"Ain't Misbehavin" is a 1929 stride jazz/ early swing song. Andy Razaf wrote the lyrics to a score by Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks for the Broadway musical comedy play '' Connie's Hot Chocolates''. It was published by

Mills Music Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 18, 1894 Odessa, Ukraine – April 21, 1985) was a music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz promoter. He often used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose. Personal life Mills w ...

. As a work from 1929 with its copyright renewed, it entered the American public domain on January 1, 2025.

Composition

The original sheet music for "Ain't Misbehavin is written in the key of

E-flat major E-flat major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D minor). The E-fla ...

First performances

The song was first performed at the premiere of ''Connie's Hot Chocolates'' in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

at Connie's Inn as an opening song by Paul Bass and Margaret Simms, and repeated later in the musical by Russell Wooding's ''Hallelujah Singers''. ''Connie's Hot Chocolates'' was transferred to the Hudson Theatre on Broadway during June 1929, where it was renamed to ''Hot Chocolates'' and where

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

became the orchestra director. The script also required Armstrong to play "Ain't Misbehavin in a

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

solo, and although this was initially slated only to be a reprise of the opening song, Armstrong's performance was so well received that the trumpeter was asked to climb out of the orchestra pit and play the piece on stage. As noted by Thomas Brothers in his book ''Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism'', Armstrong was first taught "Ain't Misbehavin by Waller himself, " woodshedding" it until he could "play all around it"; he cherished it "because it was 'one of those songs you could cut loose and swing with.

Recordings

During the first half of the 20th century, when a tune was successful in terms of sheet music sold, it was typically recorded by several different artists. All six "Ain't Misbehavin recordings of 1929 were successes in the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

(ASCAP) rankings for that year: * Leo Reisman and his orchestra (with vocals by Lew Conrad, No. 2). *

(No. 7). *

Bill Robinson Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid black entertainer in the United States during the first half of the 20 ...

(with Irving Mills & his Hotsy Totsy Gang, No. 8). *

Gene Austin Lemeul Eugene Lucas (June 24, 1900 – January 24, 1972), better known by his stage name Gene Austin, was an American singer and songwriter, one of the early " crooners". His recording of " My Blue Heaven" sold over 5 million copies and was for ...

(with Leonard Joy & his orchestra, No. 9). *

Ruth Etting Ruth Etting (November 23, 1896 – September 24, 1978) was an American singer and actress during the 1920s and 1930s, who had over 60 hit recordings and worked in stage, radio, and film. Known as "America's sweetheart of song", her signature tu ...

(No. 16). * Fats Waller (instrumental version, No. 17). Waller re-recorded the song with vocals for the 1943 movie '' Stormy Weather''. Waller's recording received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award during 1984. In 2001, it was one of 365

Songs of the Century The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America's musical an ...

selected by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, and it was one of fifty recordings selected for inclusion in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

in 2004. "Ain't Misbehavin has been recorded by many other performers over the years.

Johnnie Ray John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and blu ...

's version scored No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart during May 1956. In 1960, Tommy Bruce and the Bruisers had a number 3 hit in the UK Singles Chart with their

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song. During 1976, Leon Redbone performed the song on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''. It served as the title song of the successful 1978 musical '' Ain't Misbehavin'''. Country music artist Hank Williams Jr. recorded a version for his 1985 studio album ''Five-O''. Released as a single, the song peaked at No. 1 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart and earned Williams a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male.

Use in film

*1943: '' Stormy Weather'', performed by Fats Waller. *1944: ''

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

'', sung by Louis Armstrong. *1948: '' You Were Meant for Me'' *1955: '' Gentlemen Marry Brunettes'', performed by Alan Young, Jane Russell,

Jeanne Crain Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 – December 14, 2003) was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in ''Pinky (film), Pinky'' (1949). She also starred in the films ''In the Meantime, Da ...

(dubbed by Anita Ellis) and Chorus, with choreography. *1975: '' Lucky Lady'', performed by

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...

. *2013: An instrumental version is heard in Baz Luhrmann's ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' () is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious mi ...

''. This makes its appearance

anachronistic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common typ ...

—the film takes place in 1922, predating the song by several years.

Notes

Works cited

* * * * *

References

{{Authority control 1929 songs 1975 singles 1986 singles Hank Williams Jr. songs Songs with music by Fats Waller Louis Armstrong songs Bill Haley songs Johnnie Ray songs United States National Recording Registry recordings Songs written by Andy Razaf Song recordings produced by Jimmy Bowen Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients 1920s jazz standards Warner Records singles Curb Records singles Victor Records singles Jazz compositions in E-flat major Jazz compositions in C major Okeh Records singles