There's a Small Hotel

"There's a Small Hotel"
"There's a Small Hotel"
Song

"There's a Small Hotel" is a 1936 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. Originally written for but dropped from the musical Billy Rose's Jumbo (1935), it was then used in On Your Toes (1936), where it was introduced by Ray Bolger and Doris Carson. Betty Garrett sang it in the 1948 film Words and Music, and it was also interpolated in the film version of Pal Joey (1957) with a fine Frank Sinatra-Nelson Riddle collaboration.

According to the biography of Lorenz Hart by Frederick Nolan (Lorenz Hart - A Poet on Broadway, 1994; Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-510289-4),^[1] the song was inspired by a visit that Richard Rodgers made to the Stockton Inn,^[2] in Stockton, NJ. Hart reputedly found the melody insistently cloying and often ad-libbed raunchy parody verses, much to Rodgers' chagrin.

Another claimant to be the inspiration for the song is the Montecito Inn, in Santa Barbara County, California.^[3]^[4] Renovations to the hotel in the 1950s replaced the wishing well, mentioned in the song,^[5] by a floral fountain.^[6]

Notable recordings

Stan Getz - (Prestige Records 1950)
Jack Whiting - (Columbia Graphophone Co., Ltd number CA 16274, 1937)
Hank Mobley – Newark 1953 (1953)
Ginny Gibson – M-G-M 11814 (mx 54-S-356) 45 rpm (1954); OCLC 83739456
Bobby Van & Kay Coulter – On Your Toes – a Decca Original Cast Production (1954 revival)
Hank Jones - The Trio (Savoy 1955)
Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook (1956)
Frank Sinatra – Rodgers & Hart's Pal Joey – from the soundtrack of the Columbia Picture (Capitol, 1957)
Billy Taylor - The New Billy Taylor Trio (1957)
Dorothy Ashby – Hip Harp (1958)
Josephine Baker – a version of the song with French words as "C'est un Nid Charmant (There's a Small Hotel)" (1937)^[7]
Petula Clark – Petula Clark in Hollywood (1959)
Della Reese – Della, Della, Cha–Cha–Cha (1960)
Billy Eckstine, With Hal Mooney Orchestra - 1961
The Hi-Lo's – This Time It's Love (1962)
Hal Kemp – the biggest chart hit in 1936, the song's year of introduction
Billy Paul – Going East (1971)
Chet Baker – My Favourite Songs, Vol. 2: Straight from the Heart (1988)
Robert Clary – Robert Clary Sings Rodgers, Hart & Mercer (1997)
June Christy – Friendly Session, Vol. 3 (2000)
Jane Monheit – Home (2010)

References

^ Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
^ "Stockton Inn". Stocktoninn.com. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
^ Trzebinski, Errol (17 March 1995). The Lives of Beryl Markham. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 343–. ISBN 978-0-393-31252-2. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
^ California business. California Business News, inc. 1983. p. 81. Retrieved 10 October 2011. For rejuvenation, pick the Montecito Inn, a 60-room hostelry that inspired Rodgers and Hart to write "There's a Small Hotel." Built by Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle...
^ Wallace, David; Miller, Ann (23 September 2003). Hollywoodland. Macmillan. pp. 221–. ISBN 978-0-312-31614-3. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
^ Hollywood & the Best of Los Angeles ... - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-03-26.
^ Le Front populaire – Paris 1934–1939, Fremeaux.com. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

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[1] Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2010-03-26.

[2] "Stockton Inn". Stocktoninn.com. Retrieved 2010-03-26.

[Trzebinski1995-3] Trzebinski, Errol (17 March 1995). The Lives of Beryl Markham. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 343–. ISBN 978-0-393-31252-2. Retrieved 10 October 2011.

[Californiabusiness1983-4] California business. California Business News, inc. 1983. p. 81. Retrieved 10 October 2011. For rejuvenation, pick the Montecito Inn, a 60-room hostelry that inspired Rodgers and Hart to write "There's a Small Hotel." Built by Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle...

[WallaceMiller2003-5] Wallace, David; Miller, Ann (23 September 2003). Hollywoodland. Macmillan. pp. 221–. ISBN 978-0-312-31614-3. Retrieved 10 October 2011.

[6] Hollywood & the Best of Los Angeles ... - Google Books. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-03-26.

[7] Le Front populaire – Paris 1934–1939, Fremeaux.com. Retrieved 26 February 2012.

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v t e Rodgers and Hart
Richard Rodgers Lorenz Hart
Musicals	Fly with Me Poor Little Ritz Girl The Garrick Gaieties Dearest Enemy The Girl Friend Peggy-Ann A Connecticut Yankee Present Arms Chee-Chee Ever Green Simple Simon America's Sweetheart Jumbo On Your Toes Babes in Arms I'd Rather Be Right The Boys from Syracuse I Married an Angel Too Many Girls Higher and Higher Pal Joey By Jupiter
Songs	"Manhattan" "Mountain Greenery" "Here in My Arms" "Blue Room" "My Heart Stood Still" "Thou Swell" "To Keep My Love Alive" "You Took Advantage of Me" "With a Song in My Heart" "A Ship Without a Sail" "Dancing on the Ceiling" "Ten Cents a Dance" "He Was Too Good to Me" "I've Got Five Dollars" "Isn't It Romantic?" "Lover" "Mimi" "You Are Too Beautiful" "Blue Moon" "It's Easy to Remember (And So Hard to Forget)" "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" "My Romance" "Little Girl Blue" "There's a Small Hotel" "Glad to Be Unhappy" "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" "Where or When" "I Wish I Were in Love Again" "My Funny Valentine" "Johnny One Note" "The Lady Is a Tramp" "Have You Met Miss Jones?" "I'll Tell the Man in the Street" "Spring Is Here" "Falling in Love with Love" "This Can't Be Love" "Sing for Your Supper" "I Like to Recognize the Tune" "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" "Give It Back to the Indians" "You're Nearer" "It Never Entered My Mind" "I Could Write a Book" "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" "Ev'rything I've Got" "Wait till You See Her"