"Li'l Liza Jane" or "Little Liza Jane" is a song that dates back to the Antebellum South and is closely related to a suite of other songs with similar titles, including "Oh! Liza Poor Gal," "Goodbye Liza Jane," and "Steal Miss Liza." Songs in the "Liza Jane" family have become perennial standards (as both instrumentals and tunes with lyrics) in traditional jazz, folk music, and bluegrass, as well as appearing in numerous other genres including rock and roll, blues, and R&B. Numerous scholars and musicologists have written about the song, and it is one of the standards of the New Orleans brass band tradition, where it thrives today. According to a 2023 book, Poor Gal: The Cultural History of Little Liza Jane, many "Liza Jane" variants have enjoyed "big audience" moments throughout American history. For instance, "Li'l Liza Jane" became a sensation in the World War I era when a version was placed in a songbook given to all American servicemen and again in 1960 when Harry Belafonte performed a version as part of his CBS television special New York 19[1].
- ^ Gutstein, Dan (2023). Poor Gal: The Cultural History of Little Liza Jane (1st ed.). University Press of Mississippi. pp. 156, 180–185. ISBN 9781496849359.