Don't Blame Me (Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh song) explained

"Don't Blame Me" is a popular song with music by Jimmy McHugh and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. The song was part of the 1932 show Clowns in Clover and was published in 1933. Popular versions that year were recorded by: Ethel Waters (US No. 6), Guy Lombardo, and Charles Agnew.^[1]

Later recordings

• It was a No. 21 hit for Nat King Cole in 1948.^[2]
• The song received two significant "rock era" remakes: a ballad version by the Everly Brothers in 1961 which reached No. 20 on Billboard,^[3] and an up-tempo version by Frank Ifield which reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart on 15 February 1964,^[4] as well as in New Zealand.^[5] In the U.S., Ifield's version reached No. 128.^[6]

Other recordings

• Charles Agnew and his Hotel Stevens Orchestra (1933). The New Yorker magazine reviewed this recording as "richly played."^[7]
• Ethel Waters with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra – 1933
• Teddy Wilson – 1937
• King Cole October 1938,^{[8] [9]} July 1944,^{[10] [11]} November 21, 1944,^[10] May 19, 1945,^{[12] [13]} July 14, 1955^[14]
• Perry Como's earliest known recording of the song was broadcast Monday, May 3, 1943 from New York City as part of Columbia Presents Perry Como.^[15] He recorded the song as part of a Chesterfield Supper Club program in 1945 or 1946 that was rebroadcast by the AFRS as AFRS Supper Club #283.^[16]
• Coleman Hawkins with Teddy Wilson – 1944
• Peggy Lee - 1945
• Charlie Parker - 1947
• Andy Russell with Dean Elliott and His Orchestra - Love Notes From Andy Russell (1948)^[17]
• Shep Fields with his New Music Orchestra – (RCA Victor, 1948)^[18]
• J. J. Johnson – 1949
• Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1956^[19] for use on his radio show. It was included in the box set The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings (1954–56) issued by Mosaic in 2009.^[20]
• Johnnie Ray Johnnie Ray with The Buddy Cole Quartet, (Columbia Records CL-6199, 1952) Following "Whiskey & Gin" & the smash "Cry," his first two hit singles released on Okeh in 1951, "Don't Blame Me" was the first of eight sides of Johnnie Ray's debut album for Columbia in 1952 ^[21]
• Yusuf Lateef – Eastern Sounds (1962)
• Thelonious Monk – Criss Cross (1963)
• Duke Jordan with Sam Jones and Al Foster (1975)
• Steve Grossman with Michel Petrucciani – Steve Grossman Quartet with Michel Petrucciani (1999)
• Terence Blanchard with Cassandra Wilson – Let's Get Lost (2001)^[22]

Popular culture

• The song was performed in a restaurant scene with Albert Finney and Diane Keaton in the 1982 film Shoot the Moon.

See also

• List of 1930s jazz standards

External links

• "Don't Blame Me" at Jazz Standards

Notes and References

1. Book: Whitburn . Joel . Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954 . 1986 . Record Research . Wisconsin . 0-89820-083-0 . 493 . registration .
2. Web site: Don't Blame Me (1932) . JazzStandards.com . July 17, 2013 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20090223081543/http://jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/dontblameme.htm . February 23, 2009.
3. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012 . Joel Whitburn . 2013 . Record Research . 282.
4. Web site: Official Singles Chart Top 100 - Official Charts Company . Official Charts Company. 25 April 2018 .
5. Web site: Flavour of new zealand - search lever. Flavourofnz.co.nz. 22 December 2021.
6. Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004
7. none. August 26, 1933 . The New Yorker . 43.
8. The King Cole Trio Radio Transcriptions vol. 1 1938, Naxos Jazz Legends, 2000
9. Nat King Cole & His Trio, Radio Sessions from The Early Years: 1938 - 1939, disc A, Rare Radio Transcriptions, JSP Records, 2009
10. The King Cole Trio: The MacGregor Years, 1941-1945, Music & Arts Project of America
11. Nat King Cole & His Trio, Radio Sessions from The Early Years: 1944 - 1945, disc D, Rare Radio Transcriptions, JSP Records, 2009
12. Nat King Cole, Just Call Him King, le Chant du Monde, 2013
13. The Unforgettable Nat King Cole, His 55 finest 1943-1957, Retrospective, 2008
14. instrumental, bonus track, Nat King Cole and His Trio, The Complete After Midnight Session, Essential Jazz Classics, 2007
15. Perry Como, The Best of The War Years, Stardust Records, 2002
16. Love Letters from Perry Como, Rare 1944-46 broadcasts featuring Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers, guest star Rose Marie and the orchestras of Lloyd Shaller, Benny Goodman and Andre Kostelanetz, Viper's Nest 1994
17. Web site: www.discogs.com. discogs.com. July 2, 2024.
18. Web site: Don't Blame Me. 22 December 1948. 22 December 2021. Archive.org.
19. Web site: A Bing Crosby Discography. BING magazine. International Club Crosby. October 11, 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20171022031850/http://www.bingmagazine.co.uk/bingmagazine/CBS.html. October 22, 2017.
20. Web site: The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings 1954-56 - Bing Crosby | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic. AllMusic. 7 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171007021809/https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-bing-crosby-cbs-radio-recordings-1954-56-mw0001951404. 22 December 2021. 2017-10-07.
21. Web site: Johnnie Ray, with The Buddy Cole Quartet, and The Four Lads – Johnnie Ray (1952, Vinyl). 22 December 2021. Discogs.com.
22. Book: Gioia . Ted . The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire . 2012 . Oxford University Press . New York City . 978-0-19-993739-4 . 88–90.