Broadway Blues (Swanstrom and Morgan)

"Broadway Blues", also known as "The Broadway Blues", is a blues song with lyrics by Arthur Swanstrom and music by Carey Morgan. The song was introduced by Lillian Lorraine in Florence Ziegfeld's 1918 Broadway musical revue Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic.^[1] The song became a popular hit in 1920 with two top selling recordings that year; one made by Nora Bayes and the other made the duo of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake.^[2] The song was also recorded in 1920 by Art Hickman and his orchestra,^[3] and it was published that year by Irving Berlin's music publishing company.^[2] In 1921 the song was interpolated into the Broadway musical revue Snapshots of 1921.^[4]

Front cover of 1920 sheet music for "Broadway Blues"

Aileen Stanley originally recorded the song in 1920 for Chicago's Mandel Manufacturing Company's phonograph player,^[5] and also recorded the song for Victor Talking Machine Company.^[6] She recorded the song again in 1922 for Black Swan Records using the pseudonym Georgia Gorham,^[7] and that same year soprano Ennis Parkes recorded it for the His Master's Voice.^[8] Other artists associated with the song in the early 1920s included Harry Fox, Henry Santrey, Jack Norworth, and Ted Lewis.^[9]