Year by Year in Popular Song: 1939

As I peruse the lists of popular songs in 1939 it does seem to me that the music has grown somewhat tamer at the end of the decade. It's just a feeling, a hunch, and it would take some digging to prove. I should also add that the feature song for this year (see below) is a massive exception to that rule. But in any case, none of this means that there wasn't a lot of good music in '39. In fact, there were some rather incredible high-water marks that year, and you will soon see. 

Let's start with some Western Swing, shall we? Bob Wills recorded an all-time standard this year: That's What I Like about the South. This is a happy-go-lucky white man's view of the South, a South without shadows. Ironic that in the same year we will have another classic song about the South, but this one very different (see the featured song below).

Also in '39 Gene Autry produced a Cowboy classic: Back in the Saddle Again. And Roy Acuff was hitting big with Freight Train Blues and Wabash Cannonball.

We need to recognize the achievements of Glenn Miller here. In a short time he produced an incredible number of tunes that have remained with us ever since. Here are three from '39:

• Moonlight Serenade
• Little Brown Jug (a personal fave)
• In the Mood

And keeping in the same mood, clarinetist Woody Herman went to the Woodchopper's Ball.

Now I want to finish up this installment with two of my favorite singers and two of my favorite songs. First, Mildred Bailey is the singer, the band is Duke Ellington's, and the song is Johnny Mercer's I Thought about You.

A note before getting on to the feature song. First, since doing this series on music from the 1930s, Mildred Bailey has been a revelation to me. I hadn't known her music well. She's wonderful, and of course Ellington's band was simply the best. Then about the song itself: Mercer was the lyricist, and I think it's really fine work. Mercer was known in the early years for whimsical lyrics (Lazy Bones, Jeepers Creepers, I'm an Old Cowhand, and countless others), and in his later years for some serious classics like "Moon River" and "Days of Wine And Roses." He was a fine singer in his own right with a relaxed and bemused style befitting his lyrics. I rank him very close to Hoagy as one of my favorite songwriters, and "I Thought About You" is one of his best.

Now we come to the feature song for the year 1939, and truly there can only be one. Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit. This a monumental song, a moment in the history of recorded music that stands as a kind of Mt. Everest, surrounded only by foothills. There ought to be a statue to Billie for this song. Let us never forget.

Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees Pastoral scene of the gallant south The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burning flesh Here is fruit for the crows to pluck For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop Here is a strange and bitter crop

I don't find any live performance video on YouTube with Billie singing until this from 1959:

And here's a powerful contemporary rendition by Annie Lennox:

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937 , 1938.

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1938

As a kid growing up in the 60s and early 70s (I graduated high school in '74), I loved much of the pop music of the period. I still enjoy putting an oldies station on the radio while I cook or wash dishes in the kitchen. I also loved cowboy music as a kid (my favorite record was Tex Ritter's "Blood on the Saddle"). And I really enjoyed the pop-folkies like the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul & Mary.

After high school my musical tastes changed somewhat. I began to get very interested in bluegrass music and traditional forms of folk and blues, and in jazz music (especially pre-1950s jazz). And I began to fall in love with the great songwriters of the so-called "Great American Songbook" era. If you've been following this series, you've noticed I mention Hoagy Carmichael a lot, as well as Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, and Cole Porter. I love these songsmiths. They wrote the music our parents listened to (and which my generation often mistakenly despised), interpreted and re-interpreted by crooners and jazz singers by the thousands. 

Hoagy Carmichael started publishing music in the 20s. "Stardust" was 1928. His music often invokes an idealized lazy afternoon in the South (as with, for example, two of his most famous song, "Lazybones" and "Georgia on my Mind"). While other songwriters of the period were often aiming at urban sophistication, Carmichael's world was rural and Southern. There is a folksiness about his music that sets him apart from his peers. 

Well, I've featured one of his songs in every installment of this series thus far, and I'm not about to stop now. One of my favorites is "The Nearness of You," with lyrics by Ned Washington. Hoagy first released this song in 1937, so I should have included this one in the last installment. But it's not too late to correct the oversight. Here is Norah Jones with a cozy rendition, one of her pandemic video shares:

So that song was first published in 1937. Moving on to the real subject of this post, 1938 was a good year for Hoagy as well. Here's Two Sleep People, sung by Fats Waller. Heart and Soul, sun by Bea Wain with the Larry Clinton Orchestra (both songs with lyrics by Frank Loesser). And finally, we have Hoagy himself singing I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes). That's 3 examples of the greatness of Hoagy!

In the meantime, some important things were happening in the world of jazz. Benny Goodman's orchestra played at Carnegie Hall, for one thing. And Ray Noble wrote and recorded Cherokee, for another.

Also in 1938, the great actor Walter Huston recorded Kurt Weill's September Song. 

"Jumping" was a big deal in '38. Though Basie introduced the song in 1937, Benny Goodman gave us his rendering (at Carnegie Hall) of One O'Clock Jump. Basie, not to be outdone, brings out Jumpin' at the Woodside. And meanwhile Slim and Slam (who introduced us to Flat Foot Floogie last year) recorded Jump Session. Oh and by the way, Slim & Slam also gave us Tutti-Fruti in '38. They were awesome!

But there's so much more good music for this year! Duke Ellington comes through with I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart. But you want lyrics? Connee Boswell, late of the Boswell Sisters, gave us her version of the same. And I like to include a Louis Armstrong tune in every installment of this series: how about Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen. And let's not forget Sidney Bechet's Hold Tight, Hold Tight (I Want Some Seafood,Mama). While we're at it, we might as well include The Andrews Sisters' version of the same.

Let's sample a little Western Swing before moving along to our song of the year. 

• San Antonio Rose by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
• Ragtime Cowboy Joe by Pinky Thomlin (Believe me, it's so good, don't skip this one!)
• Red Hot Fannie by the Hoosier Hot Shots

And maybe some Blues?

• Lula Mae, by Tampa Red
• Goin' Down in Galilee, by Kokomo Arnold

Which brings us to the feature song of this year. I don't think there can be any other choice:

And this is my other favorite rendition by another great singer that left us too soon, the great Eva Cassidy.

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937.

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1937

The trouble is, there was too much good music in 1937.

What do I love about '30s music? One, I love the songwriters. Today's selection includes songs by Iriving Berlin, the Gershwin brothers, and my favorite, Hoagy Carmichael. And I love the great singers of the period, who you'll find well-represented in this installment. Finally, I love the ribald, swinging, madcap sound of much of the music. You'll catch some of that in the Cowboy Swing below, as well as in the Fats Waller tune, among others.

Let's Begin with the country, blues, Western swing, and bluegrass music. This sort of music seemed to be coming into its own in 1937. First, in the Western (or Cowboy) Swing category, Smokey Wood insists that everybody should Keep on Truckin'. And the Crystal Spring Ramblers were really swingin' on the Fort Worth Stomp. As were the Hoosier Hot Shots on Breezin' Along with the Breeze.

Meanwhile, Patsy Montana and the Prairie Ramblers sang (and yodeled) He's a Wild and Reckless Cowboy. And W. H. Steppe gave us the Old Timey Bonaparte's Retreat, 

On the jazz side of things Benny Goodman was really hitting his stride, and so was Count Basie. Goodman gave us Sing, Sing, Sing and Basie One O'Clock Jump. Louis Armstrong, who has shown up with a number in every post in this series so far, gave us a smooth swingin' Alexander's Ragtime Band.

Don't miss these two: Slim & Slam paid tribute to the Flat Foot Floogie (with the Floy Floy), or something like that. And Fats Waller is rockin' and rollin' with This Joint is Jumpin'.

I want to feature a few really fantastic lady jazz singers from '37. In this group we'll find some of the finest music of the period. There was Ivie Anderson on All God's Chillun Got Rhythm. Billie Holiday chimes in with the Gershwin tune, Nice Work if You Can Get It (and as usual listen to that outstanding ensemble backing her up). The Andrews Sisters have just appeared on the scene with a huge hit in Bei Mir Bist du Schon. Meanwhile, a young Ella Fitzgerald joins up with the Mills Brothers for Big Boy Blue. Finally, I always like to feature a Hoagy Carmichael tune when I can. For 1937 the great Mildred Bailey recorded his lazy and nostalgic Rockin' Chair.

Among the crooners, Bing Crosby was of course the top of the heap, but Fred Astaire wasn't far behind. He had a lot of top-selling records in 1937, but the one that will be our feature song this time around is Foggy Day (from the movie "Damsel in Distress"). I love Astaire's singing. He always sang in front of top-notch ensembles and with all his suavity he had jazz rhythms in his bones. The song, by the way, is another Gershwin classic, and of course has been recorded thousands of times. I love Mel Torme's version, among many others. But check out Dianne Reeves and the Berlin Philharmonic!

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936.

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1936

1936 has to be considered a true "banner year" for American music. It was the year of Billie Holiday's early seminal recordings with Teddy Wilson on the Brunswick label, producing exquisite and revolutionary tracks that will be listened to as long as people have ears. 1936 was also the year that Count Basie, after many years of dues-paying, first came to prominence. On top of that, Bob Wills and Bill Monroe made noteworthy early recordings, and bluesman Robert Johnson stepped out of the Mississippi delta and into legend.

And not only that, but it was the year of Let's Have a Tiddly at the Milk Bar, sung by Noel Gay and Nellie Wallace (of the English Music Hall stage). So you see, 1936 wasn't all musical greatness!

Let's start with Bob Wills. He and his band had been playing around Texas for a few years, but they recorded their first tracks in late 1935. He billed himself the King of Western Swing, and that he was. Here's his Steel Guitar Rag, the song that first popularized the steel guitar in Country music!

Keeping with the country sound, the Delmore Brothers had the Nashville Blues. Al Dexter had the Honk Tonk Blues. Jimmie Davis worried that Mama's Gettin' Hot and Papa's Gettin' Cold. And the Monroe Brothers showed up on the New River Train.

Two bluesmen should get our attention for 1936. First, Lead Belly recorded the immortal Good Night, Irene. And of course, Robert Johnson: Crossroads Blues.

Bing Crosby was, as everyone knows, the dominant crooner of the era. He jumped on the "cowboy swing" bandwagon in 1936 with Johnny Mercer's typically facetious I'm an Old Cowhand on the Rio Grande. He also had a big hit with Pennies from Heaven. That's fine, Bing, but step aside. Billie Holiday also recorded Pennies in 1936!

Almost as popular as Bing was dancer/crooner Fred Astaire. He was in the heart of his partnership with Ginger Rogers in 1936. Here they are together singing A Fine Romance (music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields).

Oh, and Billie recorded that one as well.

As for the lady crooners, we had Vera Lynn singing I'm in the Mood for Love.

1936 was the last year for the Boswell Sisters as a group. We're going to miss them (although the Andrews Sisters are on the horizon). The Boswells' final recordings gave us their typically energetic version of Fats Waller's I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter. Also, The Music Goes Round and Round. 

But this was the start of the Swing Era, so let's swing! Louis Prima introduced a song that would become famous a couple of years later by Benny Goodman. But for now, let's hear Prima's version of Sing Sing Sing.

Speaking of Benny, he gave us Stardust (there's my obligatory Hoagy Carmichael song for the year) and also These Foolish Things (sung by Helen Ward). That was nice, Benny, but it pales beside Billie's version.

Meanwhile, Louis Armstrong gave us Swing that Music. Count Basie was Swingin' the Blues. Jimmy Dorsey wondered, Is It True What They Say about Dixie? (the answer is, no, but nevermind). And it wouldn't be the '30s if Duke Ellington didn't record a song for the ages: This year he gave us Echoes of Harlem and Caravan. And let's not forget the vocal version of "Caravan" recorded by The Mills Brothers. This video comes from a later year, but it shows them at their mouth-orchestra best!

Which brings us at last to our featured song for 1936. Let's return to those early Billie Holiday recordings, featuring Teddy Wilson on piano. Among the tunes recorded were What a Little Moonlight Can Do, Billie's Blues, and Yankee Doodle Never Went to Town.

And so we come to our featured tune of 1936. Billie put her indelible mark on Summertime (written by George Gershwin and DuBose Heywood for Porgy and Bess). The song has been subject to a multitude of musical interpretations (Guinness claimed it had been recorded 67,591 times as of 2017). From Nina Simone to Willie Nelson, there are many fine versions to choose from, but let's go with this beautifully understated version from Ella Fitzgerald in 1968.

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935.

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1935

It's 1935. The year Porky Pig was born. The year Babe Ruth played his last game. Will Rogers is killed in a plane crash. And by general agreement, it will later be considered the first year of the Swing Era.

Let's start with the brand of swing music that would come to be known as Texas Swing. It was not exclusively "Texan," but it was a mostly southern and White phenomenon (though of course borrowing heavily from African American musical influences).

There was Milton Brown and His Brownies, who recorded an old favorite, I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You. Then don't forget the Hoosier Hot Shots: Virginia Blues. Patsy Montana wanted to be a Cowboy's Sweetheart. 

Continuing with some of the indelible Americana of 1935, Jimmy Davis and Buddy Jones sing (and yodel) Red River Blues. The Carter Family wonder Can the Circle Be Unbroken. And there's a new voice on the scene: Woody Guthrie checks in with a Dust Bowl Ballad, So Long, It's Been Good to Know You.

Meanwhile, Big Bill Broonzy sang the Southern Blues, and Clarence Willians gave us the Beer Garden Blues. And Sleepy John Estes sang Stop that Thing.

I always reserve a space in these posts for The Mills Brothers and the Boswell Sisters, two of the greatest singing groups in popular music history. This year the Mills boys recorded Moanin' for You and Sweet Georgia Brown. The Boswell Sisters, meanwhile, gave us  Fare Thee Well, Annabelle and Every Little Moment (another great song with lyrics by Dorothy Fields).

The popular song charts of 1935 were dominated by some of the premier songsmiths of the Great American Songbook. People like Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, the Gershwin boys, Dorothy Fields, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, and Yip Harburg. And of course we can't forget the great Hoagy Carmichael. 

• Moonburn, sung by Bing Crosby (with a very tasty piano accompaniment by Joe Sullivan). Written by Carmichael and Heynman.
• Isn't This a Lovely Day, sung by Fred Astaire (written by Irving Berlin)
• Cheek to Cheek, Astaire again (Cole Porter the composer)
• I Won't Dance, Astaire (composers Field, McHugh, and Kern). Oh, by the way, maybe you can tell I'm fond of Astaire as a singer.

1935 is said to be the start of the Swing Era (although I think things had been pretty swinging long before this year). Anyway, it was the year of some incredibly popular Big Band tunes: there was the immortal Begin the Beguine, for example, first recorded by Xavier Cugat. Benny Goodman returns with the King Porter Stomp. Duke Ellington planted another song in the American psyche with In a Sentimental Mood. And Glen Miller made his debut with Harlem Chapel Chimes.

I want to feature two more items before getting to our feature song for the year. Louis Armstrong continued to make some of the most joyful music of this or any era: You Are My Lucky Star and I'm in the Mood for Love. 

And so finally we come to the feature song for 1935, Fats Waller's I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter. That's Fats himself at the link. It doesn't really get any better than that, but the song has been recorded again and again through the years (which was the real measure of a song's greatness in those days). Here's a more recent rendering from Diana Krall.

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934.

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1934

I'm really enjoying this year-by-year walk through the music of the 1930s. I'm using several websites to find song-lists for each year, and then picking my favorites. Consequently it's totally reflective of my own tastes and long-held preferences. So far we've seen plenty of Mills Brothers, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong. The music of Hoagy Carmichael has been represented in each of the first four entries in this series. Fred Astaire has made a couple of appearances.

One of the things I'm looking for as I go is a sense of the changes that popular music goes through in this period. For example, we're seeing the rise of Cowboy music, fueled by the popularity of Western movies. So let's start there. Two songs stand out: Down Yonder, by Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers, and Tumbling Tumbleweeds, by the Sons of the Pioneers.

Let's keep Hoagy Carmichael's streak alive with Al Bowlly's version of his Judy. Other great songwriters were represented in 1934 as well. Chick Bullock and the Levee Loungers recorded the Rodgers and Hart tune, Blue Moon, And Cole Porter really had a year: Anything Goes, You're the Top, and I Get a Kick Out of You (by the Dorsey Brothers, Cole Porter himself, and the Paul Whiteman Orchestra).

Much of the popular music partook of that Cole Porter-ish fantasy of life in the Jet Set. Band leaders made sure everything was set to a danceable rhythm, with the Fox Trot being the popular dance of the year. For the most part 1934 seems a little tamer than previous years. Armstrong and Ellington don't show up on the bestseller lists this year (but Ellington did give us his exquisite rendering of Moonglow, and Armstrong gave us On the Sunny Side of the Street). And leave it to the Mills Brothers to liven things up with Swing It Sister (check out the mouth-orchestra on this one). They also check in with the wonderful Sleepy Head (lyrics by Gus Kahn).

Also noteworthy: Benny Goodman made his first recording in 1934 (under the name of Vincent Rose), with Stars Fell on Alabama. A future standard of the crooners and jazz musicians was Vernon Duke's Autumn in New York, introduced in '34 by the Richard Himber Orchestra. And another future standard debuted this year: Chick Webb introduced Stompin' at the Savoy (about as swingin' as it gets). 

Speaking of swing, let's hear from Cab Calloway, with a fun film-clip for Hi De Ho (which has absolutely no relation to the Blood, Sweat, & Tears song). 

Fats Waller had a hit with a little rag called Sweetie Pie.

Blues? You can't do better than Big Bill Broonzy: Mississippi River Blues.

And so we come to my feature song of the year. I love a romantic ballad, and I love to hear how they get re-interpreted through the years. The Very Thought of You was a hit for Ray Noble and His Orchestra (sung here by Al Bowlly). For a wonderful modern take on this classic song, check out Corinne Bailey Rae and Jon Batiste:

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933.

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1933

1933 saw the end of Prohibition, the first MLB All-Star Game, and Fay Wray co-stars with a giant ape in the hit movie, King Kong. In addition to all that, Krispy Kreme opened its first doughnut shop, and the NFL had its first championship game, the Chicago Bears beating the New York Giants, 23-21.

And of course the music kept coming. Let's start off with a Hoagy Carmichael song. This year his big hit was Lazy Bones, written by Carmichael and Johnny Mercer (Mercer would still be writing hit songs well into the 60s). Numerous versions of this one made the charts. Of course I like The Mills Brothers version, and Mildred Bailey's too.

It's 1933, so songs divide up between those that happily pretend that economic realities simply don't exist (We're in the Money), those that address them in a veiled way (Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, which was a hit by multiple bands this year), and those few that addressed the reality with a sardonic humor (Hobo, You Can't Ride This Train, by Louis Armstrong).

Other stand-outs of the year were Ethel Waters' Stormy Weather. It doesn't get much better than that, but Ivie Anderson fronting the Duke Ellington Orchestra ain't bad.

Speaking of the Duke, 1933 was a busy year from him and his orchestra. Among the highlights: Sophisticated Lady and  Drop Me Off in Harlem.

And I don't want to forget Louis Armstrong's 1933 version of I Got a Right to Sing the Blues.

On the Americana side of things we have Big River Blues by the Delmore Brothers, Careless Love by the Frank Luther Trio, and You Are My Flower, by the Carter Family..And we must not forget Bessie Smith's Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer. 

Finally, before getting to our feature song, 1933 was the year that Jimmie Rodgers died. He was a pioneer of country music and western swing, inspiration to many performers who would come after. His death from tuberculosis came at the age of 36. His last recorded song was called Years Ago.

And so we come to the feature song of the year: "It's Only a Paper Moon" (tune by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Yip Harburg). The song was a major hit for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, but I'm particularly partial to this version by Ukulele Ike (aka, Cliff Edwards). Of course everyone has recorded this song, notably including Nat Cole and Frank Sinatra. Here's a nice modern version from the fine jazz singer/guitarist, John Pizzarelli:

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1932

1932. Unemployment hit 25%. There was the Lindbergh Kidnapping, the conviction of Al Capone for tax evasion, the debut of Buck Rogers on radio, and the election of Franklin Roosevelt for president. Oh, and the invention of parking meters.

It was also a good year for popular music. It was a good year for Bing Crosby, the Mills Brothers, the Boswell Sisters, Louis Armstrong, and the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. It was also the early days of "Western Swing." This musical hybrid of cowboy songs with swinging jazz, defined most vividly by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, will be extremely popular in the next few years. In 1932 we had an early example with  Nancy Jane, by the Fort Worth Doughboys (who featured Bob Wills on fiddle).

I want to focus on two close-harmonizing vocal groups of this period. They were The Mills Brothers, and The Boswell Sisters. The Mills Brothers enjoyed a whole string of hits in '32: St. Louis Blues (by W.C. Handy), You Rascal You (by Sam Theard), and Hoagy Carmichael's Rockin' Chair.

Me, I don't think things get much better than the Mills Brothers, but the Boswell Sisters might come close. They were forerunners to the better-remembered Andrews Sisters, but if anything even more swinging, jazzier. Take a listen, for example, to Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia.

In addition to these great songs, here are some other 1932 highlights:

• Night & Day, by Fred Astaire
• I've Got the World on a String, by Cab Calloway
• All of Me, by Louis Armstrong (one of the greatest recordings ever made)
• Willow Weep for Me, by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra

One particular song was a hit by three different acts in 1932. That song was "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got that Swing):" It was recorded in '32 by:

• The Mill Brothers (there they are again)
• The Boswell Sisters (toldya these two acts were big in 1932!)
• Duke Ellington (it was Ellington's song, and as close as you will get to the signature song of the decade)

There is a kind of insistent shut-up-and-party feel to many of the songs of the period. Along with Hollywood movies, music was one of the ways people escaped from their worries about where they were going to get their next meal. You had a ton of songs with titles like "I've Got the World on a String" and  "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries." References to the hard times remained mostly veiled. But there was one song that stood out as an exception, and that is our feature song for the year: "Brother Can You Spare a Dime."

It was a big hit in 1932 for Rudy Vallee (who even felt the need to explain the song's unique theme in his introduction). But Vallee's great decade was the 20s. By '32 a new voice had come to the fore: that of Bring Crosby.

The song's lyrics were by Yip Harburgh, who was also responsible for such stand-out lyrics as "April in Paris," "It's Only a Paper Moon" (both of these soon to be featured in the 1933 edition of this series), and of course that all-time classic, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

As for "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," one of the best recent versions I know is by Tom Waits (who plausibly sounds like a man singing his story at closing time of some dingy bar).

There are many other interesting versions of this song, from Al Jolson to The Weavers, Eartha Kitt to Jorma Kaukonen, Judy Collins to Dick van Dyke (yes, that Dick van Dyke), Abbey Lincoln to Tom Jones! And I think they're all great!

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1931

Continuing my year-by-year walk through the musical history of the 1930s. I thought the selection of songs from 1930 was pretty amazing, but 1931 is up to the challenge.

1931 was the year the Empire State Building was completed (to feature prominently in a movie about a big monkey just two years later). It was the year of the Dust Bowl, the year of 16% unemployment, and the year that the Star Spangled Banner became our National Anthem.

It was also a great year for popular music. Minnie the Moocher, which would become Cab Calloway's signature song, debuts in 1931. And speaking of signature songs, this is the year that Duke Ellington released Mood Indigo. Bing Crosby records Hoagy Carmichael's Stardust (not to mention Isham Jones' excellent instrumental version, and Louis Armstrong's take as well. Yup, it was a big year for Hoagy's royalty checks).

Other great songs of 1931:

• Tiger Rag, by The Mills Brothers
• Sugar Blues, by Clyde McCoy and his Orchestra
• Roll On, Mississippi, Roll On, by the amazing Boswell Sisters 
• St. James Infirmary, by Cab Calloway (it was a big year for Cab). 
• Experience Blues, Ruth Willis & Blind Willie McTell
• I want a little sugar in my bowl, by Bessie Smith
• Lazy River, by Louis Armstrong (and yes, that's yet another Hoagy Carmichael song).
• My Good Gal's Gone Blues, by Jimmie Rodgers
• Shout, Sister, Shout, by the Boswell Sisters

Well, I think Louis A's "Lazy River" is about the most beautiful thing I've ever heard, but maybe it wouldn't do to feature another Hoagy song for the second year in a row. Therefore I'm going with Louis A's version of "I Got Rhythm" (written by the Gershwin boys, of course).

And this more recent take, by the great jazz guitarist, John Pizzarelli:

Year by Year in Popular Song: 1930

I find the history of popular music fascinating. Recently I decided to look up the most popular songs for each year in the decade of the 1930s. I chose that decade simply because it has seemed to me to be the greatest decade for popular music. That's merely a matter of taste, of course, but it's my taste and I'll keep on tasting!

So what I thought I'd do would be to pick my favorite from each year and feature an early version of that song (a version made close to the year of its release) and a more recent version. The cumulative effect might be to produce a musical portrait of the decade.

The year is 1930. The stock market crash took place in October of '29, so people are probably still adjusting to the new normal of widescale economic dislocation. This list of the top 60 pop songs of  1930 is my starting point. Some of my favorites, in no particular order, are:

• Puttin' on the Ritz, sung by Fred Astaire, composed by Irving Berlin
• Blue Yodel #8 (aka, Mule Skinner Blues) and Blue Yodel #9 written and sung by Jimmie Rodgers
• St. Louis Blues, performed by Louis Armstrong, written by W. C. Handy
• Sunny Side of the Street, another by Louis A., written by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields
• Ring Dem Bells, by Duke Ellington
• Walk Right In, by Cannon's Jug Stompers
• Sittin' on Top of the World, by The Mississippi Sheiks
• Whatsa Matter with Your Mill, by Memphis Minnie & Kansas City Joe

Well, there are really too many to mention. It was the heyday of great bands like Cab Calloway's, Duke Ellington's, etc. It was also the heyday of great songwriters. But for my money the greatest songwriter of the era was probably Hoagy Carmichael, and the greatest song of 1930 was his classic, Georgia on my Mind.

Here's Hoagy's 1930 rendition:

Everyone is familiar of course with the Ray Charles recording from 1960, which has become the definitive version, I suppose, and deservedly so. This is Ray appearing on Midnight Special in 1976.