SOPHISTICATED LADY
Music: Duke Ellington- Lyrics: Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish
Year: 1933
Origin of the song
Duke Ellington recorded 'Sophisticated Lady' for the Columbia label on 15 February 1933; soloists included Otto Hardwick (alto saxophone), Barney Bigard (clarinet), Lawrence Brown (trombone) and Ellington himself (piano). On May 16 of that same year he recorded it again. This version (Brunswick 6600) is the one that triumphed in the hit lists.
The origin of the melody is controversial. It is said that Ellington, Hardwick, Brown and Mills were originally listed as authors. However, when the song was released, Hardwick and Brown were not credited and therefore had no copyright. This was normal. The musicians were paid a single amount because the future of the compositions was uncertain and most of the works never succeeded. This did not happen with 'Sophisticated Lady', which soon became one of Ellington's most popular and lucrative compositions.
Mitchell Parish is also the author of the lyrics of 'Sweet Lorraine' (1928), 'Star Dust' (1929), 'One Morning in May' (1933), 'Stars Fell on Alabama' (1934), 'Deep Purple' (1934), 'Stairway to the Stars' (1935), 'Don't Be That Way' (1938), 'The Lamp Is Low' (1939), 'Moonlight Serenade' (1939) and 'Ruby' (1952).
Versions in the top charts
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF THE RECORDING |
DAY OF
ENTRANCE |
PERMANENCE WEEKS |
HIGH POSITION REACHED |
|
|
Don Redman Orchestra |
1933.04.26 |
1933.06.03 |
1 |
19 |
Instrumental |
|
Duke Ellington Famous Orchestra |
1933.05.16 |
1933.05.27 |
16 |
3 |
Instrumental |
|
1933.06.05 |
1933.07.29 |
9 |
4 |
Instrumental |
|
|
Billy Eckstine Nonet |
1947.04.21 |
1948.07.31 |
1 |
23 |
Billy Eckstine (voc, vtb) |
Jazz. Outstanding performances
Instrumental
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1933.02.15 |
Duke Ellington (p, dir), Freddy Jenkins, Arthur Whetsel, Cootie Williams (tp), Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton (tb), Juan Tizol (vtb), Barney Bigard (cl, ts), Johnny Hodges (cl, ss, as), Otto Hardwick (as), Harry Carney (cl, as, bars), Fred Guy (g), Wellman Braud (b), Sonny Greer (d) |
|
|
1933.03.21 |
Art Tatum (p) |
|
|
1933.04.26 |
Don Redman (as, dir), Langston Curl, Shirley Clay, Sidney De Paris (tp), Claude Jones, Fred Robinson, Benny Morton (tb), Edward Inge, Rupert Cole (cl, as), Robert Carroll (ts), Don Kilpatrick (p), Talcott Reeves (bjo, g), Bob Ysaguirre (b, tu), Manzie Johnson (d, vib) |
|
|
1933.05.16 |
Duke Ellington (p, dir), Freddy Jenkins, Arthur Whetsel, Cootie Williams (tp), Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton (tb), Juan Tizol (vtb), Barney Bigard (cl, ts), Johnny Hodges (cl, ss, as), Otto Hardwick (as), Harry Carney (cl, as, bars), Fred Guy (g), Wellman Braud (b), Sonny Greer (d) |
|
|
The Casa Loma Orchestra |
1933.06.05 |
Glen Gray (as, dir), Joe Hostetter, Frank Martinez (tp), Pee Wee Hunt, Billy Rauch (tb), Clarence Hutchinrider (cl, as), Kenny Sargent, Pat Davis (ts), Mel Jenssen (vn), Joe Hall (p), Gene Gifford (bjo, g), Stanley Dennis (b), Tony Briglia (d) |
|
1934.09.04 |
Jimmie Lunceford (dir), Eddie Tompkins, Tommy Stevenson, Sy Oliver (tp), Russell Bowles, Henry Wells (tb), Laforet Dent (cl, as), Joe Thomas (cl, ts), Earl Carruthers (cl, as, bars), Eddie Wilcox (p), Al Norris (g), Moses Allen (b), Jimmy Crawford (d, vib) |
|
|
1937.09.06 |
Larry Adler (arm), unidentified orchestra |
|
|
1940.02.14 |
Duke Ellington (p, dir), Rex Stewart (cnt), Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams (tp), Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton (tb), Juan Tizol (vtb), Barney Bigard (cl), Johnny Hodges (cl, ss, as), Otto Hardwick (as), Ben Webster (ts), Harry Carney (cl, as, bars), Fred Guy (g), Jimmy Blanton (b), Sonny Greer (d) |
|
|
1945.05.14 |
Duke Ellington (p, dir), Rex Stewart (cnt), Cat Anderson, Shelton Hemphill, Taft Jordan (tp), Ray Nance (tp, vn), Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton (tb), Claude Jones (vtb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Otto Hardwick, Johnny Hodges (as), Al Sears (ts), Harry Carney (bars, cl), Fred Guy (g), Junior Raglin (b), Sonny Greer (d) |
|
|
1949.12.21 |
Coleman Hawkins (ts), Jean-Paul Mengeon (p), Pierre Michelot (b), Kenny Clarke (d) |
|
|
1951.07.02 |
Erroll Garner (p), John Simmons (b), Shadow Wilson (d) |
|
|
1955.07.21 |
Thelonious Monk (p), Oscar Pettiford (b), Kenny Clarke (d) |
|
|
1964.04.28 |
Eric Dolphy (as, cl, fl), Clifford Jordan (ts), Jaki Byard (p), Charles Mingus (b), Dannie Richmond (d) |
|
|
1970.06.18 |
Dexter Gordon (ts), Junior Mance (p), Martin Rivera (b), Oliver Jackson (d) |
|
|
Earl Hines |
1971.12.?? |
Earl Hines (p) |
|
James Carter Quartet |
1993.04.16 |
James Carter (ts, as, bars), Craig Taborn (p), Jaribu Shahid (b), Tani Tabbal (d) |
Vocal
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1933.09.11 |
Connee & Helvetia Boswell (voc), Martha Boswell (p, voc), Manny Weinstock (tp), Charlie Butterfield (tb), Benny Goodman (cl), Chester Hazlett (as), Harry Hoffman (vn), Perry Botkin (bjo, g), Dick Cherwin (b), Stan King (d) |
|
|
1947.04.21 |
Billy Eckstine (voc, vtb), Ray Linn (tp), Gerald Valentine (tb), Sonny Criss (as), Wardell Gray (ts), Warren Bracken (p), unidentified (g), Shifty Henry (b), Tim Kennedy (d) |
|
|
1956.01.23 |
Rosemary Clooney (voc), Duke Ellington (p, dir), Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ray Nance, Cootie Williams (tp), Quentin Jackson, Britt Wooodman (tb), John Sanders (vtb), Russell Procope (as, cl), Johnny Hodges (as), Jimmy Hamilton (ts, cl), Paul Gonsalves (ts), Harry Carney (bars), Jimmy Woode (b), Sam Woodyard (d) |
|
|
1956.09.04 |
Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Ben Webster (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), Paul Smith (p), Barney Kessel (g), Joe Mondragon (b), Alvin Stoller (d) |
|
|
1961.07.18 |
Sarah Vaughan (voc), Mundell Lowe (g), George Duvivier (b) |
On cinemas
The song 'Sophisticated Lady' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:
|
ORIGINAL TITLE |
TITLE IN SPAIN |
YEAR OF PRODUCTION |
PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM |
|
Ice-Capades |
Desfile sobre el hielo |
1941 |
|
|
No Way Out |
Un rayo de luz |
1950 |
|
|
Half Angel |
Seria de día, coqueta de noche |
1951 |
|
|
Paris Blues |
Un día volveré |
1961 |
|
|
The Conversation |
La conversación |
1974 |
|
|
Rough Cut |
Golpe audaz |
1980 |
|
|
The Natural |
El mejor |
1984 |
|
|
Harlem Nights |
Noches de Harlem |
1989 |
|
|
Ulee’s Gold |
El oro de Ulises |
1997 |
Billie Holiday |
|
The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion |
La maldición del escorpión de jade |
2001 |
Duke Ellington Orchestra |
|
He’s Just Not That Into You |
Qué les pasa a los hombres |
2009 |
Will Kaplan |
|
L´écume des jours |
La espuma de los días |
2013 |
Bobby Few, Romain Duris and Audrey Tautou |