A Porter's Love Song to a Chambermaid explained

"A Porter’s Love Song to a Chambermaid" is a jazz standard song with music by James P. Johnson^[1] and lyrics by Andy Razaf^[2] first published in 1930. It was composed for the musical "The Kitchen Mechanics Revue” “a critique of political economy you can dance to.”^[3] a “plotless but tightly themed musical celebrating male and female service workers as Harlem’s fountain of wealth, sanity, pleasure and art,”^[4]

The song has been recorded many times over the years, Roy Milton and His Solid Senders recorded a R&B version in 1947.^[5]

Discography

• Andy Razaf with Jimmy Johnson and His Orchestra, 3/25/31, Columbia, 14668-D^[6]
• Fats Waller and his Rhythm, May 16, 1934^[7]

Notes and References

1. Jasen, David A., Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song, Routledge, New York, 2003, p.224
2. Waller/Razaf, American Songbook Series, The Smithsonian Collection of Recordings, AD 048-21
3. Web site: Chronology and Itinerary of the Career of J. Tim Brymn Materials for a Biography . Lefferts . Peter M. . August 26, 2016 . DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln . October 11, 2022.
4. Book: New Negro, Old Left: African-American Writing and Communism Between the Wars. 9780231114257. Maxwell. William J.. William Maxwell. Sir. 1999. Columbia University Press .
5. Milton, Roy, Roy Milton and his Solid Senders, The Legends of Specialty Series, Specialty Records, SPCD 7004 liner notes
6. Waller/Razaf, American Songbook Series, The Smithsonian Collection of Recordings, AD 048-21
7. Fats Waller, Fats Waller and his Rhythm: Breakin’ the Ice, The Early Years, Part 1, 1934-35, RCA, 2 CD set, liner notes by Dan Morgenstern