MUSIC CLIP - OSCAR PETERSON, “MOONGLOW”

Welcome to Afterglow, [a show of vocal jazz and popular song from the Great American Songbook], I’m your host, Mark Chilla.

All this month on the program, I’ve been turning back the clock to the 1920s, exploring the songs from that roaring decade that have resonated over the century. And for our final episode of the month, I’ll be looking back 100 years to the year 1924. That year was especially good for George Gershwin, who penned songs like “The Man I Love” and “Oh, Lady Be Good.” But we’ll also hear about the year 1924 for songwriters like Irving Berlin, Isham Jones, Vincent Youmans, and Hoagy Carmichael.

It’s The Songs Of 1924, coming up next on Afterglow

MUSIC - FRED ASTAIRE, "OH, LADY BE GOOD!"

Fred Astaire in December 1952 with George and Ira Gershwin’s “Oh, Lady Be Good,” from his album The Astaire Story. The soloists in order were Alvin Stoller on drums, Ray Brown on bass, Flip Phillips on tenor sax, Oscar Peterson on celeste, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, and Barney Kessel on guitar. “Oh, Lady Be Good” comes from Gershwin’s 1924 musical called Lady, Be Good, which co-starred Fred Astaire in the original production (although he didn’t sing this song). 

MUSIC CLIP - COLUMBIA JAZZ BAND; GEORGE GERSHWIN, PIANO ROLL, "RHAPSODY IN BLUE"

Mark Chilla here on Afterglow. On this show, we’re turning back the clock to the year 1924, to see which songs from that calendar year continue to resonate 100 years later.

What you’re hearing in the background right now is one of the most famous pieces of American music from that year, George Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue.

The premiere of Rhapsody in Blue was a star-studded event that bore the rather pretentious subtitle, “An Experiment in Modern Music.” It took place on February 12th, 1924 at the Aeolian Hall in New York City, organized by bandleader Paul Whiteman. His idea was to combine the formal and orchestral elements of classical music with the rhythms and harmonies of jazz, so he recruited the 25-year-old Gershwin, who had already been leaning in that direction, to compose a piece. Gershwin set about writing his “American Rhapsody,” later retitled Rhapsody In Blue, in January, sending it off to arranger Ferde Grofé at the end of the month, who completed it just days before its premiere.

The work was an immediate success with audiences, although critics were a little more ambivalent. However, over the next century, Rhapsody In Blue has cemented itself as one of the monuments of American music, opening up the music of the Jazz Age to new audiences.

MUSIC CLIP - EDDIE CONDON & HIS DIXIELAND ALL-STARS, "OH, LADY BE GOOD!"

1924 was definitely George Gershwin’s year. In addition to this famous concert work, many of his most famous songs also were written that year. In 1924, he teamed up with his older brother Ira for their first full-length Broadway musical as a duo. The musical Lady, Be Good, with a book by Guy Bolton and Fred Thompson, opened in December, and became another smashing success, running for over 300 performances.

Let’s hear a few of the famous songs that this Broadway musical produced. We’ll start with a song introduced by Fred Astaire, when he appeared on stage in Lady, Be Good in 1924. This is Mel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dek-Tette 32 years later in 1956 with “Fascinating Rhythm,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - MEL TORMÉ, "FASCINATING RHYTHM"

MUSIC - LENA HORNE, "THE MAN I LOVE"

Lena Horne in 1941 with George and Ira Gershwin’s “The Man I Love.” Before that, we heard Mel Tormé in 1956 with “Fascinating Rhythm.” Both of those songs were written for the 1924 musical Lady, Be Good, although “The Man I Love” was actually cut from the show before it premiered. We’ll hear another Gershwin song from 1924 at the end of this hour.

Songwriter Irving Berlin had an active 1924. For the first half of the decade, he was working in the Music Box Theatre on Broadway, a theater that he co-owned, putting together revues showcasing his original songs. The Music Box Revue of 1923 actually ran for a good portion of 1924, featuring the hit song “What’ll I Do?”

MUSIC CLIP - FRANK SINATRA, "WHAT'LL I DO?"

This languid, lonely ballad no doubt inspired another song that Berlin added to The Music Box Revue of 1924, which opened in December of that year. Let’s hear that ballad now.

This is Frank Sinatra in 1962 with Irving Berlin’s “All Alone,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - FRANK SINATRA, "ALL ALONE"

MUSIC - ELLA FITZGERALD, "LAZY"

Two Irving Berlin songs from the year 1924. Just now, we heard Ella Fitzgerald in 1958 from her Irving Berlin Songbook album with the tune “Lazy,” a song first performed by Al Jolson in 1924. Before that, Frank Sinatra in 1962 with “All Alone.”

Perhaps the biggest hit musical from the year 1924 was the musical No, No Nanette. Based on the play My Lady Friends by Frank Mandel, No, No, Nanette was adapted for the stage by Otto Harbach, Irving Caesar, and composer Vincent Youmans. It premiered disastrously in 1924 and was almost dead in the water. However, they took the show to Chicago, adding a few songs along the way. Those new songs proved to be the missing ingredient, because the show blew up there, and finally made it to Broadway the following year. No, No, Nanette ran for over 300 performances in New York, over 600 performances in London, and over 800 performances when it was revived on Broadway in 1971.

Let’s hear those two magical songs now. First up, this is Sarah Vaughan in 1967 with Irving Caesar and Vincent Youmans’s “I Want To Be Happy,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "I WANT TO BE HAPPY"

MUSIC - ELLA FITZGERALD AND COUNT BASIE, "TEA FOR TWO"

Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie in 1963 with “Tea For Two.” Before that, Sarah Vaughan in 1967 with “I Want To Be Happy.” Both of those songs come from the Irving Caesar and Vincent Youmans musical No, No, Nanette, written in 1924.

MUSIC CLIP - ART TATUM, "TEA FOR TWO"

We’ll have more of the songs from 1924 in just a bit. Stay with us.

I’m Mark Chilla, and you’re listening to Afterglow

MUSIC CLIP - ANDRÉ WATTS, "RHAPSODY IN BLUE"

MUSIC CLIP - THE WOLVERINE ORCHESTRA FEAT. BIX BEIDERBECKE, "RIVERBOAT SHUFFLE"

Welcome back to Afterglow, I’m Mark Chilla. We’ve been looking at the songs of 1924 this hour, and what you’re hearing now is an instrumental song from that year called “Riverboat Shuffle.” 

This recording was made by cornetist Bix Beiderbecke and his group the Wolverines on May 6, 1924, for Richmond, Indiana’s Gennett Records. The song was penned only a few weeks earlier by a 24-year-old Bloomington, Indiana native named Hoagy Carmichael. He originally gave it the title “Free Wheeling,” and it was Carmichael’s first attempt at writing a song. Beiderbecke’s fame was just beginning to take off, so Carmichale’s first song became a hit. The following year, it was published by famed publisher Irving Mills, who also claimed partial songwriting credit to take advantage of the royalties. Even still, this big break led to a career of songwriting for Hoagy Carmichael.

In 1924, though, Carmichael was really just focused on the music, not so much the words. To this day, you mostly hear “Riverboat Shuffle” as an instrumental, although lyrics were added to it in 1938.

MUSIC CLIP - HOAGY CARMICHAEL AND HIS ORCHESTRA, "RIVERBOAT SHUFFLE"

That’s Hoagy himself performing it in 1938, one of the few vocal performances of that tune.

So instead, let’s turn now to a full  song written in 1924, that is, something with both music and words. Irving Mills is a co-credited on this song, however, like with “Riverboat Shuffle,” he probably just claimed songwriting credit as the song’s publisher. This tune was written 670 miles away in New York City as part of an act at the Harlem venue “The Cotton Club.”

Here’s a song written in 1924 by Jimmy McHugh and singer Gene Austin. This is Nat King Cole in 195x with “When My Sugar Walks Down The Street,”

MUSIC - NAT KING COLE, "WHEN MY SUGAR WALKS DOWN THE STREET"

One of the most enduring songwriting pairs from 1924 was the partnership between composer Isham Jones and lyricist Gus Kahn. Two of the top 25 songs of 1924 were composer by Jones and Kahn, and Isham Jones’s Orchestra was featured on six of the top recordings of the year. The mythic story goes that Jones’s wife gifted him a baby grand piano in January 1924 for his 30th birthday. And when he sat down at the piano, he wrote four songs in one hour, including two of the top songs of 1924 (and some of the most long-lasting songs of the decade): “It Had To Be You” and “I’ll See You In My Dreams.” 

Let’s hear each of those songs now. First, this is Frank Sinatra late in his career in 1979 with “It Had To Be You,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - FRANK SINATRA, "IT HAD TO BE YOU"

MUSIC - DIANA KRALL, "I'LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS"

Diana Krall in 2017 from her album Turn Up The Quiet with “I’ll See You In My Dreams.” Before that, Frank Sinatra in 1979 from his album Trilogy with “It Had To Be You.” Both of those songs were hits for songwriters Isham Jones and Gus Kahn in 1924.

The blues continued to dominate in 1924. The genre really began to pick up at the start of the decade, with seminal recordings by blues divas like Mamie Smith and Bessie Smith. By the middle of the decade, new blues-inspired standards were being written by both black and white composers. And traditional blues songs were being reinterpreted by blues singers, turning them into blues standards.

Let’s hear a few blues and blues-inspired songs from 1924. We’ll start with a traditional blues song that was first recorded on October 16, 1924 by the groundbreaking blues singer Ma Rainey. Here’s Lou Rawls and Les McCann in 1962 with the blues standard “See See Rider,” on Afterglow

MUSIC - LOU RAWLS WITH LES MCCANN LTD., "SEE SEE RIDER"

MUSIC - ELLA FITZGERALD, "HARD-HEARTED HANNAH"

MUSIC - DINAH WASHINGTON AND FATS WALLER, "EVERYBODY LOVES MY BABY"

A few blues standards from 1924. Just now, we heard Dinah Washington and Fats Waller in 1957 with “Everybody Loves My Baby,” a bluesy song written by New Orleans songwriter Spencer Williams. Before that, Ella Fitzgerald in 1955 with Jack Yellen and Milton Ager’s “Hard Hearted Hannah.” That comes from the soundtrack album to the film Pete Kelly’s Blues. And first in that set, the blues standard “See See Rider,” first performed in 1924 by blues diva Ma Rainey, and performed there in 1962 by Lou Rawls. 

We started this hour looking at the music of George Gershwin. 1924 was quite possibly Gershwin’s most successful year: it’s the year he first teamed up with his brother to write a hit musical Oh, Lady Be Good, spawning some of his most enduring songs, AND it was the year he wrote his concert masterpiece Rhapsody In Blue. However, on the hit parade, Gershwin’s most successful song from 1924 was not any of these. Instead, it was a song that he co-wrote with Ballard McDonald and Buddy DeSylva, a song that first appeared in the hit Broadway revue George White’s Scandals of 1924, the song “Somebody Loves Me.”

“Somebody Loves Me” was a top 10 hit for Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra in 1924, and has gone on to be performed by singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Dinah Shore, and more than 300 others. Let’s hear a recording from 1947.

To close off this 1924 show, this is Peggy Lee with George Gershwin’s “Somebody Loves Me,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - PEGGY LEE, "SOMEBODY LOVES ME"

Peggy Lee in 1947 with George Gershwin, Ballard McDonald and Buddy DeSylva’s song “Somebody Loves Me,” one of the top hits from the year 1924, 100 years ago.

And thanks for tuning in to this Songs of 1924 edition of Afterglow.

MUSIC CLIP - COLUMBIA JAZZ BAND; GEORGE GERSHWIN, PIANO ROLL, "RHAPSODY IN BLUE"