Two Blind Men and a Fool

by Sherman Smith

Song List

Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens is a 1946 song with music and lyrics by Alex Kramer and Joan Whitney. It was recorded by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five.

Blow, Gabriel, Blow — Cole Porter, 1934

Body and Soul was written in New York City for the British actress and singer Gertrude Lawrence, who introduced it to London audiences. Published in England, it was first performed in the U.S. by Libby Holman in the 1930 Broadway revue Three’s a Crowd. Louis Armstrong was the first jazz musician to record “Body and Soul”. The tune grew quickly in popularity, and by the end of 1930 at least eleven groups had recorded it.

Call Me Irresponsible is a 1962 song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics written by Sammy Cahn. According to the Mel Tormé book The Other Side of the Rainbow with Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol, Van Heusen originally wrote the song for Garland to sing at a CBS dinner.

Can’t Help Singing — composer Jerome Kern, lyricist Yip Harburg 1944. As sung by Deanna Durbin in the 1944 musical/western film. Directed by Frank Ryan. Leads Deanna Durbin/Robert Paige

Darn That Dream is a popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Eddie DeLange, published in 1939.

Freight Train Blues — by Trixie Smith, recorded in New York, 26 May 1938 with a backing group including clarinetist Sidney Bechet. On the LP Out Came the Blues (Coral CP 58, 1970)

Hitler Has Only Got One Ball — The revelation that Adolf Hitler had only one testicle appears to confirm the words of the verse. The Soviets who performed an autopsy on Hitler’s remains shortly after the war claimed that he had this problem, but nobody believed them. However, the recently revealed eyewitness account by a World War I army medic, Johan Jambor, who treated the future dictator’s groin injury at the Battle of the Somme, confirms what the Russians said.

The song was set to the music of The Colonel Bogey March, which we later heard whistled by British PoWs in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai. The original music of Colonel Bogey was written in 1914 by Lt F J Ricketts, a British military bandmaster. It was supposedly inspired by a golfer who, instead of shouting “fore” whistled the first two notes of what became the marching tune. The lyrics were penned in 1939, intended to deliberately insult the Nazis, and are credited to one Toby O’Brien.

I Gave Her the Finger — Sheb Wooly

I Love You for Sentimental Reasons is a popular song written by Ivory “Deek” Watson & William “Pat” Best, the latter being a founding member of The Four Tunes. The credits and the publishing (Leeds Publishing Co.) correctly list Deek Watson, former founding member of The Ink Spots, as a co-writer.

Oddly, Best later stated that Watson had nothing to do with the creation of the song. But Watson maintains, in his late 1960’s autobiography that he and Best wrote the song together, lyrics and music respectively.

Best was a member of Watson’s group, The Brown Dots (the song originally was released by Watson’s quartet with Joe King as lead vocalist). The song was published in 1945.

Lift Every Voice and Sing — by James Wilden Johnson

Moonglow — words by Eddie De Lange, music by Will Hudson and Irving Mills as recorded in New York August 20, 1934 by Ethyl Waters (1896-1977) with members of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.

Moonlight Cocktail is a 1942 big band song recorded by Glenn Miller during World War II. The music was composed by Luckey Roberts with lyrics by Kim Gannon. The song was originally recorded by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra on December 8, 1941.

One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer — Amos Milburn in 1953. Song written by Rudy Toombs.

Peg O’ My Heart featured in the Broadway revue Ziegfeld Follies Of 1913.

Words: Alfred Bryan; Music: Fred Fischer
Jose Collins (Broadway Production) — 1913
Charles Harrison — 1913
Henry Burr — 1913
Walter Van Brunt — 1913
Red Nichols & His Band — 1930
Glenn Miller & His Orchestra (instr.) — 1936
Bunny Berigan & His Orchestra (instr.) — 1939
Jack Teagarden & His Orch. — 1939
Ella Fitzgerald’s Famous Orchestra (instr.) — 1940
Eddie Condon — 1945

Prisoner of Love — songwriters Clarence Gaskill, Russ Columbo, Leo Robin. Published by Edwin H. Morris & Co.

Sentimental Journey is a popular song, published in 1944. The music was written by Les Brown and Ben Homer, and the lyrics were written by Bud Green.

Shaking the Blues Away — Artist: Berlin Irving. Album: Ziegfeld Follies of 1927

Stella by Starlight is a jazz standard written by Victor Young and featured in The Uninvited, a 1944 film released by Paramount Pictures. Originally played in the film as an instrumental theme song without lyrics, it was turned over to Ned Washington, who wrote the lyrics for it in 1946.