"All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" is a 1937 jazz standard. It was written by Walter Jurmann,

Gus Kahn Gustav Gerson Kahn (November 6, 1886October 8, 1941) was an American lyricist who contributed a number of songs to the Great American Songbook, including " Pretty Baby", " Ain't We Got Fun?", " Carolina in the Morning", " Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goo ...

and

Bronisław Kaper Bronisław Kaper (; February 5, 1902 – April 26, 1983) was a Polish film composer who scored films and musical theater in Germany, France, and the USA. The American immigration authorities misspelled his name as Bronislau Kaper. He was also va ...

especially for

Ivie Anderson Ivie Anderson (sometimes Ivy) (January 16, 1904 – December 28, 1949) was an American jazz singer. Anderson was a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra for more than a decade. Personal life Anderson was born on January 16, 1904, in Gilroy, ...

, who performed it in the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

' 1937 film '' A Day at the Races'', the tune was also used for the opening theme. The lyrics state that "All God's Children Got Rhythm" even if they "maybe haven't got money, maybe haven't got shoes". The authors (European immigrants from Poland, Germany, and Austria) were likely influenced by a traditional

Negro spiritual Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with Black Americans, which merged sub-Saharan African cultural heritage with the ex ...

" All God's Chillun Got Wings" alternately called "All God's Children Got Shoes" which affirms that all God's children have shoes. This was the inspiration for a

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

play of the same name in the 1924 and recorded by

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplish ...

,''All God's Chillun Got Wings'' sung by Paul Robeson
on YouTube who also appeared in the play.

References

External links

Ivey Anderson performing the song in an excerpt from the Marx Brothers film ''A Day at the Races'' (1937)
Songs with music by Bronisław Kaper Songs with lyrics by Gus Kahn 1930s jazz standards 1937 songs {{1930s-jazz-composition-stub

See also

References

External links