Song A Week 2016 - Why Don't You Do Right - January 24, 2016

Not so long ago after I left home, let's say circa 1980, I went through my parents' records and recorded to cassette anything that seemed remotely interesting.  One song I recorded - from Reader's Digest Million Dollar Memories - was Peggy Lee's version of Why Don't You Do Right with the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Loved that shit.

Fast forward about 30 years, Sarah Rhude and I were talking potential collaborations and Dan Weisenberger is spinning the vinyl at a swinging post-gig loft party.  One slab of vinyl was Lil Green's dynamite original take of the song, a favourite of Sarah's.  Bingo! There's our collaboration.

Well not quite Bingo yet. Fast forward another couple of years to the here and now.  A great benefit of ye olde blog is it acts both as a catalyst and provides purpose to get together with friends and make music. Rhudey and I are chatting about playing some music together, my brain snaps into blog production mode;  Rachelle Reath and I have been talking about playing and have a long history of collaborating - in The Euphorians, as a duo, and numerous occasions the last time I was song-a-week-ing........OK, this time:  Bingo!  For real.  Rhudey, Rachelle, and me.   Here's our version of Why Don't You Do Right, recorded in Rachelle's living room.

Why Don't You Do Right is generally accepted as a reworking of the song Weed Smoker's Dream, recorded in 1936 by The Harlem Hamfats and credited to piano player Joe McCoy.  There is some dispute over that credit as there is over the writing credit of Why Don't You Do Right.  While official credit is given to McCoy for re-working the song into a classic woman's blues number, others see the song as thematically and narratively distinct and believe Lil Green penned her own version. The Lil Green recording of the song was one of Peggy Lee's favourite records.  Here she is.....Lil Green!

In a 1984 interview Peggy Lee said "I was and am a fan of Lil Green, a great old blues singer, and Lil recorded it.  I used to play that record over and over in my dressing room, which was next door to Benny.  Finally he said, ' You obviously like that song.'  I said, 'Oh, I love it.' He said 'Would you like me to have arrangement made of it?' I said 'I'd love that,' and he did."   Here's Peggy Lee live with the Benny Goodman Orchestra.  

And here's a hipper take of it recorded later....Peggy Lee with Dave Barbour and his Band

To write this blog, I referenced Wikipedia and a fascinating article about Peggy Lee written by Ivan Santiago-Mercado.  You can check that article out here The Peggy Lee Bio-Discography And Videography: Observations About The Song "Why Don't You Do Right?"  

And in closing.....Weed Smoker's Dream - Harlem Hamfats