On the Sunny Side of the Street

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On the Sunny Side of the Street is a pop song whose authors Jimmy McHugh (melody) and Dorothy Fields (lyrics) are registered. It was written by Lew Leslie as part of the Broadway show The International Revue , premiered on February 25, 1930, and published by Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. that same year. The piece developed into one of the most popular jazz standards .

Characteristics of the song

The song is in the song form A-A'-B-A '. The melody, kept in C major throughout, is cheerful; Even in the first phrase of the A section, quarter notes rise (cdeg) until they “risk a high-spirited jump up to the high e”, which reinforces the impression of strolling on a street. The piece describes how nice it is to leave your worries behind and take a walk on the sunny side of the streets. This side of the street, “in the times of racial segregation and discrimination against blacks, that was the one reserved for whites.” However, the last part of the song is also about inner values, “the fictional gold dust on sunlit feet and the Art without being as rich as old Rockefeller without a cent . "

Impact history

Although Leslie's The International Revue was only performed 95 times in 1930 and viewed as a flop, two of her songs have survived; like On the Sunny Side of the Street sung in Harry Richman's revue , Exactly Like You also developed into the jazz standard. How Get Happy or Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries heard On the Sunny Side of the Street to the songs because of their optimism in what was then the world economic crisis were to hit.

As early as February 1930, Ted Lewis recorded the song with his orchestra; he placed himself at number 2 on the American charts. Harry Richman also had success with his recording, which was released shortly thereafter, and came up to 13th place. From 1943, the title became topical again through film musicals such as Nobody's Darling (1943), Is Everybody Happy? (1943), Swing Parade of 1946 , which included the song. In 1945 the song became a hit twice more in the United States:

Louis Armstrong , who had the song with its attractive lyrics in the program since 1932 at the latest, recorded it for the first time in 1934 (after his imitator Taft Jordan ). Armstrong played On the Sunny Side of the Street twelve times; through him he developed into the jazz standard. Furthermore, Helen Humes , Ida James , Billie Holiday sang the song, then Nat King Cole , Ella Fitzgerald and Ernestine Anderson . But The Manhattan Transfer , Dinah Washington , Judy Garland , Keely Smith (1959), Frank Sinatra (1961), Willie Nelson (1978) and Barry Manilow (1994) provided cover versions.

Numerous instrumentalists such as Art Tatum , Earl Hines , Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman , Lionel Hampton , Dave Brubeck , Erroll Garner and Dizzy Gillespie also interpreted the song. The song is also used in the feature film Beloved in All Eternity (1956).

literature

  • Ken Bloom: The American Songbook - The Singers, the Songwriters, and the Songs - 100 Years of American Popular Music - The Stories of the Creators and Performers . Black Dog & Leventhal, New York City 2005, ISBN 1-57912-448-8 .
  • Hans-Jürgen Schaal (Ed.): Jazz standards. The encyclopedia. 3rd, revised edition. Bärenreiter, Kassel u. a. 2004, ISBN 3-7618-1414-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rumor has it that Fats Waller composed the melody and then sold it. See song portrait at jazzstandards.com and Ken Bloom: The American Songbook - The Singers, the Songwriters, and the Songs - 100 Years of American Popular Music - The Stories of the Creators and Performers , p. 275.
  2. ↑ a b c Schaal Jazz-Standards p. 373
  3. ↑ a b song portrait at jazzstandards.com
  4. ^ Internet Broadway Database
  5. ↑ cf. William H. Young, Nancy K. Young Music of the Great Depression 2005, p. 47
  6. ^ Gerhard Klußmeier : Jazz in the Charts. Another view on jazz history. Liner notes and booklet for the 100 CD edition. Membrane International GmbH, ISBN 978-3-86735-062-4 .
  7. ^ Billboard statistics