Broadway Blues (Swanstrom and Morgan)
"Broadway Blues", also known as "The Broadway Blues", is a blues song with lyrics by Arthur Swanstrom and music by Carey Morgan. The song was introduced by Lillian Lorraine in Florence Ziegfeld's 1918 Broadway musical revue Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic.[1] The song became a popular hit in 1920 with two top selling recordings that year; one made by Nora Bayes and the other made the duo of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake.[2] The song was also recorded in 1920 by Art Hickman and his orchestra,[3] and it was published that year by Irving Berlin's music publishing company.[2] In 1921 the song was interpolated into the Broadway musical revue Snapshots of 1921.[4]
Aileen Stanley originally recorded the song in 1920 for Chicago's Mandel Manufacturing Company's phonograph player,[5] and also recorded the song for Victor Talking Machine Company.[6] She recorded the song again in 1922 for Black Swan Records using the pseudonym Georgia Gorham,[7] and that same year soprano Ennis Parkes recorded it for the His Master's Voice.[8] Other artists associated with the song in the early 1920s included Harry Fox, Henry Santrey, Jack Norworth, and Ted Lewis.[9]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Benjamin & Rosenblatt 2006, p. 469.
- ^ a b Jasen 2002, p. 27.
- ^ Laird 1996, p. 20.
- ^ Benjamin & Rosenblatt 2006, p. 53.
- ^ Laird 1996, p. 513.
- ^ "Broadway Blues". Library of Congress. Retrieved January 2, 2025.
- ^ Laird 1996, p. 208.
- ^ Laird 1996, p. 413.
- ^ "Peeps at the Publishers: Broadway Blues". Melody: A Monthly Magazine for Lovers of Popular Music. IV (10). Boston: Walter Jacobs: 26. October 1920.
Bibliography
[edit]- Benjamin, Ruth; Rosenblatt, Arthur (2006). Who Sang what on Broadway, 1866-1996: The singers (A-K). McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786415069.
- Jasen, David A (2002). "Broadway Blues". A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-93700-9.
- Laird, Ross (1996). "Moanin' Low: A Discography of Female Popular Vocal Recordings, 1920-1933". ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313370052.