Don't Blame Me (song)

"Don't Blame Me" is a popular song with music by Jimmy McHugh and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. The song was part of the 1932 show Clowns in Clover and was published in 1933. Popular versions that year were recorded by Ethel Waters, Guy Lombardo, and Charles Agnew.[1]

For the Taylor Swift song, see Reputation (Taylor Swift album) and List of songs recorded by Taylor Swift.

It was a No. 21 hit for Nat King Cole in 1948.[2] The song received two significant "rock era" remakes: a ballad version by the Everly Brothers in 1961 which reached No. 20 on Billboard and an up-tempo version by Frank Ifield which reached No. 8 of the UK charts on 15 February 1964.[3]

Other recordings

• Charles Agnew and his Hotel Stephens Orchestra[2]
• Terence Blanchard with Cassandra Wilson – Let's Get Lost (2001)[4]
• King Cole October 1938,[5][6] July 1944,[7][8] November 21, 1944,[7] May 19, 1945,[9][10] July 14, 1955[11]
• Perry Como's earliest known recording of the song was broadcast Monday, May 3, 1943 from New York City as part of Columbia Presents Perry Como.[12] He recorded the song as part of a Chesterfield Supper Club program in 1945 or 1946 that was rebroadcast by the AFRS as AFRS Supper Club #283.[13]
• Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1956[14] for use on his radio show. It was included in the box set The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings (1954–56) issued by Mosaic in 2009.[15]
• Shep Fields with his New Music Orchestra – (RCA Victor, 1948)[16]
• Coleman Hawkins with Teddy Wilson – 1944[4]
• J. J. Johnson – 1949[4]
• Johnnie Ray Johnnie Ray with The Buddy Cole Quartet, (Columbia Records CL-6199, 1952) Following "Whiskey & Gin" & the smash "Cry," his first two hit singles released on Okeh in 1951, "Don't Blame Me" was the first of eight sides of Johnnie Ray's debut album for Columbia in 1952 [17]
• Steve Grossman with Michel Petrucciani – Steve Grossman Quartet with Michel Petrucciani[4]
• Thelonious Monk – Criss Cross (1963)[4]
• Yusuf Lateef – Eastern Sounds (1962)
• Ethel Waters with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra – 1933[4]
• Teddy Wilson – 1937[4]
• The song was performed in a restaurant scene with Albert Finney and Diane Keaton in the 1982 film Shoot the Moon.

See also

• List of 1930s jazz standards

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954. Wisconsin: Record Research. p. 493. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
2. "Don't Blame Me (1932)". JazzStandards.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
3. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
4. Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. New York City: Oxford University Press. pp. 88–90. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.
5. The King Cole Trio Radio Transcriptions vol. 1 1938, Naxos Jazz Legends, 2000
6. Nat King Cole & His Trio, Radio Sessions from The Early Years: 1938 - 1939, disc A, Rare Radio Transcriptions, JSP Records, 2009
7. The King Cole Trio: The MacGregor Years, 1941-1945, Music & Arts Project of America
8. Nat King Cole & His Trio, Radio Sessions from The Early Years: 1944 - 1945, disc D, Rare Radio Transcriptions, JSP Records, 2009
9. Nat King Cole, Just Call Him King, le Chant du Monde, 2013
10. The Unforgettable Nat King Cole, His 55 finest 1943-1957, Retrospective, 2008
11. instrumental, bonus track, Nat King Cole and His Trio, The Complete After Midnight Session, Essential Jazz Classics, 2007
12. Perry Como, The Best of The War Years, Stardust Records, 2002
13. Love Letters from Perry Como, Rare 1944-46 broadcasts featuring Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers, guest star Rose Marie and the orchestras of Lloyd Shaller, Benny Goodman and Andre Kostelanetz, Viper's Nest 1994
14. "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Archived from the original on October 22, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
15. "allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
16. Don't Blame Me performed by Shep Fields and his New Music Orchestra in 1948 on archive.org
17. [https://www.discogs.com/Johnnie-Ray-with-The-Buddy-Cole-Quartet-and-The-Four-Lads-Johnnie-Ray/release/7074802}}

External links

• "Don't Blame Me" at Jazz Standards