The Lady Is a Tramp

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lady Is a Tramp is a song from the musical Babes in Arms by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart , which premiered on April 14, 1937 and has seen more than three hundred performances. The song is a parody of New York high society and its strict etiquette. In the 1950s, it became a jazz standard .

Features of the song

The ironic text announces pride in female individuality, for example when it says: “I'm broke, it's oke.” (“I'm broke, but that's okay.”) The melody consists of three sixteen-bar parts, of which the first half of the third part acts as a bridge . The initial motif, whose main tones are a, b, b and c, sounds chromatic in itself .

Early recordings

Early recordings include a 1937 version of Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra with Edythe Wright , Midge Williams, and Bernie Cummins ; this version was on the American Billboard 15 for two weeks. Teddy Stauffer also recorded the song that year. In the Hollywood film adaptation of the musical, which was released in 1939 (directed by Busby Berkely ) with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in the leading roles, the music program was changed - The Lady Is a Tramp only appeared as an instrumental number, as background music for various Scenes in which Rosalie Essex (played by June Preisser ) appeared.

Then the song was only picked up again after the Second World War: Boyd Raeburn arranged the composition for his modernist big band in a first instrumental version in 1947. Lena Horne recorded the song with the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio Orchestra on March 30, 1948. Her appearance appeared in the film Words and Music , a fictional biography of the partnership between Rodgers and Hart.

The breakthrough to the classic

The piano-less quartet of Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan recorded the piece in 1953 in a sensational arrangement: their version began with the unaccompanied trumpet before the melody was recorded on the baritone saxophone (supported by the whole band). Baker and Mulligan take turns doing counterpoint. In the same year Oscar Peterson and Mary Lou Williams played the piece; numerous other musicians followed. Pee Wee Russell and Ruby Braff tried their luck with a version of Dixie at the same time .

The song was recorded by Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald from the mid-1950s and by Shirley Bassey in the 1960s. The song ultimately became the signature tune for each of them. Also Bobby Troup (1955) and Mel Tormé coverten the song. Sinatra, who based his interpretation of the piece on Dorsey's trombone, also sang the song in the musical film Pal Joey (1957), which led to its breakthrough as a jazz standard. Sinatra had already performed the song in Las Vegas in 1956 ; in April 1957 he played him on the television show Bob Hope (accompanied by Les Paul ). On his album Duets he recorded the song in a duet with Luther Vandross . In certain situations he used the song for parodies and changed the text, for example to "That's why this chick is a champ". Ella Fitzgerald, one of the few jazz singers who sang the song frequently, changed the lyrics to praise Sinatra or Sidney Poitier , for example to ... and for Frank Sinatra I whistle and stamp! . Fitzgerald and Sinatra sang the song as a duet in the 1967 TV special, A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim .

Sammy Davis Jr. sang the song regularly during his live performances. Buddy Greco's cover version sold more than a million copies in the United States. The versions by Alice Cooper , Yes , Tokyo Jihen , They Might Be Giants or Nina Hagen are less common interpretations.

The Supremes played the song on their album The Supremes Sing Rodgers & Hart . The group also recorded a live version at the prestigious Copacabana nightclub in New York in 1967.

Tony Bennett recorded the song with Lady Gaga in 2011 for his album Duets II . It reached number 33 in the Japanese singles chart.

Hildegard Knef wrote a German text for this song and sang in 1956 “I think I'll never be a lady”.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c The Lady Is a Tramp
  2. ↑ a b c d e Hans-Jürgen Schaal Jazz-Standards , p. 278 ff.
  3. ^ Songs from the Year 1937
  4. ↑ Actually this piece didn't belong to the musical Pal Joey .
  5. ↑ This was followed by recordings by Tony Scott , Jackie McLean , Kenny Drew , the Chamber Jazz Sextet , Cy Touff , Erroll Garner , Horace Parlan , Gerald Wiggins and Claude Williamson . "After that, the lady was established primarily as a hot up- tempo number and an indispensable part of the jazz cosmos." - Hans-Jürgen Schaal Jazz-Standards , p. 280
  6. ^ J. Murrells, The Book of Golden Discs London 1978, p. 135
  7. ↑ with the Leipzig Big Band at the Burghausen International Jazz Week 2004
  8. ↑ Record review: Tony Bennett - “Duets II” at focus.de