"(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue" is a 1929 jazz standard composed by Fats Waller with lyrics by Harry Brooks and Andy Razaf.[1] It was introduced in the Broadway musical Hot Chocolates (1929) by Edith Wilson. In the show, Wilson originally sang the song from a bed with white sheets, but the bed was removed after the first show due to the judgement that it was too suggestive.[2] The show also included Waller's hit compositions "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose".[3]

Louis Armstrong later performed and recorded the song several times omitting the opening verse.

Blues singer Ethel Waters's 1930 version of the song became a hit, and the song has been recorded by many artists since then.

Frankie Laine's 1946 version was featured in the 2011 video game L.A. Noire, as part of the in-game radio station, K.T.I. Radio.

The song is also featured in the prologue of Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man (1952) as its protagonist, while hiding underground in a basement with 1369 light bulbs, listens to the song being played by Armstrong and contemplates the "horrors of slavery" while smoking a reefer.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Black and Blue, Jazzstandards.com - retrieved on 20 May 2009
  2. ↑ Brothers, Thomas (2014). Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 346. ISBN 978-0-393-06582-4.
  3. ↑ David Tenenholz: Fats Waller (Thomas Wright) Archived 2009-04-06 at the Wayback Machine at jazz.com - retrieved on 20 May 2009
  4. ↑ Brothers, Thomas (2014). Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 354. ISBN 978-0-393-06582-4.


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