Hard Hearted Hannah
Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp of Savannah) is a song written by Milton Ager (music) and Jack Yellen , Bob Bigelow and Charles Bates (lyrics) and published in 1924.
background
Hard Hearted Hannah was one of the many American songs that glorified the South of the United States , starting with Stephen Foster's Old Folks at Home from 1851. The songwriting team Ager-Yellen had previously written songs like Are You From Dixie, Lovin ' in this style . Sam (The Sheik of Alabam) , Alabama Jubilee and That's Where the South Begins . A few years later they reworked a song by Bob Bigelow and Charley Bates, the final song with blues character tells a humorous story of a Vamp of Savannah who loves to see men suffer . The woman portrayed in the song is described as having attributes of independence, defiance and sexual greed.
First recordings and later cover versions
Other musicians who covered the song from 1924 included Cliff Edwards ( Perfect 12133), Lucille Hegamin (Lincoln 1172), Margaret Young ( Brunswick 2852), Ernest Hare ( Okeh 40127), Belle Baker ( Victor 19436), the American Duettists Layton & Johnstone ( Columbia 3511), Fletcher Henderson ( Regal 9681), Vernon Dalhart (Edison), The Little Ramblers (Columbia 203), Five Birmingham Babies (aka California Ramblers , Perfect 14311), Leslie Jeffries Orchestra (Aco, with Frank Guarente ), Rosa Henderson , Paul Whiteman and Pete Wendling ( piano roll ).
The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 129 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz , including a. by Patti Austin , Gustav Brom , Ray Charles , Ella Fitzgerald , Fatty George , Shirley Horn , Pee Wee Hunt , Ray McKinley , Turk Murphy , Irene Reid , Kay Starr , The Temperance Seven and Alex Welsh . Also, Jim Croce , Bobby Darin (1964) and Nancy Sinatra (1967) coverten the song. Ella Fitzgerald introduced him with Ray Anthony in the 1955 feature film Pete Kelly's Blues .