"Ain't Misbehavin'" | |
---|---|
Single by Leo Reisman and His Orchestra with Lew Conrad | |
A-side | "Moanin' Low" |
Released | 1929 |
Recorded | New York City, July 9, 1929 [1] |
Genre | |
Label | Victor |
Songwriter(s) |
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"Ain't Misbehavin'" is a 1929 stride jazz/early swing song. Andy Razaf wrote the lyrics to a score by Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks [2] for the Broadway musical comedy play Connie's Hot Chocolates .
As a work from 1929 with its copyright renewed, it will enter the American public domain on January 1, 2025. [lower-alpha 1]
The song was first performed at the premiere of Connie's Hot Chocolates in Harlem at Connie's Inn as an opening song by Paul Bass and Margaret Simms, and repeated later in the musical by Russell Wooding's Hallelujah Singers. Connie's Hot Chocolates was transferred to the Hudson Theatre on Broadway during June 1929, where it was renamed to Hot Chocolates and where Louis Armstrong became the orchestra director. The script also required Armstrong to play "Ain't Misbehavin'" in a trumpet solo, and although this was initially slated only to be a reprise of the opening song, Armstrong's performance was so well received that the trumpeter was asked to climb out of the orchestra pit and play the piece on stage. As noted by Thomas Brothers in his book Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism, Armstrong was first taught "Ain't Misbehavin'" by Waller himself, "woodshedding" it until he could "play all around it"; he cherished it "because it was 'one of those songs you could cut loose and swing with.'" [3]
During the first half of the 20th century, when a tune was successful in terms of sheet music sold, it was typically recorded by several different artists. All six "Ain't Misbehavin'" recordings of 1929 were successes in the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) rankings for that year:
Waller re-recorded the song with vocals for the 1943 movie Stormy Weather . Waller's recording received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award during 1984, during 2001, it was one of 365 Songs of the Century selected by the RIAA, and it was one of fifty recordings selected for inclusion in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress during 2004.
Ain't Misbehavin' has been recorded by many other performers over the years, including Seger Ellis, Anita O'Day, Sarah Vaughan (for "Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi"; 1950), Bing Crosby (for " Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around "), Billie Holiday, Eartha Kitt, Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Stafford, Carol Channing, Django Reinhardt, Harry James, Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, Kay Starr, Frankie Laine, Art Tatum, Floyd Pepper, Sonny Stitt, Sam Cooke, Johnnie Ray, Sidney Bechet, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Elkie Brooks, Eyran Katsenelenbogen, Willie Nelson, Kermit Ruffins, Leon Redbone, Freddie White, Dave Brubeck, Johnny Hartman, Hank Williams Jr., Robson Green and Jerome Flynn (Mini TV series UK, 1997), and Bill Haley & His Comets (who recorded a rock and roll version during 1957). Johnnie Ray's version scored No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart during May 1956. [4] : 451
In 1960, Tommy Bruce and the Bruisers had a number 3 hit in the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of the song. [4] : 83 During 1976, Leon Redbone performed the song on Saturday Night Live . It served as the title song of the successful 1978 musical Ain't Misbehavin' . Country music artist Hank Williams Jr. recorded a version for his 1985 studio album Five-O. Released as a single, the song peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart and earned Williams a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male. [5] [6]
Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star in the jazz and swing eras, he toured internationally, achieving critical and commercial success in the United States and Europe. His best-known compositions, "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1984 and 1999.
Clarence Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, promoter, vocalist, theatrical producer, and publisher.
The Hot Five was Louis Armstrong's first jazz recording band led under his own name.
"West End Blues" is a multi-strain twelve-bar blues composition by Joe "King" Oliver. It is most commonly performed as an instrumental, although it has lyrics added by Clarence Williams.
"(I'm) Confessin' " is a jazz and popular standard that has been recorded many times.
"Memories of You" is a popular song about nostalgia with lyrics written by Andy Razaf and music composed by Eubie Blake and published in 1930.
Harry Brooks was an American writer of popular songs, jazz pianist and composer in the 1920s to the early 1950s.
Ain't Misbehavin' may refer to:
"Everybody Loves My Baby", also known as "Everybody Loves My Baby, but My Baby Don't Love Nobody but Me", is a popular and jazz standard song composed by Spencer Williams in 1924. Lyrics were written by Jack Palmer.
Reuben "River" Reeves was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader.
Connie's Inn was a Harlem, New York City, black and tan nightclub established in 1923 by Connie Immerman (né Conrad Immerman; 1893–1967) in partnership with two of his brothers, George (1884–1944) and Louie Immerman (1882–1955).
Five-O is the thirty-eighth studio album by American musician Hank Williams Jr. It was released by Warner Bros. Records on April 29, 1985. "I'm for Love," "This Ain't Dallas" and "Ain't Misbehavin'" were released as singles, reaching No. 1, No. 4 and No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. The album reached No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, becoming his second No. 1 album, and has been certified Gold by the RIAA.
"(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue" is a 1929 jazz standard and racial protest song composed by Fats Waller and Harry Brooks with lyrics by Andy Razaf.
Liza Mae "May" Alix was an American cabaret and jazz vocalist.
The period from the end of the First World War until the start of the Depression in 1929 is known as the "Jazz Age". Jazz had become popular music in America, although older generations considered the music immoral and threatening to cultural values. Dances such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom were very popular during the period, and jazz bands typically consisted of seven to twelve musicians. Important orchestras in New York were led by Fletcher Henderson, Paul Whiteman and Duke Ellington. Many New Orleans jazzmen had moved to Chicago during the late 1910s in search of employment; among others, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band and Jelly Roll Morton recorded in the city. However, Chicago's importance as a center of jazz music started to diminish toward the end of the 1920s in favor of New York.
"Your Feet's Too Big" is a song composed in 1936 by Fred Fisher with lyrics by Ada Benson. It has been recorded by many artists, notably the Ink Spots and by Fats Waller in 1939. The song became associated with Waller who ad-libbed his own lyrics such as "Your pedal extremities are colossal, to me you look just like a fossil" and his catchphrase, "You know, your pedal extremities really are obnoxious. One never knows, do one?" It was performed in the 1978 revue of Waller tunes, Ain't Misbehavin'. Animator Nancy Beiman created a short for Your Feet's Too Big in 1983.
"You Rascal You" is an American song written by Sam Theard in 1929, and legally titled "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead." The lyrics take the form of threats and complaints leveled against a man who has repaid the singer's hospitality and kindness by running off with the singer's wife.
"Dippermouth Blues" is a song first recorded by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band for Gennett Records in April 1923 and for Okeh Records in June of that same year. It is most often attributed to Joe "King" Oliver, though some have argued that Louis Armstrong was in fact the composer. This is partly because "Dippermouth", in the song's title, was a nickname of Armstrong's. Also, the phonograph recordings from 1922 gave credit to Armstrong and Oliver jointly. The song is a strong example of the influence of the blues on early jazz. There is a twelve-bar blues harmonic progression, with frequent bent notes and slides into notes.
Hot Chocolates is a musical revue with music by Fats Waller and Harry Brooks and book by Andy Razaf. It was originally titled Tan Town Topics in hopes it would be picked up by Broadway. Performed at the Hudson Theater in New York City, it was directed by Leonard Harper and ran for 219 performances from June 20, 1929, to December 14, 1929. It is also referred to as Connie's Hot Chocolates. It was staged, directed and produced by Leonard Harper. While the revue featured music and singing, including the subsequent hit "Aint Misbehavin'," it was praised for the cast's dancing, including its male and female chorus lines.