"Hot Lips" ("When He Plays Jazz He's Got - Hot Lips") or "He's Got Hot Lips When He Plays Jazz" is a popular song written by jazz trumpeter

Henry Busse Henry Busse Sr. (May 19, 1894 – April 23, 1955) was a German-born jazz trumpeter. A 1948 review in ''Billboard'' magazine said that Busse had "a keen sense of musical commercialism". Early life Born May 19, 1894, in Magdeburg, Germany, t ...

, Henry Lange, and Lou Davis. The song was a number one hit for

Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...

and His Orchestra. Henry Busse was a founding member of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, joining in 1920.

First publication

Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra recorded the song on June 23, 1922 in New York and released it as a Victor 78, 18920-A. The recording was number one for six weeks. First published in 1922, it was advertised as "A Blues Fox Trot Song" The song is about a trumpet player. The chorus is:

Other recordings

The song has been recorded many times.

Red Nichols Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905 – June 28, 1965) was an American jazz cornetist, composer, and jazz bandleader. Biography Early life and career Nichols was born in Ogden, Utah, United States. His father was a college music profes ...

, Al Hirt,

Pete Candoli Pete Candoli (born Walter Joseph Candoli; June 28, 1923 – January 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played with the big bands of Woody Herman and Stan Kenton and worked in the studios of the recording and television industries. Ca ...

Horace Heidt Horace Heidt (May 21, 1901 – December 1, 1986) was an American pianist, big band leader, and radio and television personality. His band, Horace Heidt and his Musical Knights, toured vaudeville and performed on radio and television during the 19 ...

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

, the California Ramblers, Miss Patricola on Victor, the Hoosier Hot Shots on Melotone, the Will Lockridge Orchestra on Score Records, and Henry Busse with his orchestra, have all recorded the song. The original release was by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, of which Busse was a member in 1922. He left the Paul Whiteman orchestra in 1928 to form his own group. Lockridge was a Busse trumpeter whose recording of the song was part of an album tribute to Busse shortly after Busse's death in 1955. The song appears in the 1930

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

musical revue '' King of Jazz'' featuring Paul Whiteman and Bing Crosby. The Henry Busse Orchestra recorded "Hot Lips" for American Record Corporation (ARC) on June 4, 1934 in Chicago. It was released on the Columbia label, which ARC was in the process of acquiring in a receivership sale; the date of release is unknown. On September 25, Busse's band recorded it again for the newly formed Decca Records (Decca 198), which released it in the United States and in the United Kingdom. The Decca version was later released as a

V-Disc V-Disc ( "V" for Victory) was a record label that was formed in 1943 to provide records for U.S. military personnel. Captain Robert Vincent supervised the label from the Special Services division. Many popular singers, big bands, and orches ...

, No, 285, in October, 1944 by the U.S. War Department along with " Wang Wang Blues". Columbia Records also released the ARC recording of "Hot Lips" as part of its Columbia Hall of Fame 45 single series. The Paul Whiteman recording was featured in the Oprah Winfrey movie ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'' (1985), directed by Steven Spielberg. The jazz trumpeter Oran Page reportedly got his nickname "Hot Lips" after diligently practicing Busse's solos on the Paul Whiteman recording of the tune. A modern recording of this song was released by Alex Mendham & His Orchestra on their 2017 album On With The Show.

References

Bibliography

*Busse, Henry; Lange, Henry; Davis, Lou. ''Hot Lips''. (sheet music). New York : Leo. Feist, Inc. (1922).

External links

U.S. Library of Congress. National Jukebox. !922 Paul Whiteman Victor recording.
Foxtrots 1922 songs 1922 singles Songs written by Henry Busse Songs written by Lou Davis {{1920s-song-stub