There'll Be Some Changes Made

"There'll Be Some Changes Made"
Song
Published	1921 Harry H. Pace 1924 Edward B. Marks Music Corporation
Writer(s)	Composer: Benton Overstreet Lyricist: Billy Higgins
Language	English

"There'll Be Some Changes Made" ("Changes") is a popular song by Benton Overstreet (composer) and Billy Higgins  (lyricist). Published in 1921, the song has flourished in several genres, particularly jazz, for ninety-five years. The song has endured for as many years as a jazz standard. According to the online The Jazz Discography (an index of jazz-only recordings), "Changes" has been recorded 391 times (as of December 2016). The song and its record debut was revolutionary, in that (i) the songwriters (Overstreet and Higgins, both aged of 33), the original copyright publisher, Harry Herbert Pace, (iii) the vocalist to first record it (Ethel Waters, aged 24), (iv) the owners of Black Swan (the record label), (v) the opera singer (Elizabeth Greenfield, deceased 45 years) for whom the label was named, and (vi) the musicians on the recording led by Fletcher Henderson (aged 23), were all African American. The production is identified by historians as a notable part of the Harlem Renaissance.

The debut recording with Ethel Waters was recorded on Black Swan Records (2021) and rapidly became a hit. Her rendition features the rarely-heard 6-bar instrumental intro, followed by her singing the 1st verse (16 bars, plus 1), then her singing the 1st chorus (16 bars, plus 2), then instruments playing 8 bars of the chorus, finishing with her singing the 1st chorus (16 bars, plus 2).

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Wikipedia