THREE LITTLE WORDS



Music: Harry Ruby- Lyrics: Bert Kalmar

Year: 1930

 

Three little words-clasicos del jazz-standards jazz

Origin of the song

Duke Ellington's orchestra, with the voices of The Rhythm Boys (Bing Crosby, Harry Barris and Al Rinker), recorded 'Three Little Words' on 26 August 1930, at Hollywood's RCA-Victor Studios. The song was included in the movie Check and Double Check, which premiered a month and a half later in New York.

In an interview published in 1962, Ellington explained that Kalmar and Ruby had written 'Three Little Words' for Sonny Greer, his orchestra's drummer, to sing in the film. But Greer got very nervous and Ellington asked Bing Crosby to replace him. After a test recording, director Melville W. Brown preferred to record the soundtrack with The Rhythm Boys in the vocal part. On a general level of the orchestra, the film shows trumpeters Freddy Jenkins, Cootie Williams and Arthur Whetsol pretending to sing: the Hollywood film industry, at that time, could not show a white group singing with a black orchestra.

In 1950, Fred Astaire, like Bert Kalmar, and Red Skelton, like Harry Ruby, performed the film Three Little Words, a biography of the two, in whose soundtrack Astaire and then Skelton first sang ‘Three Little Words’. In Spain, the film did not premiere in commercial cinemas, but it was released on DVD.

Other popular compositions by Harry Ruby are 'Who's Sorry Now?' (1923), 'Thinking of You' (1927), 'I Wanna Be Loved by You' (1928), 'Nevertheless' (1931) and 'A Kiss to Build a Dream On' (1935).


Versions in the top charts

PERFORMERS

DATE OF RECORDING

DAY OF ENTRANCE

PERMANENCE WEEKS

HIGH POSITION REACHED

 

Duke Ellington Orchestra

1930.08.26

1930.10.18

13

1

(three weeks)

The Rhythm Boys: Bing Crosby, Al Rinker, Harry Barris (voc)

Jacques Renard Orchestra

1930.10.01

1930.11.08

6

3

Unidentified (voc)

The Ipana Troubadors

1930.10.10

1930.11.29

3

10

Paul Small (voc), Sam Lanin (dir)

Ethel Waters

1930.11.28

1930.01.10

4

8

Ethel Waters (voc), Ben Selvin Orchestra

Claude Hopkins Orchestra

1934.04.06

1934.05.19

2

15

Instrumental

Jazz. Outstanding performances

  Instrumental

PERFORMERS

DATE OF RECORDING

MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING

 

Kansas City Six

1944.03.28

Lester Young (ts), Bill Coleman (tp), Dicky Wells (tb), Joe Bushkin (p), John Simmons (b), Jo Jones (d)

Stan Getz with Oscar Peterson Trio

1957.10.10

Stan Getz (ts), Oscar Peterson (p), Ray Brown (b), Herb Ellis (g)

Milt Jackson- John Coltrane Quintet

1959.01.15

Milt Jackson (vib), John Coltrane (ts), Hank Jones (p), Paul Chambers (b), Connie Kay (d)

Lester Young Quintet

1959.03.04

Lester Young (ts), René Urtreger (p), Jimmy Gourley (g), Jamil Nasser (b), Kenny Clarke (d)

Willis Jackson- Jack McDuff Quintet

1959.05.25

Willis Jackson (ts), Jack McDuff (org), Bill Jennings (g), Tommy Potter (b), Alvin Johnson (d)

Sonny Rollins Trio

1964.06.24

Sonny Rollins (ts), Bob Cranshaw (b), Mickey Roker (d)

Ron Carter Quartet

1977.03.??

Ron Carter (pic), Kenny Barron (p), Buster Williams (b), Ben Riley (d)

Art Farmer Quartet

1982.09.??

Art Farmer (fis), Fred Hersch (p), Ray Drummond (b), Akira Tana (d)

Bucky & John Pizzarelli

1987.01.10

Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli (g)

Branford Marsalis Trio

1988.01.??

Branford Marsalis (ss, ts), Milt Hintonx (b), Jeff 'Tain' Watts (d)

  Vocal

PERFORMERS

DATE OF RECORDING

MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING

 

Duke Ellington Orchestra

1930.08.26

Duke Ellington (p, dir), Freddy Jenkins, Arthur Whetsel, Cootie Williams (tp), Joe Nanton (tb), Juan Tizol (vtb), Barney Bigard (cl, ts), Johnny Hodges (cl, ss, as), Harry Carney (cl, as, bars), Fred Guy (bjo), Wellman Braud (b), Sonny Greer (d), Bing Crosby, Harry Barris, Al Rinker (voc)

Ethel Waters

1930.11.28

Ethel Waters (voc), Manny Klein (tp), Ben Selvin Orchestra

Ella Fitzgerald Famous Orchestra

1941.01.08

Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Taft Jordan, Irving Randolph, Dick Vance (tp), Earl Hardy, Georges Matthews, John McConnell (tb), Pete Clark (as, cl), George Dorsey (as), Ted McRae (ts, bars), Sam Simmons (ts), Chauncey Haughton (cl), Tommy Fulford (p), Ulysses Livingston (g), Beverly Peer (b), Bill Beason (d)

Carmen McRae

1959.11.10

Carmen McRae (voc), Art Farmer, Lennie Johnson, Jimmy Maxwell, Al Stewart, Richard Williams (tp), Billy Byers, Jimmy Cleveland, Paul Faulise (tb), Vinnie Dean, Phil Woods (as), Budd Johnson, Zoot Sims (ts), Sol Schlinger (bars), Dick Katz (p), Tommy Williams (b), Floyd Williams (d), Ernie Wilkins (dir)

Mel Tormé

1996.07.23

Mel Tormé (voc), Mike Renzi (p), John Leitham (b), Donny Osborne (d)

Kevin Mahogany

2005.??.??

Kevin Mahogany (voc), Frank Mantooth Jazz Orchestra

On cinemas

 The song 'Three Little Words' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:

 

ORIGINAL TITLE

TITLE IN SPAIN

YEAR OF PRODUCTION

PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM

Check and Double Check

No se estrenó en España

1930

Duke Ellington Orchestra, The Rhythm Boys (voc)

Smart Woman

Astucia de mujer

1931

Mary Astor (hummed)

Kept Husbands

El obrero y la millonaria

1931

Joel McCrea (wistled)

Carnival Boat

Titanes del bosque

1932

Background music

What Price Hollywood?

Hollywood al desnudo

1932

Credits background music

Kitty Foyle

Espejismo de amor

1940

Ginger Rogers (a capella)

Unexpected Uncle

Tío improvisado

1941

Background music

A Girl, A Guy, And A Gob

Gente alegre

1941

 

The Sky’s The Limit

El límite es el cielo

1943

 

Behind The Rising Sun

Tras el sol naciente

1943

 

Flight for Freedom

Un encuentro en el Pacífico

1943

 

Journey Into Fear

Estambul

1943

 

Three Little Words

Tres palabritas

1950

Fred Astaire; Red Skelton

This Earth Is Mine

Esta tierra es mía

1959

Background music

That's Entertainment, Part II

Hollywood, Hollywood

1976

Secuence of 'Three Little Words'

Stardust Memories

Recuerdos

1980

Judith Roberts with Jazz Heaven Orchestra

The Green Mile

La milla verde

1999

Duke Ellington Orchestra

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