Blackbirds of 1928

Blackbirds of 1928
Music	Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics	Dorothy Fields
Basis	musical revue
Productions	1928 Broadway

Blackbirds of 1928 was a hit Broadway musical revue that starred Adelaide Hall, Bill Bojangles Robinson, Tim Moore and Aida Ward, with music by Jimmy McHugh and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. It contained the hit songs "Diga Diga Do", the duo's first hit, "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", "Bandanna Babies" and "I Must Have That Man" all sung by Adelaide Hall.

Blackbirds of 1928 was the idea of impresario Lew Leslie, who planned to build the show around Florence Mills in New York City after her success in the hit 1926 show Blackbirds in London. Mills died of appendicitis in 1927 before rehearsals for the new show had started and Adelaide Hall was enlisted to replace her.

Blackbirds of 1928 started its life as a floorshow at Les Ambassadeurs Club on 57th Street, New York with songs written by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields.

Fields recalled, ‘Lew Leslie (the producer) hired us to do a show called Blackbirds of 1928. First, we’d written songs for a show of his in a club called Les Ambassadeurs, where we had Roger Wolfe Kahn (Otto Kahn’s son) and his orchestra, and a lovely lady named Adelaide Hall, who sang.’

Jimmy McHugh recalled, ‘I knew about Roger Wolfe Kahn wanting to close the club, and I told Lew Leslie, and Lew went up and made arrangements to take it over. This was the start of the show called Blackbirds of 1928. Leslie opened Les Ambassadeurs with the first half of the show.’ The show was a great hit. McHugh continued, ‘From there we wrote a second half and we took the show to Atlantic City.’

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