MUSIC NOTES

by Amy Stoller

The script of Becomes a Woman includes many song titles, mostly not direct matches to known songs. Playwright Betty Smith may have used them as placeholders, or remembered the titles imperfectly. I was tasked with finding good candidates, and here are the results. Not all will be heard in our production, as I found more than one option for one of the songs. The titles in boldface are given as they appear in the original typescript.

“Left Alone.” For this, I found several possible inspirations: “Left All Alone Again Blues” (1920, lyrics by Anne Caldwell, music by Jerome Kern, from The Night Boat); “All By Myself” (1921, words and music by Irving Berlin, first performed in his 1922 Music Box Revue); “All Alone” (1924, words and music by Irving Berlin, featured in his 1924 Music Box Revue). The last of these is a “standard,” recorded by everyone from Al Jolson to Miss Piggy. A line from its lyrics, “All alone by the telephone” has taken on a life of its own.

“Mean Family Blues”/“Me and My Family Blues.” This was a real poser. I’m grateful to music historian David Seatter, who, after much digging, unearthed one possibility: “Family Trouble Blues” (1922, words and music by Olman J. Cobb). This was first recorded by Lizzie Miles (the “Creole Songbird”), with Clarence Johnson at the piano.

The “classical music” one character complains of is “The End of a Perfect Day.” Officially titled “A Perfect Day” (1909, words and music by Carrie Jacobs-Bond), it was a tremendously popular parlor song from the time of its publication in 1910. So, not exactly “classical”—just popular music of one generation earlier.

“He’s my Man.” (or “I Must have that Man”.) [Smith offered us options—or couldn’t remember which one she wanted?] The obvious inspiration for the first title is “My Man”/“Mon Homme” (1920, original French lyrics by Jacques-Charles and Albert Willemetz, music by Maurice Yvain; English lyrics by Channing Pollock). Fanny Brice had a huge hit with the 1921 recording of her English-version Ziegfeld Follies performance. She recorded it again in 1927, and her radio performance in 1928 was also recorded. The second title, “I Must Have that Man” (1928, lyrics by Dorothy Fields; music by Jimmy McHugh) is one of several hits from Lew Leslie’s revue Blackbirds of 1928.

“I Don’t Owe Nothing to Nobody.” Surely a reference to Nobody (1905, lyrics by Alex Rogers; music by Bert Williams.) This became Williams’ signature song, and was recorded by him in 1906 and again in 1913. It remained popular into the 1930s.

You can find recordings of all of these at https://tinyurl.com/BaWmusicresearch.