Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides information about the 1943 African American movie "Stormy Weather" and showcases the song "That Ain't Right" which was performed in that movie by Ada Brown and Fats Waller.
A YouTube video of that song is included in this post along with song lyrics and selected comments from the discussion thread of that video (movie clip).
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The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Fats Waller and Ada Brown for their musical legacies. Thanks also to all those who were associated with the movie "Stormy Weather" and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to bessjazz for publishing this movie clip on YouTube.
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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Fats Waller & Ada Brown - That Ain't Right - Stormy Weather (1943)
bessjazz, Apr 21, 2010
Fats Waller & Ada Brown : That Ain't Right (Nat 'King' Cole & Irving Mills), with Lena Horne, dancer , Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, drummer Zutty Singleton, bassist Slam Stewart, Trumpeter Benny Carter...
in "Stormy Weather" (1943) by Andrew L. Stone, for Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
http://bessjazz.blogspot.com/
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INFORMATION ABOUT "STORMY MONDAY" MOVIE
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormy_Weather_(1943_film)
"Stormy Weather is a 1943 American musical film produced and released by 20th Century Fox. The film is considered one of the best Hollywood musicals with an African-American cast, the other being MGM's Cabin in the Sky (1943). The film is considered a primary showcase of some of the top African-American performers of the time, during an era when African-American actors and singers rarely appeared in lead roles in mainstream Hollywood productions, especially those of the musical genre.
Overview
Stormy Weather takes its title from the 1933 song of the same title, which is performed near the end of the film. It is based upon the life and times of its star, dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Robinson plays "Bill Williamson", a talented born dancer who returns home in 1918 after serving in World War I and tries to pursue a career as a performer. Along the way, he approaches a beautiful singer named Selina Rogers, played by Lena Horne in one of her few non-MGM film appearances (and one of only two films from the 1930s-1940s in which Horne played a substantial role). The character of Selina was invented for the film; Robinson did not have such a romance in real life. Dooley Wilson co-stars as Bill's perpetually broke friend and Emmett ‘Babe’ Wallace co-stars as the antagonist vying for Lena’s hand.
Other performers in the movie were Cab Calloway and Fats Waller (both appearing as themselves), the Nicholas Brothers dancing duo, comedian F. E. Miller, singer Ada Brown, and Katherine Dunham with her dance troupe. Despite a running time of only 77 minutes, the film features some 20 musical numbers. This was Robinson's final film (he died in 1949); Waller died only a few months after its release.
The film's musical highlights include Waller performing his composition "Ain't Misbehavin'", Cab Calloway leading his band in his composition "Jumpin' Jive", and a lengthy sequence built around the title song, featuring the vocals of Lena Horne and the dancing of Katherine Dunham. Horne also performs in several dance numbers with Robinson. Ford Dabney was a consultant on the music for the film.[2]
[...]
The original release prints of Stormy Weather were processed in sepiatone.[3] In 2001, Stormy Weather was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." It was released on DVD in North America in 2005"....
-snip-
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fats_Waller for information about Thomas "Fats" Waller.
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Brown for information about Ada Brown.
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LYRICS- THAT AIN'T RIGHT
(written by Fats Waller, performed by Ada Brown & Fats Waller in Stormy Weather movie)
Baby, baby
What is the matter with you?
(Ain't nothing wrong with me, babes; nothing at all)
Baby, baby
What is the matter with you?
(One never knows, do one?)
You got the world in a jar (Yeah, but where's the stopper?)
And you've got nothin' to do
(Do you hear that mess? She's always layin' it on me!)
You know I always told ya
You'd be the death of me
And when I'm always with you
I get the third degree
That ain't right
(Aw, tell these folks anything, but tell me the truth!)
Oh, that ain't right at all
(What's wrong wid her? What's wrong wid her?)
Yes, you're takin' all my money
And going out havin' a ball
(Baby, I was born ballin' and I'm gonna ball the rest o' my life!)
I took you to a night club
I bought you that pink champagne
You rode home in a taxi
While I caught that subway train
That ain't right!
Oh, that ain't right at all!
That you're takin' all my money
And goin' out havin' yourself a ball
(Oh, beef to me, momma, beef to me! I don't like pork no how...)
I went to a fortune teller (Yeah?)
And had my fortune told (What'd she say?)
She said you didn't love me
All you wanted was my gold (She was right! How did she know?)
That ain't right!
Oh, t'ain't right at all! (Everyone wants some gold, baby!)
Yeah, you're takin' all my money
And goin' out havin' yourself a ball
(Suffer! Suffer, excess baggage, suffer!)
Source: http://www.songlyrics.com/fats-waller/that-ain-t-right-lyrics/
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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
(Numbers are added for referencing purposes only)
1. Michael Klein, 2014
"Fats Waller---one of those select dozen or so artists that were unique and one-of-a-kind; thank the stars for records and film, that's all I can say!"
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2. FiveMusic, 2017
"Anyone notice the unreasonable amount of hats on top the piano?"
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REPLY
3. caleb murray, 2017
"FiveMusic well now that you point it out, there does seem to be an unreasonable amount of hats on the piano."
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REPLY
4. MilkyCheeseMan, 2017
"it's the band's and people's hats"
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REPLY
5. 4Youalone3, 2018
"It was deemed impolite to wear a hat inside."
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REPLY
6. Bill Holt, 2018
"Everybody wore hats in 1943. Church pews even had a hook for every seat just to hang your hat. Derbys were out but porkpies and especially fedoras were in."
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REPLY
7. Narvelan Coleman, 2020
"@Bill Holt Also....when a couple was in a church service; it was customary for the lady to hold her man's hat in her lap."
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8. calvin jackson, 2018
"Sing it Ada!!! That lady is laying this song down!!!! Thank you for this post!! I love seeing black singers from the 1930's and 40's because this brings me close to my dad. This was his time of youth and its just great to see what music and singing and songs were like at this time of jim crow and segregation."
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REPLY
9. Sparkle Canada, 2019
"It also gives these performers the much long overdue recognition they did not get at the time.🙌💓
It allows too, future generations access to their works.
Thank You for Posting this video."
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10. Mark M, 2019
"This is a terrific piece of musical history."
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11. Renserin, 2019
"I love the back and forth here between the singer and the man at the piano. There's just such a spark there, and I think it's yet another talent that's sadly become a lost art, these days."
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REPLY
12. Ichijoe2112, 2019
"The lost art of call, and response."
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REPLY
13. grodhagen, 2020
"The "man at the piano" is Fats Waller, and it's sad that few today know his music. The guy was a musical genius. So many of his songs became jazz standards still sung today."
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14. Lionel Gray, 2019
"Was that Bill Robinson as the waiter ?"
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REPLY
15. Sparkle Canada, 2019
"Yes🙌👌💓"
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16. Robert Lee, Countertenor, 2019
" "One never knows, do one?" And "ballin" go back THAT FAR to 1940s???"
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REPLY
17. Tyler Baldwin, 2019
"The phrase "Ballin'" goes back to at least 1913 when the song "Ballin' The Jack" was published, but I assume the phrase goes back further."
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18. Shrutika Mithbavkar, 2020
"Respect the classics man🙌👏"
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