Arlen and Mercer wrote the entire score for the 1941 filmBlues in the Night. One requirement was for a blues song to be sung in a jail cell.[7] As usual with Mercer, the composer wrote the music first, then Mercer wrote the words. The title "Blues in the Night" describe the narrator's romantic loneliness and frustration, recalling his mother's warning from childhood: "A woman's a two-face, a worrisome thing / Who'll leave you to sing the blues in the night".
Arlen later recalled:
The whole thing just poured out. And I knew in my guts, without even thinking what Johnny would write for a lyric, that this was strong, strong, strong! When Mercer wrote "Blues in the Night", I went over his lyric and I started to hum it over his desk. It sounded marvelous once I got to the second stanza but that first twelve was weak tea. On the third or fourth page of his work sheets I saw some lines—one of them was "My momma done tol' me, when I was in knee pants." I said, "Why don't you try that?" It was one of the very few times I've ever suggested anything like that to John.[8]
When they finished writing the song, Mercer called a friend, singerMargaret Whiting, and asked if they could come over and play it for her. She suggested they come later because she had dinner guests—Mickey Rooney,Judy Garland,Mel Tormé, andMartha Raye. Instead, Arlen and Mercer went right over. Margaret Whiting remembered what happened then:
They came in the back door, sat down at the piano and played the score of "Blues in the Night". I remember forever the reaction. Mel got up and said, "I can't believe it." Martha couldn't say a word. Mickey Rooney said, "That's the greatest thing I've ever heard." Judy Garland said, "Play it again." We had them play it seven times. Judy and I ran to the piano to see who was going to learn it first. It was a lovely night.[8]
After the song was composed and the lyrics were written, African-American baritone William Gillespie (1908–1968) was hired to perform the songa cappella in a film scene set in a jail cell.[6] In his review of the film, criticHoward Thompson ofThe New York Times argued that Gillespie's "superbly chanted" version of the Arlen–Mercer song transformed the motion picture and arguably "nailed the film down for posterity."[9]
In 1942, "Blues in the Night" was one of nine songs nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Original Song.[10] Observers expected that either "Blues in the Night" or "Chattanooga Choo Choo" would win, so that when "The Last Time I Saw Paris" actually won, neither its composer,Jerome Kern, nor lyricist,Oscar Hammerstein II, was present at the ceremony. Kern was so upset at winning with a song that had not been specifically written for a motion picture and that had been published and recorded before the film came out that he petitioned theMotion Picture Academy to change the rules. Since then, a nominated song has to have been written specifically for the motion picture in which it is performed.[11]
ComposerAlec Wilder said of this song,"'Blues in the Night' is certainly a landmark in the evolution of American popular music, lyrically as well as musically."[12]
Artie Shaw recorded the first version on September 2, 1941, forRCA Victor Records, which was released as Victor 27609 on October 3.[14] It debuted at number 10 onBillboard magazine's "Best Selling Retail Records chart" (BS chart) on November 21, 1941, but dropped to number 21 the next week, then off.[15]
TheWoody Herman recording was released byDecca Records as catalog number 4030 in October 1941.[6][16] It reached the BS chart in November, and hit number one on February 14, 1942, finishing with a 21-week chart run.[13][15]
Dinah Shore's version[7] was released byBluebird Records as catalog number 11436[6][17] on January 23, 1942.[4] It reached the BS chart on February 14, 1942, to start an 11 week run, peaking at number 4. It was the 27th BS record of 1942, and went on to sell one million records.[18]
Jimmie Lunceford's two-sided platter was recorded on December 22, 1941, and released onDecca 4125 in January.[6][16] Starting January 31, 1942, it ran 10 weeks on the BS chart, peaking at number 4.[18]
TheCab Calloway recording was released byOKeh Records as catalog number 6422.[6][19] It reached the BS chart on January 31, 1942, to start a nine week run, peaking at number 8.[15]
TheBenny Goodman Sextet, withPeggy Lee on vocals, recorded "Blues in the Night" on December 24, 1941, released on Okeh 6553 in January 1942. It made the chart on February 14 at number 20, but was never seen again.[18]
In addition, the song was recorded at least three times byJo Stafford. Her previously unreleased 1942 version with theTommy Dorsey orchestra[21] was included in the 1966Reader's Digest box setThe Glenn Miller Years.[22] On October 15, 1943, she recorded it with Johnny Mercer, thePied Pipers, andPaul Weston's Orchestra, in a version released as a single (catalog number 10001[23]) and on an album (Songs by Johnny Mercer, catalog number CD1) byCapitol Records. On February 20, 1959, she recorded it withThe Starlighters in a version released on an album (Ballad of the Blues, catalog number CL-1332) byColumbia Records.
Charlie Barnet and his orchestra (recorded October 5, 1941, released byBluebird Records as catalog number 11327, with the flip side "Isle of Pines"[17])
Cab Calloway and his orchestra (vocal: Calloway &The Palmer Brothers) (recorded September 10, 1941, released byOKeh Records as catalog number 6422, with the flip side "Says Who? Says You, Says I"[19])
Bob Grant (medley recorded July 1, 1944, released byDecca Records as catalog number 24311, with the flip side "My Devotion medley"[32])
Buddy Guy has often incorporated parts of the song in his arrangements of classic blues songs including "I've Got A Right To Love My Woman" from the 1980 live albumThe Dollar Done Fell and "Cheaper To Keep Her/Blues In The Night" from the 2005 albumBring 'Em In.
Woody Herman and his Orchestra (vocal: Woody Herman) (recorded September 10, 1941, released byDecca Records as catalog number 4030B, with the flip side "This Time the Dream's on Me"[16] and as catalog number 25194, with the flip side "Laughing Boy Blues";[33] re-recorded May 7, 1947, released byColumbia Records as catalog number 37858, with the flip side "Blue Prelude"[34])
Harry James and his orchestra (recorded December 30, 1941, released byColumbia Records as catalog number 36500, with the flip side "All For Love"[35])
Quincy Jones His version was featured prominently in the Soundtrack of Ocean's Eleven (2001) - (the George Clooney Brad Pitt remake)
Clyde Lucas and his orchestra (vocal: Eadie Lang) (recorded November1941, released byElite Records as catalog number 5010B, with the flip side "I Said No")[36]
Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra (vocal: Willie Smith;[6] recorded December 22, 1941 in two parts, released byDecca Records as catalog number 4125A & 4125B,[16] also released byDecca Records as catalog number 28441 both sides[37])
Artie Shaw and his Orchestra (vocalHot Lips Page)[41] (recorded September 2, 1941, released byVictor Records as catalog number 27609, with the flip side "This Time the Dream's on Me"[14])
The song was frequently quoted by composerCarl Stalling in his musical scores for theLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies cartoons forWarner Bros. studios in the 1940s and 1950s. The then-recent hit song is sung incessantly byDaffy Duck in the ironically-titled 1942 cartoonMy Favorite Duck, in whichPorky Pig is tormented by the duck while on a camping trip. Porky's preferred number in that cartoon is "On Moonlight Bay". At one point, Porky unconsciously starts to sing "My Mama Done Tol' Me," then stops, looks into the camera with a "Harumph!" and returns to "Moonlight Bay".
Additionally, the musical riff "my mama done tol' me" is used to identify a black duck from 'South' Germany in the 1942Looney Tunes cartoonThe Ducktators, and the song is featured prominently (with revised lyrics) in the 1943 Merrie Melody cartoonFifth Column Mouse as well as inCoal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs. In the 1942 cartoon,Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid, Bugs Bunny half-mutters the song, changing the lyrics to, "My mamma done told me, a buzzard is two faced..." The melody is also heard inPorky Pig's Feat,Early to Bet,The Hypo-Chondri-Cat, and others.
