1920 78 release by the ODJB on Victor as 18717A.1920 sheet music cover, Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, New York.1927 Frankie Trumbauer, Bix Beiderbecke, and Eddie Lang version on Okeh, 40772-B.
"Singin' the Blues" is a 1920 jazz composition by J. Russel Robinson, Con Conrad, Sam M. Lewis, and Joe Young. It was recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1920 as an instrumental and released as a Victor 78 as part of a medley with "Margie". The song was released with lyrics by vocalist Aileen Stanley in 1920 on Victor. In 1927, Frank Trumbauer, Bix Beiderbecke, and Eddie Lang recorded and released the song as an Okeh 78. The Trumbauer recording is considered a jazz and pop standard, greatly contributing to Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke's reputation and influence (it remained in print at least until the Second World War). It is not related to the 1956 pop song "Singing the Blues" first recorded and released by Marty Robbins in 1956.
The ODJB released the song as part of a medley: "Margie" (Introducing "Singin' the Blues") in 1920 on Victor as B-24581-5 Victor 18717A backed with Palesteena. The subtitle of the song is "'Till My Daddy Comes Home". The personnel on the recording were Nick LaRocca, trumpet, Larry Shields, clarinet, Benny Krueger, alto sax, Eddie Edwards, trombone, J. Russel Robinson, piano, and Tony Sbarbaro, drums. The recording was made on December 1, 1920. Robinson and Conrad composed the music. Lewis and Young wrote the lyrics. The song was published by Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc., in New York.
Other Recordings
The Aileen Stanley version was released as Victor 18703, Matrix # 24657–6, in 1920. Connie Boswell recorded the song on Decca Records in 1932. Marion Harris recorded the song for Columbia in 1934. Eddie Condon and His Band released the song in 1943 on Commodore. Fletcher Henderson and His orchestra released the song in 1931. The song was recorded by Lionel Hampton and His orchestra in 1939 by RCA Victor. Bennie Krueger and his Orchestra recorded the song in 1921. The Original Memphis Five released their version of "Singin' the Blues" in 1957 with leader James Lytell on clarinet, Billy Butterfield on trumpet, Milford Miff Mole on trombone, and Frank Signorelli on piano, Eugene Traxler on bass, and Anthony Sbarbaro on drums (though Billy Butterfield had recorded a version of it with his own band in 1950, which was released by London Records).
Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Trumbauer, and Eddie Lang recorded "Singin' the Blues" on February 4, 1927, in New York and released it as Okeh 40772 backed with "Clarinet Marmalade" as by Frankie Trumbauer's Orchestra with Bix and Lang. The personnel on the session were: Frankie Trumbauer, C-melody saxophone; Bix Beiderbecke, cornet; Bill Rank, trombone; Jimmy Dorsey, clarinet; Doc Ryker, alto sax; Paul Madeira Mertz, piano; Eddie Lang, guitar; and, Chauncey Morehouse, drums. This recording became a jazz milestone and a jazz standard which was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1977.
Sources
Stewart, Jack. "The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's Place in the Development of Jazz." New Orleans International Music Colloquium, 2005.
Lange, Horst H. Wie der Jazz begann: 1916–1923, von der "Original Dixieland Jazz Band" bis zu King Olivers "Creole Jazz Band". Berlin: Colloquium Verlag, 1991. ISBN3-7678-0779-3
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer.
The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the most famous being "Tiger Rag". In late 1917, the spelling of the band's name was changed to Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
Joseph Russel Robinson was an American ragtime, dixieland, and blues pianist and composer who was a member of the Original Dixieland Jass Band.
Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornetist, composer, and jazz bandleader.
Orie Frank Trumbauer was one of the leading jazz saxophonists of the 1920s and 1930s. His main instrument was the C-melody saxophone, a now-uncommon instrument between an alto and tenor saxophone in size and pitch. He also played alto saxophone, bassoon, clarinet and several other instruments.
"Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard that was recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions. In 2003, the 1918 recording of "Tiger Rag" was entered into the U.S. Library of Congress National Recording Registry.
"Palesteena", or, "Lena from Palesteena", was a 1920 song, with lyrics by Con Conrad, and music by J. Russell Robinson.
"Margie", also known as "My Little Margie", is a 1920 popular song composed in collaboration by vaudeville performer and pianist Con Conrad and ragtime pianist J. Russel Robinson, a member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Lyrics were written by Benny Davis, a vaudeville performer and songwriter. The song was introduced by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1920 as Victor 78, 18717-A, in a medley paired with "Singin' the Blues". The B side was "Palesteena". The ODJB recorded their instrumental version on December 1, 1920. Other popular versions in 1920-21 were by Gene Rodemich; Eddie Cantor; Ted Lewis; and Frank Crumit. The Rega Dance Orchestra recorded the song in October, 1920 for Okeh Records, 4211.
"Riverboat Shuffle" is a popular song composed by Hoagy Carmichael, Irving Mills, and Dick Voynow. Lyrics were later added by Carmichael and Mitchell Parish.
"Livery Stable Blues" is a jazz composition copyrighted by Ray Lopez (né Raymond Edward Lopez; 1889–1979) and Alcide Nunez in 1917. It was recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band on February 26, 1917, and, with the A side "Dixieland Jass Band One-Step" or "Dixie Jass Band One-Step", became widely acknowledged as the first jazz recording commercially released. It was recorded by the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York City at its studio at 46 West 38th Street on the 12th floor – the top floor.
Davenport Blues is a 1925 song composed and recorded by Bix Beiderbecke and released as a Gennett 78. The song has become a jazz and pop standard.
The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz is a six-LP box set released in 1973 by the Smithsonian Institution. Compiled by jazz critic, scholar, and historian Martin Williams, the album included tracks from over a dozen record labels spanning several decades and genres of American jazz, from ragtime and big band to post-bop and free jazz.
"For No Reason at All in C" is a 1927 jazz instrumental by Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trumbauer, and Eddie Lang. The song was released as a 78 single in 1927 on Okeh Records as by "Tram, Bix and Eddie ".
"Sensation Rag" or "Sensation" is a 1918 jazz instrumental by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. It is one of the earliest jazz recordings. It is not related to Joseph Lamb's 1908 "Sensation Rag", which is a ragtime piano piece.
"At the Jazz Band Ball" is a 1917 jazz instrumental recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. The instrumental is one of the earliest and most recorded jazz compositions. It is a jazz classic and a standard of the genre.
Clarinet Marmalade, later Clarinet Marmalade Blues, is a 1918 dixieland jazz standard composed by Larry Shields and Henry Ragas of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. It is played in the key of F major. It was recorded by Fletcher Henderson in 1926 and Frankie Trumbauer in 1927.
"Dixieland Jazz Band One-Step" also known as "Dixie Jass Band One-Step" and "Original Dixieland One-Step" is a 1917 jazz composition by the Original Dixieland Jass Band released as an instrumental as a Victor 78. The song is a jazz milestone as the first commercially released "jass" or jazz song.
Ostrich Walk" is a 1917 jazz composition by the Original Dixieland Jass Band released as an instrumental as an Aeolian Vocalion and a Victor 78. Frankie Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke recorded the song in 1927. The song is a jazz milestone as one of the first commercially released "jass" or jazz recordings.
Benny Meroff (1899-1973) was an American dance bandleader active in the swing jazz era. He also played violin, clarinet, and saxophone.
Fidgety Feet is a Dixieland jazz standard, first recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in June 1918. The more acclaimed version is the 1924 recording by The Wolverines, with Bix Beiderbecke. It is not to be confused with the George Gershwin song of the same name that appears in the 1926 musical Oh, Kay!.
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