Blues in the Night


"Blues in the Night" is a popular blues song which has become a pop standard and is generally considered to be part of the Great American Songbook. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, for a 1941 film begun with the working title Hot Nocturne, but finally released as Blues in the Night. The song is sung in the film by William Gillespie.

Composition

Arlen and Mercer wrote the entire score for the 1941 film Blues in the Night. One requirement was for a blues song to be sung in a jail cell. As usual with Mercer, the composer wrote the music first, then Mercer wrote the words. The title "Blues in the Night" describe the narrator's romantic loneliness and frustration, recalling his mother's warning from childhood: "A woman's a two-face, a worrisome thing / Who'll leave you to sing the blues in the night".
Arlen later recalled:
When they finished writing the song, Mercer called a friend, singer Margaret Whiting, and asked if they could come over and play it for her. She suggested they come later because she had dinner guests—Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Mel Tormé, and Martha Raye. Instead, Arlen and Mercer went right over. Margaret Whiting remembered what happened then:
After the song was composed and the lyrics were written, African-American baritone William Gillespie was hired to perform the song a cappella in a film scene set in a jail cell. In his review of the film, critic Howard Thompson of The New York Times argued that Gillespie's "superbly chanted" version of the Arlen–Mercer song transformed the motion picture and arguably "nailed the film down for posterity."

Academy Award nomination

In 1942, "Blues in the Night" was one of nine songs nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Observers expected that either "Blues in the Night" or "Chattanooga Choo Choo" would win, so that when "The [Last Time I Saw Paris (song)|The Last Time I Saw Paris]" actually won, neither its composer, Jerome Kern, nor lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein II, was present at the ceremony. Kern was so upset at winning with a song that had not been specifically written for a motion picture and that had been published and recorded before the film came out that he petitioned the Motion Picture Academy to change the rules. Since then, a nominated song has to have been written specifically for the motion picture in which it is performed.

Critical comment

Composer Alec Wilder said of this song, Blues in the Night' is certainly a landmark in the evolution of American popular music, lyrically as well as musically."

Famous phrases from the lyrics

  • "My momma done tol' me"
  • "when I was in knee pants"
  • "worrisome thing"
  • "a woman'll sweet talk"

Recorded versions

Charting versions

Listed below are known versions of "Blues In the Night" that have made Billboard magazine's charts in the United States since 1941.
Recorded versions in the United Kingdom were by Shirley Bassey and Helen Shapiro.
Artie Shaw recorded the first version on September 2, 1941, for RCA Victor Records, which was released as Victor 27609 on October 3. It debuted at number 10 on Billboard magazine's "Best Selling Retail Records chart" on November 21, 1941, but dropped to number 21 the next week, then off.
The Woody Herman recording was released by Decca Records as catalog number 4030 in October 1941. It reached the BS chart in November, and hit number one on February 14, 1942, finishing with a 21-week chart run.
Dinah Shore's version was released by Bluebird Records as catalog number 11436 on January 23, 1942. It reached the BS chart on February 14, 1942, to start an 11 week run, peaking at number 4. It was the 27th BS record of 1942, and went on to sell one million records.
Jimmie Lunceford's two-sided platter was recorded on December 22, 1941, and released on Decca 4125 in January. Starting January 31, 1942, it ran 10 weeks on the BS chart, peaking at number 4.
The Cab Calloway recording was released by OKeh Records as catalog number 6422. It reached the BS chart on January 31, 1942, to start a nine week run, peaking at number 8.
The Benny Goodman Sextet, with Peggy Lee on vocals, recorded "Blues in the Night" on December 24, 1941, released on Okeh 6553 in January 1942. It made the chart on February 14 at number 20, but was never seen again.
The Rosemary Clooney recording was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39813. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on September 26, 1952, and lasted two weeks on the chart, peaking at number 29.

Other notable versions

In addition, the song was recorded at least three times by Jo Stafford. Her previously unreleased 1942 version with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra was included in the 1966 Reader's Digest box set The Glenn Miller Years. On October 15, 1943, she recorded it with Johnny Mercer, the Pied Pipers, and Paul Weston's Orchestra, in a version released as a single and on an album by Capitol Records. On February 20, 1959, she recorded it with The Starlighters in a version released on an album by Columbia Records.
Carlos Montoya recorded a flamenco version.

Additional recorded versions (and further details on above versions)

In popular culture