[Dixielandjazz] "Black and Blue" lyric

[Charles Suhor]

Wow! Great historical sleuthing, Bill. To hear Ethel Waters singing "Suppertime" to great effect (circa late 60's on TV, judging by the hairdo on the hostess. Is that Dianna Ross?), go to the link below.--Charlie Suhor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Zvjjbc-Hk


On Oct 6, 2014, at 3:45 AM, Bill Haesler wrote:

> Dear Listmates,
> For the usual busy reasons, I'm late joining this thread, started by Richard Parks' provocative query:
> "...has anyone got words a white guy can sing without getting a visit from the PC cops?"
> 
> Marek's succinct reply says it all, so far as I'm concerned.
> "For European audiences, at least, no explanation is needed. The European musicians are white, and they sing Black and Blue with feeling, without the need to apologize.  
> It's just American over-sensivity and obsession with that travesty of language, politics, you name it - political correctness!"
> Australians have no reservations singing it.
> 
> Then Ric Giorgi wrote:
> "Another similar song is Irving Berlin's "Suppertime" (Great song). I've sung it with an explanation and context but I didn't find that was needed with Black and Blue. Maybe times have changed?"
> 
> The song has an interesting background. 
> "What Did I Do To Be So Black And Blue" was composed (and copyrighted in August 1929) with lyric by Andy Razaf and music by Thomas Waller and pianist Harry Brooks and was introduced in the revue 'Hot Chocolates' by singer Edith Wilson.
> She also recorded it for Brunswick at the time with the show's orchestra, so that makes it one of the first 'cast' recordings.
> The light-skinned Edith from the chorus line was 'blackeg up' and, dressed in a white dress, lay on a white covered bed on a white set and sang:
> "Out in the street, shufflin' feet, couples passin' two by two, while here am I, left high and dry, black, and 'cause I'm black I'm blue.
> Browns and yellers, all have fellers, gentlemen prefer them light, wish I could fade, can't make the grade, nothing but dark days in sight." 
> Then "Cold, empty bed, Springs hard as lead, pains in my head, Feel like old Ned. What did I do, to be so Black And Blue?
> No joys for me, no company, even the mouse ran from my house, all my life through, I've been so Black And Blue.
> I'm white inside, it don't help my case 'cause I can't hide, what is in my face, oh!
> I'm so forlorn, life's just a thorn, my heart is torn, why was I born?
> What did I do, to be so Black And Blue?
> 
> Just a poor little black girl who "Ain't got a friend."
> 
> 'Hot Chocolates' started its life as 'Tan Town Topics' at Connie's Inn nightclub, owned by Connie and George Immerman and their silent  partner, the notorious gangster Dutch Schultz. It then opened at the Hudson Theatre on 20 June 1929 and ran for 219 performances until 14 December 1929. Each night, after the show, the cast moved to Connie's In and performed an abbreviated version for the club's midnight show. 
> 
> According to Andy Razaf (quoted in the 1992 autobiography 'Black And Blue. The Life and Lyrics of Andy Razaf') the major investor in 'Hot Chocolates', the manic Dutch Schultz, wanted another scene added before it moved to Broadway. 
> He "suggested" to Razaf (with a gun at his head) that it should be a comedy song sung by a girl who tells how tough it is being black. And if he didn't write it, he would never write another song.
> Razaf, Waller and the shows band director, Harry Brooks promptly obliged.
> It was an acclaimed hit on its first night and, although not the comedy song Schultz wanted, how could he not be not be happy with the audience reaction? Razaf lived to write another day. 
> Louis Armstrong, who was in the show, recorded and sang the tune (chorus only) and Mills Music published it. Edith recorded it, others followed and Ethel Waters' cover rendition (with a white group!) was made for Columbia in April 1930. Even some of Ms Waters amended words would raise an eyebrow today.
> The reinterpretation of the lyrics and racial controversy came later.
> 
> So far as white artists singing it, I also see no problem.
> People have been singing songs, out of context, from shows and musicals for decades.
> The classic blues singers toured the vaudeville circuits featuring songs unrelated to their own life style.
> It's called entertainment.
> 
> However, Ric Giorgi's mention of Irving Berlin's "Supper Time", that I've never heard sung live, is an exception. 
> 
> That one was written for the 1933 show 'Thousands Cheer', featuring songs related to newspaper headlines. 
> "Supper Time" was introduced by the popular Ethel Waters and is about a woman lamenting that her lynched husband will not be coming home to his children. 
> A song on a par with Billie Holiday's intense "Strange Fruit" written by 'Lewis Allan' [Abel Meeropol], but sad rather than confronting.
> 
> John Gill has just raised the interesting subject of the "Black And Blue" alternative tune, "What Did I Do To Be So Alone And Blue".
> I've never found a copy of sheet music (apart from a cover image), nor the complete lyric or a copyright. 
> It has the same composer credits, lyric by Andy Razaf and a 1929 date but appears to have be printed/republished by Mills Music in the mid 50s.
> (Where are you Dick Baker, when we need you?)
> 
> The chorus of "Alone And Blue" starts with:
> "Nothing seems right, no appetite, can't sleep at night.
> What Did I Do To Be So Alone And Blue?
> Since you've been gone, I need you so, why did you go.
> What Did I Do To Be So Alone And Blue?"
> I do not have the rest.
> 
> Kind regards, 
> Bill
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