Jump to content

All God's Chillun Got Rhythm

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 75.214.159.125 (talk) at 22:06, 28 November 2023 (Sippin' at Bells is not based on All God's Chillun, it's a 12-bar blues. Little Willie Leaps on the other hand, is based on the chord changes to All God's Chillun Got Rhythm.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" is a 1937 jazz standard. It was written by Walter Jurmann, Gus Kahn and Bronisław Kaper especially for Ivie Anderson, who performed it in the Marx Brothers' 1937 film A Day at the Races, the tune was also used for the opening theme.[1]

The lyrics state that "All God's Children Got Rhythm" even if they "maybe haven't got money, maybe haven't got shoes". The authors (European immigrants from Poland, Germany, and Austria) were likely influenced by a traditional Negro spiritual "All God's Chillun Got Wings"[1] alternately called "All God's Children Got Shoes" which affirms that all God's children have shoes. This was the inspiration for a Eugene O'Neill play of the same name in the 1924[2] and recorded by Paul Robeson,[3] who also appeared in the play.[2]

Miles Davis's composition "Little Willie Leaps" is based on the chord changes of the song.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm". Jazzstandards.com. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  2. ^ a b "All God's Chillun Got Wings". IBDB.com. Internet Broadway Database.
  3. ^ All God's Chillun Got Wings sung by Paul Robeson on YouTube


Stub icon

This article about a jazz standard or composition written in the 1930s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=All_God%27s_Chillun_Got_Rhythm&oldid=1187379885"