[Dixielandjazz] Rinehart

[Joe Carbery]

In the version of *Somebody Stole My Gal *recorded on 8th August 1940 by
Jimmy Rushing with the Basie band, he sings "Rinehart's brokenhearted
lonesome pal...."
I had long assumed that Rinehart had made his way into that song from the
lyrics of *Harvard Blues *("Rinehart, Rinehart, I'm a most indifferent
guy....") Yet *Harvard Blues *was recorded by Basie and Rushing on 21
January 1942 and an article in the Harvard Magazine (Sept-Oct 2002) says
that George Frazier, who wrote the lyrics, "in 1941 regaled his friend
Basie with a sadsack version of the legend." If Basie first heard the
lyrics in 1941, where did Jimmy Rushing hear of Rinehart?

Joe Carbery