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Jazz & Blues: 1920s-30s

"But jazz to me is one of the inherent expressions of Negro life in America;
the eternal tom-tom beating in the Negro soul--the tom-tom of revolt against
against weariness in a white world, a world of subway trains, and work, work,
work; the tom-tom of joy and laughter, and pain swallowed in a smile."

--Langston Hughes, "The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain" (1926)

"Jazz is a good barometer of freedom. In its beginnings, the United States
spawned certain ideals of freedom and independence through which,
eventually, jazz was evolved, and the music is so free that many people say
it is the only unhampered, unhindered expression of complete freedom
yet produced in this country."

--Duke Ellington

Students should be aware that the quality of some of these early recordings is not up to today's technological standards. However, you can still get the flavor and spirit of these Jazz Age classics, so kick back and enjoy.

To increase your understanding of the music you will hear on this page, read several of these background sources: Tips for Enjoying Jazz. and What is Ragtime? and What is Early Jazz?.

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Index

Hot Jazzers/Hits
Blues Queens
Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
Ella Fitzgerald
Gershwin's Symphonic Jazz

King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band

Hot Jazz and Other Early Jazz Hits

I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate (1922). Armond J. Piron, composer. Recorded in 1939 by Mugsy Spanier and His Ragtime Band. The "shimmy" was a dance step.
Charleston (1925). James P. Johnson, composer. Recorded by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. The unofficial anthem of the "Flaming Youth" of the '20s. The "charleston" was a popular dance.

Learn how to do the charleston (YouTube).

Doctor Jazz (1926). Joe "King" Oliver, composer; Walter Melrose, lyric. Recorded by King Oliver's Dixie Syncopators; Jelly Roll Morton on piano. Excellent example of Oliver's "hot jazz.

View the lyrics to Dr. Jazz.

Jazzbo Brown from Memphis Town (1926). George Brooks, composer. Recorded by Bessie Smith.
Deadman Blues (1926). Jelly Roll Morton, composer; Anita Gonzales, lyrics. Recorded by Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers.
Black Bottom (1926). Ray Henderson, composer; Bud G. DeSylva/Lew Brown, lyrics. The "Black Bottom" was a popular dance.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1927). Recorded by Ma Rainey, with Fletcher Henderson. Vocal by Ma Rainey. This selection is from August Wilson's play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as performed by the Arizona Theatre Company.

More information on the Black Bottom Dance.

Gimme a Pigfoot (and a Bottle of Beer) (1933). "Sid" Wesley "Sox" Wilson, composer. Recorded and vocal by Bessie Smith. One of Bessie Smith's signature numbers.

Read more about "Gimme a Pigfoot": Where Are the Blues.

Minnie The Moocher (1930). Irving Mills/Cab Calloway/Clarence Gaskill, composers. Vocal by Cab Calloway.
This selection presents several different performances by Calloway, plus cuts from the Betty Boop/Cab Calloway cartoons.

Read background about this song: Minnie the Moocher.

Watch three early Betty Boop cartoons featuring Cab Calloway and his music: Minnie the Moocher; The Old Man of the Mountain; and Snow White.

Biographies: Joe 'King' Oliver; Bessie Smith; Gertrude Pridgett ("Ma") Rainey; Cab Calloway; James P. Johnson; Jelly Roll Morton.

Bessie Smith

The Blues Queens

St. Louis Blues (1914). W. C. Handy, composer. Recorded in 1929 by Louis Armstrong's Orchestra. Vocal by Bessie Smith and cornet by Louis Armstrong (an example of "call and response"). Considered the most famous blues song in the world. (NOTE: Poor quality recording.)

Watch/listen to a big band version by the great Ella Fitzgerald in '79 (YouTube).

St. Louis Blues

I hate to see that evening sun go down,

'Cause my lovin' baby done left this town.

If I feel tomorrow, like I feel today,

I'm gonna pack my trunk and make my getaway.

Interlude: Oh, that St. Louis woman, with her diamond rings,

She pulls my man around by her apron strings.

And if it wasn't for powder and her store-bought hair,

Oh, that man of mine wouldn't go nowhere.

I got those St. Louis blues, just as blue as I can be,

Oh, my man's got a heart like a rock cast in the sea,

Or else he wouldn't have gone so far from me.

I love my man like a schoolboy loves his pie,

Like a Kentucky colonel loves his rocker and rye

I'll love my man until the day I die, Lord, Lord.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1919). Eddie Green, composer. Vocal by Bessie Smith.
Listen also to Marion Harris' version: A Good Man is Hard to Find. And see also Flannery O'Connor's short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Find."

Here's Ethel Water's humorously naughty response, composed by Andy Razaf (1928): My Handy Man or Alberta Hunter's 1984 rendition (she is 83!) of this classic she sang back in the 20s.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

My heart's sad and I'm all forlorn, my man's treating me mean.

I regret the day that I was born and that man of mine I've ever seen.

My happiness, it never lasts a day; my heart is almost breaking while I say:

A good man is hard to find; you always get the other kind.

Just when you think that he is your pal,

you look for him and find him fooling 'round some other gal.

Then you rave; you even crave, to see him laying in his grave.

So, if your man is nice, take my advice,

and hug him in the morning, kiss him ev'ry night,

give him plenty of lovin', treat him right,

for a good man nowadays is hard to find.

Downhearted Blues (1922). Lovie Austin, composer; Alberta Hunter, lyrics. Recorded in 1923 by Bessie Smith--her first big hit.

Downhearted Blues

Gee, but it's hard to love someone when that someone don't love you

I'm so disgusted, heartbroken, too

I've got those down hearted blues

Once I was crazy 'bout a man

He mistreated me all the time

The next man I get he's got to promise to be mine, all mine

If I could only find the man oh how happy I would be

To the good Lord ev'ry night I pray

Please send my man back to me

I've almost worried myself to death wond'ring why he went away

But just wait and see he's gonna want me back some sweet day

Trouble, trouble, I've had it all my days

It seems that trouble's going to follow me to my grave

Got the world in a jug, the stopper's in my hand

Got the world in a jug

The stopper's in my hand

Going to hold it, baby, till you come under my command

Say, I ain't never loved but three men in my life

No, I ain't never loved but three men in my life

'T'was my father, brother and the man who wrecked my life

'Cause he mistreated me and he drove me from his door

Yeah, he mistreated me and he drove me from his door

But the good book says you'll reap just what you sow

Oh, it may be a week and it may be a month or two

Yes, it may be a week and it may be a month or two

But the day you quit me honey, it's coming home to you

Oh, I walked the floor and I wrung my hands and cried

Yes, I walked the floor and I wrung my hands and cried

Had the down hearted blues and couldn't be satisfied

Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (1923). Jimmy Cox, composer. Recorded in 1929 by Bessie Smith.
Wild Women Don't Have the Blues (1924). Ida Cox, lyrics. Vocal by Ida Cox. For an outstanding contemporary version of this song, here is Francine Reed's Wild Women, accompanied by Lyle Lovett's band.

View the lyrics to Wild Women.

Back Water Blues (1927). Bessie Smith, composer. Recorded by Bessie Smith. Classic blues structure: three-line verse with first line repeated and a new third line added.

Watch/listen to Back Water Blues/Hurricane Katrina (YouTube).

View the lyrics to Back Water Blues.

See information on The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.

Strange Fruit (1939)-- Lewis Allen, lyrics; Danny Mendlson and Sonny White, composers. Vocals by Billie Holliday (with disturbing lynching visuals). Named "Song of the Century" by TIME magazine, and a British magazine dubbed it "one of the 10 songs that changed the world.

Here is a different version of Strange Fruit also sung by Billie Holliday .

Read background and lyrics.

Read commentary about "Strange Fruit": Strange Fruit.

Biographies: Alberta Hunter; Bessie Smith; Gertrude Pridgett ("Ma") Rainey; W.C. Handy; Ida Cox; Billie Holiday

Louis Armstrong

Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong

Heebie Jeebies (1926). Boyd Atkins, composer. Early example of "scat singing." Vocal and trumpet by Louis Armstrong.
West End Blues (1928). Clarence Williams/Joe "King" Oliver, composers. Recorded in 1929 and 1939 by Louis Armstrong. Trumpet by Louis Armstrong. The opening bars made jazz history.
(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue (1929). Thomas "Fats" Waller, composer; Harry Brooks/Andy Razaf, lyrics. Recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1929; vocal and trumpet by Louis Armstrong.

See the discussion of Armstrong and this song in the "Prologue" to Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man.

View two versions of the lyrics to Black and Blue.

Watch this Betty Boop cartoon featuring a young Louis Armstrong and his music: I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You. Warning: includes racial stereotypes.

Biographies: Louis Armstrong; Louis Armstrong; Thomas"Fats" Waller.

Duke Ellington

Edward "Duke" Ellington

Jungle Nights In Harlem (1930). Duke Ellington, composer. Recorded by Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra.
Mood Indigo (1930). Albany "Barney" Bigard/Duke Ellington, composers; Irving Mills, lyrics. Recorded in 1931 by Duke Ellington. One of Ellington's classics.

View the lyrics to Mood Indigo.

Watch/listen to Ella Fitzgerald sing it! Mood Indigo (YouTube).

Biographies: Duke Ellington or Duke Ellington.

Ella Fitzgerald, with Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman

Ella Fitzgerald

St. Louis Blues (1914). W. C. Handy, composer. Recorded at a later date by Ella Fitzgerald.

View the lyrics to St. Louis Blues.

Mood Indigo (1930). Albany "Barney" Bigard/Duke Ellington, composers; Irving Mills, lyrics. Performed at a later date by Ella Fitzgerald.

View the lyrics to Mood Indigo.

Cry Me a River originally written by Arthur Hamilton for Ella Fitzgerald to sing in the 1920s-set film, 'Pete Kelly's Blues' (released 1955), but the song was dropped.

Biographies: Ella Fitzgerald or Ella.

George Gershwin

Gershwin's Symphonic Jazz

Rhapsody In Blue (1924). George Gershwin, composer. Recorded by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. Signature music of Paul Whiteman's Orchestra.

See/listen to the Whiteman's 'Rhapsody in Blue' as featured in the 1930 movie 'The King of Jazz' which begins with a voodoo drum/dance sequence followed by Gershwin's masterpiece, as interpreted by musicians and dancers. (The movie itself exaggerates the importance of Whiteman's influence on the development of jazz)

Here is a more symphonic recording by Leonard Bernstein and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra: Rhapsody in Blue (1951?) .

Biography: George Gershwin.

Go to Nichols Home Page.

Background MIDI: Duke Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much Any More"
Source: http://members.tip.net.au/~bnoble/music/midilist.htm

This page is for educational use only.

E-mail comments/suggestions: knichols
Last updated: 9/10/12