"On the Sunny Side of the Street" is a 1930 song composed by Jimmy McHugh with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Some authors say that

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

was the composer, but he sold the rights to the song. It was introduced in the Broadway musical '' Lew Leslie's International Revue'' starring Harry Richman and Gertrude Lawrence. Ted Lewis did the first recording of the song in 1930 (Catalog #2144-D), followed by Harry Richman (Catalog # 4747) and both enjoyed hit records with the song.

Other notable recordings

Having become a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...

, it was played by

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 ...

, the Nat King Cole Trio,

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

, Erroll Garner,

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

, Art Tatum, James Booker, Count Basie, and Lester Young. The Louis Armstrong version was recorded in the key of C major, but it has been recorded in a range of keys; Ted Lewis recorded it in D major and Ella Fitzgerald in G major. Cover versions date as far back as 1930, when Layton & Johnstone released the song for Columbia. The song was recorded by Billie Holiday,

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

(January 21, 1946, with

), Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland,

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

, Brenda Lee (1961),

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to hi ...

Keely Smith Dorothy Jacqueline Keely (March 9, 1928The reference work ''The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet'' gives Smith's date of birth as March 9, 1932. – December 16, 2017), profession ...

, Nat King Cole, Jo Stafford with The Pied Pipers (a No. 17 hit in 1945),

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, Willie Nelson, Jon Batiste, and

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

. Arguably the most popular arrangement was by Tommy Dorsey and

The Sentimentalists The Sentimentalists, also known as the "Clark Sisters" (and also as the "Original" Clark Sisters; so-called to distinguish them from the current gospel music group of the same name), were an American close harmony singing group, consisting of si ...

, which achieved chart success in 1945 reaching the No. 16 spot. In 1975, rockband Trapeze covered the song on their self-titled album '' Trapeze'' and it was also released as a 7" single but it did not chart.

In popular culture

The song was featured in the 1991 film '' JFK'', the 1995 film '' Father of the Bride Part II'', in an episode of the sitcom '' Frasier'' and in the fourth episode of the fourth season of ''

Northern Exposure ''Northern Exposure'' is an American Northern comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents of a fictional small town in Alaska that ran on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It received 57 ...

'', in 1992. It was also used in the fourteenth episode of the third season of ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

'', in 1985, where several characters each sing part of the song one after the other, as if by contagion, after walking past each other.

References

External links

"On the Sunny Side of the Street" at Jazz Standards
{{DEFAULTSORT:On the Sunny Side of the Street Songs about streets 1920s jazz standards 1930 songs Barry Manilow songs Benny Goodman songs Cyndi Lauper songs Ella Fitzgerald songs Frank Sinatra songs Frankie Laine songs Jazz compositions in C major Jazz compositions in E-flat major Judy Garland songs Little Willie Littlefield songs Louis Armstrong songs Nat King Cole songs Pop standards Rod Stewart songs Songs with lyrics by Dorothy Fields Songs with music by Jimmy McHugh The Coasters songs Willie Nelson songs

Other notable recordings

In popular culture

See also

References

External links