Music Mondays: It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing), by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra

April 4
"It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)," Music by Duke Ellington, lyrics by Irving Mills (1931)

New month, new decade! We’re now into the 1930s, and I am certain that a much greater number of us have heard of most of these singers and will know a lot more of the songs from here on out.

Let’s start the month out with the legendary Duke Ellington, and his 1931 composition “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got that Swing).” The first recording of this song was released in February 1932, and the singer was Ivie Anderson. This particular recording of the song actually joined the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. Interestingly, though the title of the song mentions “swing,” the swing era of music did not really start until several years later. The title of the song is actually attributed to a few different sources, all associated with Ellington’s orchestra. This song actually helped to propel the idea of “swing” into the popular imagination, so even though it did not herald the swing era of jazz, it played an important part in bringing it about. Apparently, Ellington at one point said that the word “swing” was simply “Harlem for rhythm” (https://www.songfacts.com/facts/duke-ellington/it-dont-mean-a-thing-if-it-aint-got-that-swing)

Duke Ellington is well regarded as a great composer and band leader, and this song is the one that really cemented his reputation as a composer. He was known for tailoring his pieces to fit particular soloists. Even today, 90 years later, he and his orchestra are still considered to be models of jazz. Ellington was born in Washington, DC, and later moved to NYC, where he was based for the rest of his life, though he traveled extensively with his orchestra. I think it would be fair to say that we would not know jazz as we do today if not for Duke Ellington.

Ivie Anderson joined Ellington’s orchestra as the lead singer in 1931, and this recording was her first record appearance. It is probably fair to say that her performance on this song helped launch both her and the song itself to stardom. Anderson would tour with Ellington and his orchestra for about a decade, but she unfortunately had to retire in 1942, due to chronic asthma.

Now that you’ve learned just a tad about the composer and the vocalist, go ahead and enjoy this jazz standard.

Song:

Resources: 

About the song: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/duke-ellington/it-dont-mean-a-thing-if-it-aint-got-that-swing
https://www.kuvo.org/stories-of-standards-it-dont-mean-a-thing-duke-ellington/
About Duke Ellington: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/duke-ellington-about-duke-ellington/586/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Ellington
About Ivie Anderson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivie_Anderson