur Jackson.

Fortunately, while doing research on him, I uncovered 25 more songs (though not by Gershwin) that he wrote lyrics to! I will tell his story another day with some of his other songs, though let’s finally see what Pittsburgh’s best, unknown lyricist looked like.

The other reason to save Arthur Jackson for another day is because there is a rather unique story to go along with our final song from The George White Scandals of 1921. We have portions of the actual travel diary of one of the girls in the chorus, Nancy Welford, giving us a glimpse into what it was like to travel the country as part of The Scandals.

Download the PDF of the simplified sheet music to “She’s Just a Baby” here:

shes-just-a-baby-2 Download

The Scandals Diaries

Nancy Welford (1899-1991 – her birth year is often mistakenly given as 1904), who in 1921 was still going by her given name of Christine Welford, “was of English birth and came to this country at the age of 6,” and was on stage when she was “just a baby” at the age of 2, joining her parents, the actors Ada (Olive) Loftus and Dallas Welford. Both sets of Welford’s grandparents were thespians, and her mom’s cousin Cissie (Cecilia) Loftus was a famous English actress, songwriter, singer, and impersonator.

Dallas warned his daughters Nancy and Darry to never go into acting, so it was at a time when their parents were away that the two girls heard that George White was preparing his first Scandals, and decided to walk right up to him during rehearsals and request a part in his show. “It must have been our day,” Nancy explained, “for George White looked us over and gave me a place in the chorus and a little later took Darry.” Besides Nancy’s singing and dancing talents, her being nearly an identical match for Ann Pennington made her an ideal understudy for the headliner Pennington.

Nancy’s older sister Darry Welford accompanied Nancy in the chorus of the Scandals from 1919 to 1921, though the documentation placing Nancy at all of those Scandals is sketchier. But if Broadway databases didn’t document Nancy very well during those years, Nancy herself (or Christine anyway) did!

Labeled the Christine Welford Route Book, she details the Scandals of 1920’s performances in January and February of 1921 in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio. Fortunately, these were not one-night stops as one week was the shortest of their runs. Her 1922 salary of $100 per week is equivalent to $1,572 per week in 2020. She and her sister were eventually considered “principals” and received more than the typical chorus girl would have. From Indiana to Texas, and at every stop in between, Nancy recorded the name of each hotel maid she encountered. Though her motivation for doing so in unclear, it certainly does say something about the kind of diva she was not.

Nancy would go on to marry movie director Francis Heath Cobb – without telling her parents in advance, much to their dismay. (See article below.) He wrote and directed a play called, wait for it … Nancy. And it was based on the real life character of, wait for it … his wife, Nancy Welford! She later had a fairly successful movie career including The Gold Diggers of Broadway, co-starring Ann Pennington, in 1929.

The Gershwin song “She’s Just a Baby” was debuted on stage by Ann Pennington accompanied by six chorus girl who are described in the program as “Babies.” Arthur Jackson’s lyric about how this particular young lady in question may seem grown up, but must be treated tenderly, definitely has not aged all that well; I doubt it will be making the Top Ten anytime soon.

Oddly enough, “She’s Just a Baby” was recorded by the following bands:

Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra
Sherbo’s Famous Dance Orchestra
Broadway Dance Orchestra
The Casino Dance Orchestra
The Club Royal Orchestra
Yerkes’ S. S. Flotilla Orchestra
Yerkes’ Jazzarimba Orchestra
The Happy Six (Another Harry A. Yerkes band)

The odd part is that the record it appeared on was Gershwin’s “South Sea Isles.” Two minutes into “South Sea Isles” we get just 30 seconds of “She’s Just a Baby,” followed by more “South Sea Isles.” That so many bands recorded both songs shows how the original medley arrangement was passed around from band to band for their recordings, as opposed to each band doing an original arrangement.

And the reason band leader and xylophonist Harry Yerkes put this song out under three different band incarnations, may just stem from the fact that his band, Yerkes’ Happy Six, had a special connection to the Scandals, as it was listed as part of the Scandals of 1920 cast.

So now we finally know the story behind the Scandals‘ diarist, Nancy Welford, Harry Yerkes’ fascination with the “South Sea Isles/She’s Just a Baby” medley, and the impressive theatrical lineage of the Welford girls.

The only mystery that remains is why exactly Christine Welford made the not-so-radical name change from Christine to Nancy. I guess some things are just meant to forever be shrouded in mystery.

Lyrics to “She’s Just a Baby” by Arthur J. Jackson:

In baby days, a baby’s ways are sweet to see.
Playing with her nursery toys, tasting all a baby’s joys.
Though she out grows her baby clothes and sawdust dolls,
she’s still a baby underneath it all.

Baby, she’s just a baby.
No matter what she does, just treat her like a baby.
When she is fretting, she needs your petting.
A kiss or two will do.
Don’t ever scold her, just tightly hold her,
and let her rest her baby head upon your shoulder.
Though she seems grown up, you have to own up.
She’s just a baby still.