"When My Sugar Walks Down the Street (All the Little Birdies Go Tweet-Tweet-Tweet)" is a 1920s jazz standard, written by

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 ...

Jimmy McHugh James Francis McHugh (July 10, 1894 – May 23, 1969) was an American composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he is credited with over 500 songs. His songs were recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, Ju ...

and Irving Mills in 1924. The

Victor Talking Machine The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidia ...

, bought by

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

and renamed RCA Victor at the end of 1928, made the first major recording of the song in January 1925. In his autobiography,

Nathaniel Shilkret Nathaniel Shilkret (December 25, 1889 – February 18, 1982) was an American musician, composer, conductor and musical director. Early career Shilkret (originally named Natan Schüldkraut) was born in New York City, United States, to parents ...

, who was a Victor A&R executive at the time and soon to replace Edward T. King as Victor's Director of Light Music, described the events leading to the recording:Shilkret, Nathaniel, ed. Niel Shell and Barbara Shilkret, ''Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business'', Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2005, pp. 74--75. It was Austin who demonstrated the song when Mills Music presented it to Victor for recording. Shilkret liked Austin's voice and paired

Aileen Stanley Aileen Stanley, born Maude Elsie Aileen Muggeridge (March 21, 1893 – March 24, 1982), was one of the most popular American singers of the early 1920s. Early life Born in Chicago, Illinois, Stanley was the youngest of four children of English ...

, a top Victor artist, with Austin, unknown at the time, as vocalists, to be accompanied by Shilkret directing the Victor orchestra (see EDVREncyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings (University of California, Santa Barbara)
/ref> for details of the recording). The recording was extremely popular and launched Austin's career. According to H. Allen Smith, Austin complained that Shilkret recommended that it be sung primarily by Aileen Stanley, with Austin singing little more than "tweet-tweet-tweet" (see). The original recording is commercially available on CD,''The Voice of the Southland'', Gene Austin, ASV Living Era: AJA 5217, 1996.''I Feel a Song Coming On: The Songs of Jimmy McHugh'', compilation, ASV Living ERA: AJA 5432, 2003.''Hits of '25: the Roaring Twenties'', compilation, ASV Living Era: AJA 5525, 2006. and in the actual recording, stars Stanley and Shilkret, with his orchestra, are featured for 60 seconds and 70 seconds, respectively, and the unknown Austin for 30 seconds. "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street (All the Little Birdies Go Tweet-Tweet-Tweet)" was recorded by Duke Ellington,

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

, Bing Crosby (for his album '' Bing Crosby's Treasury - The Songs I Love''),

The Ink Spots The Ink Spots were an American pop vocal group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely ac ...

Hot Lips Page Oran Thaddeus "Hot Lips" Page (January 27, 1908 – November 5, 1954) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He was known as a scorching soloist and powerful vocalist. Page was a member of Walter Page's Blue Devils, Artie Sha ...

, Johnny Mathis,

The Four Freshmen The Four Freshmen is an American male vocal quartet that blends open-harmonic jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires, The Pied Pipers, and The Mel-Tones, founded in the barbershop tradition. The singers accom ...

, Bix Beiderbecke,

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 ...

' Five Pennies,

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

Ralph Marterie Ralph Marterie (24 December 1914 – 10 October 1978) was an Italian big-band leader born in Acerra (near Naples), Italy. Life and career Marterie first played professionally at age 14 in Chicago. In the 1940s, he played trumpet for various b ...

Sy Oliver Melvin James "Sy" Oliver (December 17, 1910 – May 28, 1988) was an American jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader. Life Sy Oliver was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. His mother was a piano teacher, and his ...

, and the Wolverines Orchestra. It should have been used for the 1954 musical movie A Star Is Born sung by

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

and Jack Baker, but did not appear on the final edit nor on the director's cut (track released on the 2004 edition of the soundtrack by Sony).

References

External links

*{{YouTube, 3KKPlnjLrHs, ''When My Sugar Walks Down the Street'' on Victor 19610, featuring Waring's Pennsylvanians 1920s jazz standards 1924 songs Songs with lyrics by Irving Mills Songs with music by Jimmy McHugh Songs written by Gene Austin

See also

References

External links