| "I'm Just Wild About Harry" | |
|---|---|
 Cover page for "I'm Just Wild About Harry", 1921 | |
| Single by Marion Harris with Isham Jones Orchestra | |
| B-side | My Cradle Melody[1] |
| Published | July 1, 1921 by M. Witmark & Sons, New York[2] |
| Released | August 1922 |
| Recorded | July 1922[3] |
| Studio | Brunswick Studios, New York City[3] |
| Genre | Popular music, Broadway show tune |
| Length | 2:50 |
| Label | Brunswick 2309 |
| Composer(s) | Eubie Blake[2] |
| Lyricist(s) | Noble Sissle[2] |
| Audio sample | |
Instrumental version of "I'm Just Wild About Harry" recorded 17 May 1922. Duration 3:54. | |
"I'm Just Wild About Harry" is a song written in 1921 with lyrics by Noble Sissle and music by Eubie Blake for the Broadway show Shuffle Along.
"I'm Just Wild About Harry" was the most popular number of the production, which was the first financially successful Broadway play to have African-American writers and an all African-American cast.[4] The song broke what had been a taboo against musical and stage depictions of romantic love between African-Americans.
Originally written as a waltz, Blake rewrote the number as a foxtrot at the singer's request. The result was a simple, direct, joyous, and infectious tune enhanced onstage by improvisational dancing. In 1948, Harry S Truman selected "I'm Just Wild About Harry" as his campaign song for the United States presidential election of 1948.[5] Its success in politics led to a popular revival.[6]
- ^ "Brunswick 2309 (10-in. double-faced)". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
- ^ a b c Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1921). Catalog of Copyright Entries, 1921 Music Last Half of 1921 New Series Vol 16 Part 2. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
- ^ a b "Brunswick matrix 8442-8444. I'm just wild about Harry / Marion Harris; Isham Jones Orchestra". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
- ^ Clinton Cox, Jim Haskins, Eleanora E. Tate, and Brenda Wilkinson, "The First Black Hit Musical Show," Black Stars of the Harlem Renaissance (Wiley_Default, 2002), 31.
- ^ Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans. W. W. Norton & Company (1997). Pg 436. ISBN 978-0-393-03843-9.
- ^ Wintz, Cary D. & Finkelman, Paul. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. Taylor & Francis (2004). Pg 153. ISBN 978-1-57958-457-3.