The Birth of the Blues
The Birth of the Blues is a pop song written by Ray Henderson (music), BG DeSylva and Lew Brown (lyrics) and released in 1926.
background
The song was first presented by the entertainer Harry Richman (1895-1972) in the revue George White's Scandals of 1926 in New York's Apollo Theater . It is true that the sheet of music indicates the playing style with tempo di blues . Nevertheless, this is not a blues song , as the song form AABA shows. The only blue note of the song written in C major is the minor third in the verse .
First recordings
Harry Richman's recording of the song ( Vocalion 15412) hit # 4 on the US charts in 1926. Other musicians who recorded the song from 1926 included the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, the version of which was arranged by George Gershwin , Leo Reisman , Sam Lanin , the Gennett studio formation The Vagabonds (with Tommy Dorsey , Adrian Rollini , Stan King and others the singer Arthur Fields ) and the vocal ensemble The Revelers . The orchestras Bernard Etté and Efim Schachmeister recorded the title in Berlin . Pop singer Luigi Bernauer recorded the song with orchestral accompaniment at Homocord in Berlin with a German text version, “Die Nacht ist dein, Jonny” .
Later cover versions
In later years the song was covered a lot. a. by Shirley Bassey , Cab Calloway , Ray Charles , Bing Crosby / Jack Teagarden Orchester, Sammy Davis Junior , Benny Goodman , Oscar Peterson , Frank Sinatra and Dinah Washington . The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 257 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz . In 1941, Bing Crosby sang The Birth of the Blues as the title song of the music film of the same name by Victor Schertzinger ; In 1948 Ted Lewis played him in When My Baby Smiles at Me (director: Walter Lang ). Lucille Norman interpreted him in 1951 in Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (director: David Butler ), Gordon MacRae in the DeSylva-Henderson biopic The Best Things in Life Are Free (1956, director: Michael Curtiz ). Bruno Balz wrote a German version ( Othello ), which was recorded by Zarah Leander in 1961 with the FFB orchestra under the direction of Friedrich Schröder on Ariola . In the US political series House of Cards , lead actor Kevin Spacey sings the song in his role as Frank Underwood.
Web links
- Inclusion in the catalog of the German National Library: DNB 358984351
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d Marvin E. Paymer, Don E. Post: Sentimental Journey: Intimate Portraits of America's Great Popular Songs . 1999, p. 88
- ↑ a b Tom Lord: Jazz discography (online)
- ↑ The night is yours, Jonny! (Birth of the Blues) (Ray Henderson - Robert Silver) Luigi Bernauer with orchestra. Homocord 4-2552 (Matr. M 19 944). Berlin 1928, to be heard on youtube