Stormy Monday Blues
| "Stormy Monday Blues" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single by Earl Hines | |
| B-side | "Second Balcony Jump" |
| Released | 1942 |
| Format | 10-inch 78 rpm record |
| Recorded | March 19, 1942 |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Length | 3:11 |
| Label | Bluebird (no. 11567) |
| Writer(s) | Earl Hines, Billy Eckstine, Bob Crowder |
"Stormy Monday Blues" is a jazz song first recorded in 1942 by Earl Hines and His Orchestra with Billy Eckstine on vocals. The song was a hit, reaching number one in Billboard magazine's "Harlem Hit Parade",[1] making it Hines' only appearance in the charts.
"Stormy Monday Blues" is performed in the style of a slow blues that "starts with Hines' piano and a walking bass for the introduction".[2] Billy Eckstine then enters with the vocal:
It's gone and started rainin', I'm as lonesome as a man can be
It's gone and started rainin', I'm as lonesome as a man can be
'Cause every time it rains, I realize what you mean to me
The lyrics "stormy" or "Monday" do not appear in the song. A trumpet solo by Maurice "Shorty" McConnell[3] with big band backing is featured in the second half of the song.[2]
The song has sometimes been confused with T-Bone Walker's 1947 song "Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)", which is frequently shortened to "Stormy Monday" or "Stormy Monday Blues".[4] When Eckstine later recorded "Stormy Monday Blues" in 1959 with Count Basie for their Basie/Eckstine Incorporated album, the song was credited to T-Bone Walker, even though Eckstine is a cowriter of the original.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1988). Top R&B Singles 1942–1988. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research. p. 191. ISBN 0-89820-068-7.
- 1 2 Billboard (August 8, 1942). "Earl Hines – record review". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. 24 (32): 68. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ↑ Yanow, Scott (2001). Trumpet Kings: The Players Who Shaped the Sound of Jazz Trumpet. Backbeat Books. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-87930-640-3.
- ↑ Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "Stormy Monday Blues". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Press. p. 472. ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
- ↑ Nastos, Michael G. "Basie and Eckstine, Inc. – album review". AllMusic. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
| Preceded by "Trav'lin' Light" by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra with vocal by Lady Day and trombone by Skip Layton |
The Billboard Harlem Hit Parade number-one single (Earl Hines and His Orchestra version) November 14, 1942 (one week) |
Succeeded by "Trav'lin' Light" by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra with vocal by Lady Day and trombone by Skip Layton |