Ain't Misbehavin' (song)
| "Ain't Misbehavin'" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Thomas Waller ("Fats" Waller) | |
| A-side | "Ain't Misbehavin'" |
| B-side | "Sweet Savannah Sue" |
| Released | August 2, 1929 |
| Format | 78rpm 10" shellac single, mono |
| Genre | instrumental stride, swing |
| Length | approx. 3 minutes |
| Label | Victor #22108 |
| Writer(s) | Razaf – Waller – Brooks |
Ain't Misbehavin' is a 1929 stride jazz/early swing composition with 32 bars in AABA measure with a slow-to-moderate pace. With lyrics by Andy Razaf and score by Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks, the number was created specifically as a theme song for the Razaf/Waller/Brooks off-Broadway musical comedy Connie's Hot Chocolates. In a 1941 interview with Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Fats claimed the song was written while "lodging" in alimony prison, and that is why he was not "misbehaving".
The song was first performed at the premiere of Connie's Hot Chocolates at Connie's Inn in Harlem as an opening number by Margaret Simms and Paul Bass, and repeated later in the musical by Russell Wooding's Hallelujah Singers. Connie's Hot Chocolates transferred to the Hudson Theatre on Broadway in June 1929, where it was renamed to Hot Chocolates and where Louis Armstrong took over as orchestra director. The script also required Armstrong to play Ain't Misbehavin' in a trumpet solo, and although this was initially slated to only be a reprise of the opening song, Armstrong's performance was so well received that the trumpeter was asked to climb out of the orchestra pit and play the piece on stage.
In the first half of the 20th century, when a tune was successful in terms of sheet music sold, it was typically recorded by several different artists. All six Ain't Misbehavin' recordings of 1929 were hits in the ASCAP rankings for that year:
Waller re-recorded the song with vocals for the 1943 film Stormy Weather. Waller's recording received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1984, and it was one of fifty recordings selected for inclusion in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2004. In 2001, it was one of 365 Songs of the Century selected by the RIAA.
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