Ain't Misbehavin '(jazz standard)

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Ain't Misbehavin ' is a song by Fats Waller / Harry Brooks and a text by Andy Razaf , which was written in 1929 for the night revue Hot Chocolates .

Is not Misbehavin ' is an early Swing - Composition with 32 bars and the AABA in a slow to moderate fast pace. The number was created especially for the revue because those responsible realized that they were missing a theme song . The song was sung as the opening number by Margaret Simms and Paul Bass at the premiere of the musical at Connie's Inn in Harlem, only to be recorded again later in the piece by Russell Wooding's Hallelujah Singers . When he took over Hot Chocolates on Broadway in the same year, Louis Armstrong convinced the director that he also played the song as an interlude on the trumpet. This interlude, initially just a reprise of the opening song, was so well received that he soon had to get out of the orchestra pit and perform this part on stage. Ultimately, this was the beginning of his international fame.

The song is a kind of portrait of a melancholy person who stays home alone, listens to the radio and saves his love for his only one. In Fats Waller's interpretation, this had an ambiguous, ironic undertone. Jack Horner alludes to a well-known English nursery rhyme ( Little Jack Horner , who, according to the text of the nursery rhyme, is eating his Christmas cake in the corner, pulling out a plum and saying what a good boy he is).

Different recordings of the song came to different degrees in the US hit parade in 1929:

In addition, the composition was recorded in 1937 by Teddy Wilson and his quartet, which reached number 6 on the charts with its instrumental version. In 1943, Ain't Misbehavin 'was also used in the film Stormy Weather , in which Fats Waller himself also starred.

The big bands adapted the piece in the 1930s; as a result, recordings of Count Basie Duke Ellington , Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa were made . In 1937 it was recorded by the Quintette du Hot Club de France , so that it later found its way into the gypsy jazz repertoire . Other versions exist by Sidney Bechet , Earl Bostic , Ray Brown , Ray Charles , Coleman Hawkins , Tiny Grimes , Woody Herman , Jutta Hipp , Helen Humes , Harry James , Jelly Roll Morton , Zoot Sims / Bob Brookmeyer , Art Tatum , Jimmy Witherspoon and Cootie Williams . The pianist Jay McShann recorded the piece three times between 1978 and 1980. Marian McPartland and Willie Pickens performed it as a duo ( Ain't Misbehavin ': Live at the Jazz Showcase 2000). Of the countless sung versions of Ain't Misbehavin ', those by Sarah Vaughan (with Miles Davis ) and those by Dinah Washington stand out.

In the second half of the 1950s the rock 'n' rollers discovered the song for themselves, so there were versions of Johnnie Ray , who even made it into the British charts in 1956, Bill Haley & His Comets and others. In 1960 Tommy Bruce & The Bruisers had their greatest success with the song: They reached number 3 in the UK.

In the 1970s, the song served as the theme song for the Tony Award- winning Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin ' , which dealt with black music of the 1920s and 1930s. And finally, Ain't Misbehavin ' also conquered another genre of music: Hank Williams Jr. brought the song to number 1 on the US Country Charts in 1986.

In 1984, the original recording of Ain't Misbehavin 'was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2001, it was voted number 41 in Songs of the 20th Century by the United States Music Industry Association, and three years later the Library of Congress added Wallers Original to the National Recording Registry , a directory of culturally significant sound recordings.

Ain't Misbehavin (Trumpet & Keyboard)

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