Do Nothing till You Hear from Me explained

"Do Nothing till You Hear from Me" (also written as "Do Nothin' Til You Hear from Me") is a song with music by Duke Ellington and lyrics by Bob Russell. It originated as a 1940 instrumental ("Concerto for Cootie") that was designed to highlight the playing of Ellington's lead trumpeter, Cootie Williams. Russell's words were added later. In 1944, Ellington's own recording of the song was a number one hit R&B chart for eight non-consecutive weeks and number six on the pop chart.[1]

Other recordings to reach the Billboard charts in 1944 were by Woody Herman and by Stan Kenton (vocal: Red Dorris).[2]

Other versions

"Do Nothing till You Hear from Me" has since been performed by many other famous musical artists, including:

Notes and References

  1. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 185.
  2. Book: Whitburn. Joel. Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954. 1986. Record Research Inc. Wisconsin, USA. 0-89820-083-0. 492. registration.
  3. The King Cole Trio. Sessions of 1944. Nat King Cole: An Informal Discography.
  4. Holiday, Billie. B. Live Sessions. Billie Holiday Songs.
  5. Horne, Lena. The Young Star (CD, Compilation, Remastered, Mono). RCA/BMG/Bluebird. 2 September 2002.
  6. Page, Patti. The Uncollected Patti Page...with Lou Stein's Music. Hindsight, 1986.
  7. Web site: A Bing Crosby Discography. BING magazine. International Club Crosby. November 29, 2017.
  8. Web site: allmusic.com. allmusic.com. December 3, 2017.
  9. Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington. The Complete...Sessions. Roulette Records, 1990.
  10. Al Hirt. Horn A-Plenty. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  11. Web site: www.allmusic.com. www.allmusic.com. August 14, 2024.
  12. Dr. John. Duke Elegant (CD, Album).Parlophone, 1999.
  13. Nergaard, Silje. Port of Call (CD, Album, Digipak). EmArcy, 2000.
  14. Williams, Andy. Andy Williams Live: Treasures from His Personal Collection. Neon Records, 10 July 2001.
  15. Bogguss, Suzy. Swing (CD, Album). Compadre Records, 2003.
  16. Knight, Gladys. Before Me. Verve, 10 October 2006.
  17. Fiona Apple & Jon Brion. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me. YouTube: LyricsBYFionaAppleIT. 21 February 2011.