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Sophie Tucker “Some of These Days”
Writer(s): Shelton Brooks (see lyrics here)
First charted: 7/8/1911
Peak: 2 US (Click for codes to singles charts.)
Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) US
Radio Airplay (in millions): -- Video Airplay (in millions): --
Review: This has been called “the most important turning point in Tin Pan Alley history” because it was completely different than other popular music of the day. RCG Canadian songwriter Shelton Brooks originally composed this blues number as a waltz, but integrated jazz into the song’s loose structure. As such, jazz musicians had a wide-open pallet on which to improvise. RCG
The song served as a signature for Sophie Tucker, a vaudeville singer and comedienne known as “The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas.” Born Sonia Kalish in Russia in 1884, she got started as a singing waitress at her father’s Connecticut restaurant and became a star on Broadway, in movies, with her own radio show, and via TV appearances as part of her nearly fifty-year recording career. SS
She introduced “Days” in 1910 at Chicago’s White City Park. It became her lifelong theme song, PM showcasing “emotional poser that matched her volume and visceral stage presence.” SS Tucker had chart success with “Some of These Days” twice. Her 1911 version hit #2 and then in 1927, her rerecorded version with Ted Lewis & His Band went to the top of the charts and became a million seller. PM
Three other acts charted with the song – the American Quartet (#3 – 1911), the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (#5 – 1923), and Bing Crosby (#16 – 1932). PM Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Bobby Darin, Judy Garland, and Paul Whiteman are among the others to record the song. It has also been performed in numerous movies and Broadway revues. RCG
Resources and Related Links:
- Sophie Tucker’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry
- Ted Lewis’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry
- NRR National Recording Registry
- RCG RimChiGuy.com
- SS Sullivan, Steve. (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 9.
- PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, WI; Record Research, Inc. Page 424.
Awards for 1911 and 1927 versions:
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