Darktown Strutters' Ball (song)

"Darktown Strutters' Ball" is a popular song by Shelton Brooks, published in 1917. The song has been recorded many times and is considered a popular and jazz standard.

The landmark 1917 recording by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band which was recorded on May 30, 1917 and released by Columbia Records as catalog number A-2297 was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006. There are many variations of the title, including "At the Darktown Strutters' Ball", "The Darktown Strutters' Ball", and just "Strutters' Ball".

Recorded versions

 * Original Dixieland Jazz Band (recorded May 30, 1917, released by Columbia Records as catalog number A-2297, with the flip side "Indiana One Step"[6]). The ODJB recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006.Darktown.jpg
 * American Republic Band (recorded December 1917, released by Pathe Records as catalog number 20282, with the flip side "Homeward Bound" )
 * Phil Brito (released by MGM Records as catalog number 11687, with the flip side "Memories of Sorrento" )
 * Brown & Terry Jazzola Boys (recorded June 1921, released by OKeh Records as catalog number 8006B, with the flip side "Hesitatin' Blues" )
 * Castle Jazz Band (recorded January 11, 1949, released by Castle Records as catalog number 3, with the flip side "Kansas City Stomps" )
 * Larry Clinton and Orchestra (vocal by Sylvia Syms and the Carillons; recorded January 1954, released by Bell Records as catalog number 1035, with the flip side "Answer Me, My Love" )
 * A. Collins & B. Harlan (recorded December 1917, released by Columbia Records as catalog number A-2478, with the flip side "I'm All Bound Round with the Mason Dixon Line" )
 * Chick Webb recorded a version on January 15, 1934 in New York but was only issued in England on Columbia CB-754.
 * Boswell Sisters recorded a version (complete with a rumba section!) on May 23, 1934 in New York but was only issued in Australia on Columbia DO-1255.
 * Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (released by Coral Records as catalog number 60000, with the flip side "Dusk in Upper Sandusky" )
 * Arthur Fields (released by Pathe Records as catalog number 20315B, with the flip side "In the Land o' Yamo Yamo" )
 * Paul Frees recording is featured in the film The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), during a murder scene.
 * Connie Haines, Alan Dale, the Ray Bloch Seven, and Sy Oliver's Orchestra (released by Signature Records as catalog number 15197A, with the flip side "Little Boy Blues" )
 * Phil Harris and his Orchestra (recorded February 27, 1937, released by Vocalion Records as catalog number 3565, with the flip side "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" )
 * Hoosier Hotshots (recorded December 16, 1935, released by Vocalion Records as catalog number 03734, with the flip side "Nobody's Sweetheart"; re-recorded February 26, 1936, released by Conqueror Records as catalog number 8661, with the flip side "You're Driving Me Crazy" )
 * Pee Wee Hunt (released by Capitol Records as catalog number 1691, with the flip side "Oh!" and as catalog number 1741, with the flip side "Basin Street Blues" )
 * Martin & Brown ("The Harmonica Duo") (released by Tennessee Records as catalog number 793, with the flip side "I'll See You in My Dreams" )
 * Russ Morgan and his Orchestra (recorded December 21, 1953, released by Decca Records as catalog number 29032, with the flip side "There'll Be Some Changes Made" )
 * Ruby Newman and his Orchestra (recorded January 21, 1939, released by Decca Records as catalog number 23621, with the flip side "I'm Just Wild about Harry" )
 * Orlando's Orchestra (recorded January 1920, released by Silvertone Records as catalog number 5007B, with the flip side "Missouri Waltz". This version was also released, with the name of the orchestra given as the Federal Band, by Federal Records under the same catalog number, with the same flip side )
 * Preacher Rollo and the Five Saints (Recorded April 18, 1951 in Miami, released by MGM Records as catalog number 30448B, with the flip side "Original Dixieland One-Step" )
 * Gid Tanner's Skillet Lickers (recorded March 29, 1927, released by Columbia Records as catalog number 15188D, with the flip side "Drink 'Er Down" )
 * Toots' Quartet (released by Decca Records as catalog number 28157, with the flip side "Toselli Jump" )
 * Fats Waller (recorded November 3, 1939, originally released by Bluebird Records as catalog number 10573B, with the flip side "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby" )
 * Deek Watson and the Brown Dots (released by Manor Records as catalog number 1166, with the flip side "As Tho' You Don't Know" ).
 * Ted Mulry Gang had a hit in Australia with a rock 'n roll version of "Darktown Strutters Ball"
 * Lou Monte recorded "Darktown Strutter's Ball (Italian Syle)" in 1954. The RCA release was a major hit, reaching #12 retail. He parodies the lyrics, including "I'll be down to get you in a wheelbarrow honey", and asks "Are you from Lyndhurst?", the city of his birth.
 * Ray Anthony in Australia on Capitol CP-139, flip side "Deep Night"
 * Joe Brown on Decca F 11207, 1960, flip side "Swagger"; this was Brown's first single to chart.
 * Howard Armstrong adds some explicit lyrics in the movie "Louie Bluie."