[78-L] Phil Harris/Andy Razaf

[Randy Watts]

The following is from J. R. Taylor's notes in the compact disc AMERICAN SONGBOOK SERIES: WALLER/RAZAF (Smithsonian), offered for what it's worth.

Randy

"On his own [Razaf] wrote "That's What I Like 'bout the South," which Cab Calloway sang in a 1933 Cotton Club revue. (In 1937, Jack Benny's radio bandleader Phil Harris sang a hit record of this song; he also said he'd written it. Razaf sued. Harris copyrighted a slightly different lyric, replaced "'bout" with "about" in the title, and continued to claim authorship.)"



--- On Mon, 11/9/09, Taylor Bowie <bowiebks at isomedia.com> wrote:

> From: Taylor Bowie <bowiebks at isomedia.com>
> Subject: [78-L] Phil Harris/Andy Razaf
> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Date: Monday, November 9, 2009, 12:13 AM
> Does anyone know for sure (i.e. from
> the sheet music or some publishing 
> source) who actually wrote That's What I Like About The
> South?
> 
> I always assumed it was Phil Harris,  as he is
> credited as composer on both 
> his 40s ARA version and his 1937 Vocalion (aka "The Groove
> Song").
> 
> Someone told me that it was actually Andy Razaf,  and
> I checked on the 
> internet and there are several places where he is indeed
> credited as having 
> written the tune.
> 
> Knowing how much misinformatioin gets circulated because of
> one or two wrong 
> posts on the Internet,  I'd like to know for sure
> about this one.
> 
> Thanks from
> 
> Taylor