Open the Door, Richard
Encyclopedia
"Open the Door, Richard" is a song first recorded on the Black & White Records
label by saxophonist
ist Jack McVea
at the suggestion of A&R
man Ralph Bass
. In 1947, it was the number-one song on Billboard
's "Honor Roll of Hits" and became a runaway pop sensation.
routine. Pigmeat Markham
, one of several who performed the routine, attributed it to his mentor Bob Russell. The routine was made famous by Dusty Fletcher
on stages like the Apollo Theater
in New York
and in a short film [Archive.org]. Dressed in rags, drunk, and with a ladder as his only prop, Fletcher would repeatedly plunk the ladder down stage center, try to climb it to knock on an imaginary door, then crash sprawling on the floor after a few steps while shouting, half-singing "Open the Door, Richard". After this he would mutter a comic monologue, then try the ladder again and repeat the process, while the audience was imagining what Richard was so occupied doing.
Jack McVea was responsible for the musical riff
which became associated with the words "Open the Door, Richard" that became familiar to radio listeners and as many as 14 different recordings were made.
and McVea's expressive tenor honking
, the intoxicated, rowdy band members come home late at night, knowing Richard has the only key to the house. Knocking and repeated calls from McVea and the band members for Richard to open the door get no result. The musical refrain kicks in with the musicians singing in unison:
The spoken dialog makes humorous references to negative aspects of urban African-American life, including poverty
and police brutality
. The narrator explains, "I know he's in there, 'cause I got on the clothes." He also says, "I was on relief
, but they got short of help and you had to go downtown to pick up the checks, so I gave it up." Later, when a policeman tells him to come down from the ladder and begins hitting his feet, the narrator protests, "You act like one of them police that ain't never arrested nobody before."
Although the neighbors are being disturbed, McVea continues knocking as the song fades away.
was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number
20-2127. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on February 7, 1947
and lasted four weeks on the chart, peaking at number one.
The recording by Dusty Fletcher
was released by National Records
as catalog number 4012. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on January 31, 1947, and lasted five weeks on the chart, peaking at number three.
The recording by The Three Flames was released by Columbia Records
as catalog number 37268. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on February 14, 1947, and lasted three weeks on the chart, peaking at number four.
The recording by Louis Jordan
was released by Decca Records
as catalog number 23841. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on March 7, 1947, and lasted two weeks on the chart, peaking at number seven.
The recording by Jack McVea
, recorded in October 1946, was released by Black & White Records
as catalog number 792. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on February 14, 1947, and lasted two weeks on the chart, peaking at number seven. As stated above, this was the original recording.
For all the artists above except Jordan, this was their only hit on the charts. (This even includes Count Basie, despite his great fame, and despite the fact that this was a number-one hit for him. In Whitburn's later Pop Memories, Basie was indeed recognized for his many chart singles outside the retail Top 10. The Basie string of "hits" continued on different Billboard charts through 1968.)
in the 1950s. It started the fad of answer song
records. It was also the first commercial record to use a fade out ending.
When "Open the Door, Richard" landed on the "Honor Roll of Hits" it joined such white pop songs as "Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah" for a Walt Disney
film. But a black ballad "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
" sung by Al Jolson
was also on the list. These two songs became the first rhythm and blues
songs since "I Wonder" to achieve sensational success in the white market and indicated that the pop mainstream was open to R&B.
The phrase "Open the Door, Richard" passed into African American Vernacular English
and became associated with the Civil Rights Movement
. When college students marched in 1947 to the state capitol demanding the resignation of segregationist
governor Herman Talmadge
, some of their banners read "Open the Door Herman". The Los Angeles Sentinel
used "Open the Door Richard" as the title of an editorial demanding black representation in city government and a Detroit minister used the title for a sermon on open housing.
"Open the Door, Richard" became a catchphrase in broader American society, as well; the line appeared in routines by Jack Benny
, Fred Allen
, and Phil Harris
. Jimmy Durante
and Burl Ives
each recorded versions of the song; opera
star Lauritz Melchior
performed it on national radio. Molly Picon
recorded a Yiddish language
version; it was also covered in Spanish
, Swedish
, French
, Armenian
and Hungarian
. There were "Richard" hats, shirts, and jeans, and ads for products ranging from ale to perfume incorporated references to the song.
A reference to the phrase appears in the 1947
Looney Tunes
short
Crowing Pains
uses a pun on this title, "Open the Window, Richard", when Foghorn Leghorn outfits Henery Hawk
with an egg shell.
Another reference appears in a 1949
Looney Tunes
cartoon, High Diving Hare
, featuring Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny (a riff on the song also appears in this cartoon). In this cartoon, Sam climbs up a ladder of a high-diving board, only to find a door on it. When he tries to open it he shouts, "Open up this door!!", then breaks the fourth wall
and says, "D'ja notice I didn' say 'Richard'?"
North Carolina artist Pigmeat Markham released his version on Chess Records in 1964.
In 1967, Bob Dylan and the Band recorded an homage to the song as part of The Basement Tapes. Entitled "Open the Door, Homer", the chorus nevertheless repeated the phrase "Open the door Richard."
The theme of the unanswered door and the lover also appears in the songs "I Hear You Knockin'" and "Keep A-Knockin'
".
The Cuban Boys
released a re-mix of the song with the same title on their 2000 'Old Skool For Scoundrels' EP.
In 1952 Tex Williams
& Jesse Ashlock penned what is likely a response song titled "Close the door, Richard, I just saw the thing". (copyright 1952-11-20)
Black & White Records
Black & White Records was a Los Angeles, California based record company, active in recording blues and country and Western artists during the 1940s and 1950s. It also had offices at 2117 Foster Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. It was acquired by Capitol Records....
label by saxophonist
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
ist Jack McVea
Jack McVea
Jack McVea was an American swing, blues, and rhythm and blues woodwind player; he played clarinet and tenor and baritone saxophone...
at the suggestion of A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
man Ralph Bass
Ralph Bass
Ralph Bass , born in The Bronx, New York of an Italian-American-Catholic father, and a German-American-Jewish mother, was an influential rhythm and blues record producer and talent scout for several independent labels and was responsible for many hit records. He was a pioneer in bringing black...
. In 1947, it was the number-one song on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's "Honor Roll of Hits" and became a runaway pop sensation.
Origin
"Open the Door, Richard" started out as a black vaudevilleVaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
routine. Pigmeat Markham
Pigmeat Markham
Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham was an African-American entertainer. Though best known as a comedian, Markham was also a singer, dancer, and actor...
, one of several who performed the routine, attributed it to his mentor Bob Russell. The routine was made famous by Dusty Fletcher
Dusty Fletcher
Clinton "Dusty" Fletcher was an African-American vaudeville performer who was best known for the comedy routine which became a hit record in 1947, "Open the Door, Richard".-Life:...
on stages like the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and in a short film [Archive.org]. Dressed in rags, drunk, and with a ladder as his only prop, Fletcher would repeatedly plunk the ladder down stage center, try to climb it to knock on an imaginary door, then crash sprawling on the floor after a few steps while shouting, half-singing "Open the Door, Richard". After this he would mutter a comic monologue, then try the ladder again and repeat the process, while the audience was imagining what Richard was so occupied doing.
Jack McVea was responsible for the musical riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
which became associated with the words "Open the Door, Richard" that became familiar to radio listeners and as many as 14 different recordings were made.
Song
In the song, accompanied by a rhythm sectionRhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
and McVea's expressive tenor honking
Tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
, the intoxicated, rowdy band members come home late at night, knowing Richard has the only key to the house. Knocking and repeated calls from McVea and the band members for Richard to open the door get no result. The musical refrain kicks in with the musicians singing in unison:
-
- Open the door, Richard,
- Open the door and let me in,
- Open the door, Richard,
- Richard, why don't you open that door!
The spoken dialog makes humorous references to negative aspects of urban African-American life, including poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
and police brutality
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
. The narrator explains, "I know he's in there, 'cause I got on the clothes." He also says, "I was on relief
Welfare
Welfare refers to a broad discourse which may hold certain implications regarding the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity"...
, but they got short of help and you had to go downtown to pick up the checks, so I gave it up." Later, when a policeman tells him to come down from the ladder and begins hitting his feet, the narrator protests, "You act like one of them police that ain't never arrested nobody before."
Although the neighbors are being disturbed, McVea continues knocking as the song fades away.
Charting versions
The recording by Count BasieCount Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number
Catalog numbering systems for single records
This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...
20-2127. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on February 7, 1947
1947 in music
-Events:*August 7 – Carlo Bergonzi makes his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème at the Arena Argentina in Catania.*October – Enrico De Angelis leaves Quartetto Cetra to join the army...
and lasted four weeks on the chart, peaking at number one.
The recording by Dusty Fletcher
Dusty Fletcher
Clinton "Dusty" Fletcher was an African-American vaudeville performer who was best known for the comedy routine which became a hit record in 1947, "Open the Door, Richard".-Life:...
was released by National Records
National Records
National Records was a record label that was started in New York by Albert Green in 1945 and lasted till early 1951.Big Joe Turner was signed at the outset and remained until 1947. Billy Eckstine was also a big seller for the label as were The Ravens...
as catalog number 4012. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on January 31, 1947, and lasted five weeks on the chart, peaking at number three.
The recording by The Three Flames was released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
as catalog number 37268. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on February 14, 1947, and lasted three weeks on the chart, peaking at number four.
The recording by Louis Jordan
Louis Jordan
Louis Thomas Jordan was a pioneering American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader who enjoyed his greatest popularity from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", Jordan was highly popular with both black and white audiences in the...
was released by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
as catalog number 23841. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on March 7, 1947, and lasted two weeks on the chart, peaking at number seven.
The recording by Jack McVea
Jack McVea
Jack McVea was an American swing, blues, and rhythm and blues woodwind player; he played clarinet and tenor and baritone saxophone...
, recorded in October 1946, was released by Black & White Records
Black & White Records
Black & White Records was a Los Angeles, California based record company, active in recording blues and country and Western artists during the 1940s and 1950s. It also had offices at 2117 Foster Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. It was acquired by Capitol Records....
as catalog number 792. It first reached the Billboard Best Seller chart on February 14, 1947, and lasted two weeks on the chart, peaking at number seven. As stated above, this was the original recording.
For all the artists above except Jordan, this was their only hit on the charts. (This even includes Count Basie, despite his great fame, and despite the fact that this was a number-one hit for him. In Whitburn's later Pop Memories, Basie was indeed recognized for his many chart singles outside the retail Top 10. The Basie string of "hits" continued on different Billboard charts through 1968.)
Copyright fight
The origins of the piece in a vaudeville routine led to there being several claimants to the rights. Russell was no longer alive, but both Mason and Fletcher came forth claiming to have written it; Fletcher even claimed that he had written the tune. By the time the dust settled, the official credits read "Words by Dusty Fletcher and John Mason, music by Dusty Fletcher and Don Howell". Howell appears to have been an entirely fictional front through which someone managed to pocket some of the royalties at McVea's expense.Legacy
"Open the Door, Richard" was an early R&B novelty record, a song category that became a basic genre of rock and rollRock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
in the 1950s. It started the fad of answer song
Answer song
An answer song is, as the name suggests, a song made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. It is also known as a response song. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s...
records. It was also the first commercial record to use a fade out ending.
When "Open the Door, Richard" landed on the "Honor Roll of Hits" it joined such white pop songs as "Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah" for a Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
film. But a black ballad "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
" for Sentimental Reasons" is a popular song written by William "Pat" Best, later a founding member of The Four Tunes. The credits list Deek Watson, former founding member of The Ink Spots, as a co-writer, though Best has stated that Watson had nothing to do with the creation of the song...
" sung by Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
was also on the list. These two songs became the first rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
songs since "I Wonder" to achieve sensational success in the white market and indicated that the pop mainstream was open to R&B.
The phrase "Open the Door, Richard" passed into African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
and became associated with the Civil Rights Movement
American Civil Rights Movement (1896-1954)
The Civil Rights Movement in the United States was a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all Americans...
. When college students marched in 1947 to the state capitol demanding the resignation of segregationist
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
governor Herman Talmadge
Herman Talmadge
Herman Eugene Talmadge was an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. He served as governor of Georgia briefly in 1947 and again from 1948 to 1955. His term was marked by his segregationist policies. After leaving office Talmadge was elected to the U.S...
, some of their banners read "Open the Door Herman". The Los Angeles Sentinel
Los Angeles Sentinel
The Los Angeles Sentinel is a weekly African American-owned newspaper published in Los Angeles, California. The paper boasts of reaching 125,000 readers , making it the oldest, largest and most influential African-American newspaper in the Western United States.The Sentinel was founded and first...
used "Open the Door Richard" as the title of an editorial demanding black representation in city government and a Detroit minister used the title for a sermon on open housing.
"Open the Door, Richard" became a catchphrase in broader American society, as well; the line appeared in routines by Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
, Fred Allen
Fred Allen
Fred Allen was an American comedian whose absurdist, topically pointed radio show made him one of the most popular and forward-looking humorists in the so-called classic era of American radio.His best-remembered gag was his long-running mock feud with friend and fellow comedian Jack Benny, but it...
, and Phil Harris
Phil Harris
Harris and Faye married in 1941; it was a second marriage for both and lasted 54 years, until Harris's death. Harris engaged in a fistfight at the Trocadero nightclub in 1938 with RKO studio mogul Bob Stevens; the cause was reported to be over Faye after Stevens and Faye had ended a romantic...
. Jimmy Durante
Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
and Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
each recorded versions of the song; opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
star Lauritz Melchior
Lauritz Melchior
Lauritz Melchior was a Danish and later American opera singer. He was the pre-eminent Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, and has since come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type.-Biography:...
performed it on national radio. Molly Picon
Molly Picon
Molly Picon was an American actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a lyricist and dramatic storyteller....
recorded a Yiddish language
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
version; it was also covered in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
and Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
. There were "Richard" hats, shirts, and jeans, and ads for products ranging from ale to perfume incorporated references to the song.
A reference to the phrase appears in the 1947
1947 in film
The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
short
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
Crowing Pains
Crowing Pains
Crowing Pains is a cartoon in the Looney Tunes series that was released in 1947. The cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson, stars Henery Hawk, Sylvester, and Foghorn Leghorn and The Barnyard Dawg, all of whom are voiced by Mel Blanc. It is also the first cartoon to feature more than two Looney Tunes...
uses a pun on this title, "Open the Window, Richard", when Foghorn Leghorn outfits Henery Hawk
Henery Hawk
Henery Hawk is a cartoon character from the American Looney Tunes series, who appeared in twelve cartoons. His first appearance was The Squawkin' Hawk, directed by Chuck Jones and produced by Leon Schlesinger. Henery's next appearance was Walky Talky Hawky which also featured Foghorn Leghorn and...
with an egg shell.
Another reference appears in a 1949
1949 in film
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
cartoon, High Diving Hare
High Diving Hare
High Diving Hare is a 1948-produced Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. Released to theaters on April 30, 1949, the short is an expansion of a gag from Stage Door Cartoon, which was also directed by Friz Freleng...
, featuring Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny (a riff on the song also appears in this cartoon). In this cartoon, Sam climbs up a ladder of a high-diving board, only to find a door on it. When he tries to open it he shouts, "Open up this door!!", then breaks the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
and says, "D'ja notice I didn' say 'Richard'?"
North Carolina artist Pigmeat Markham released his version on Chess Records in 1964.
In 1967, Bob Dylan and the Band recorded an homage to the song as part of The Basement Tapes. Entitled "Open the Door, Homer", the chorus nevertheless repeated the phrase "Open the door Richard."
The theme of the unanswered door and the lover also appears in the songs "I Hear You Knockin'" and "Keep A-Knockin'
Keep A-Knockin'
"Keep A-Knockin' " is a popular song from the late 1920s, possibly written by Perry Bradford. Variations were recorded by James "Boodle It" Wiggins in 1928, Lil Johnson in 1935, Milton Brown in 1936 and Louis Jordan in 1939...
".
The Cuban Boys
Cuban Boys
The Cuban Boys are a British band and production team, currently composed of Skreen B and Ricardo Autobahn; the band formerly also included B.L. Underwood and Jenny McLaren . Their music is characterised by fast electronic beats, heavy reliance upon samples and the repetition of the words "The...
released a re-mix of the song with the same title on their 2000 'Old Skool For Scoundrels' EP.
In 1952 Tex Williams
Tex Williams
Sollie Paul Williams , known professionally as Tex Williams, was an American Western swing musician from Ramsey, Illinois....
& Jesse Ashlock penned what is likely a response song titled "Close the door, Richard, I just saw the thing". (copyright 1952-11-20)