Hot Lips
| "Hot Lips" | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Song by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra | |
| Released | 1922 |
| Recorded | New York City, June 23, 1922 |
| Genre | Foxtrot |
| Writer(s) | Henry Busse, Henry Lange, Lou Davis |
"Hot Lips" ("When He Plays Jazz He's Got - Hot Lips") or "He's Got Hot Lips When He Plays Jazz" is a popular song written by jazz trumpeter Henry Busse, Henry Lange, and Lou Davis. The song was a number one hit for Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. Henry Busse was a founding member of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, joining in 1918.
Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra recorded the song on June 23, 1922 in New York and released it as a Victor 78, 18920-A. The recording was number one for six weeks. The Paul Whiteman recording was featured in the Oprah Winfrey movie The Color Purple (1985), directed by Steven Spielberg.
First published in 1922, it was advertised as "A Blues Fox Trot Song" The song is about a trumpet player. The chorus is:
He's got hot lips— When he plays Jazz
He draws out step,— Like no one has
You're on your toes,— And shake your shoes
Boy, how he goes— When he plays Blues
I watch the crowd— Until he's through
He can be proud— They're "cuckoo,' too
His music's rare You must declare,— The boy is there
With two hot lips, He's got hot lips
The song has been recorded many times. Red Nichols, Al Hirt, Pete Candoli, Horace Heidt, Harry James, the California Ramblers, Miss Patricola on Victor, the Hoosier Hot Shots on Melotone, the Will Lockridge Orchestra on Score Records, and Henry Busse with his orchestra, have all recorded the song.
The original release was by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra of which Busse was a member in 1922. He left the Paul Whiteman orchestra in 1928 to form his own group. Lockridge was a Busse trumpeter whose recording of the song was part of an album tribute to Busse shortly after Busse's death in 1955.
The song appears in the 1930 Universal Pictures musical revue King of Jazz featuring Paul Whiteman and Bing Crosby. Henry Busse released a 78 single of "Hot Lips" in 1933 on Decca Records. The Busse version was also released as a V-Disc, No, 285, in October, 1944 by the U.S. War Department along with "Wang Wang Blues". Columbia Records also released the Busse recording of "Hot Lips" as part of its Columbia Hall of Fame 45 single series.
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