Lazybones (song)
Lazybones or "Lazy Bones" is a Tin Pan Alley song written in 1933, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Hoagy Carmichael.
Mercer was from Savannah, Georgia, and resented the Tin Pan Alley attitude of rejecting Southern regional vernacular in favor of artificial Southern songs written by people who had never been to the South. Alex Wilder attributes much of the popularity of this song to Mercer's perfect regional lyric.[1] He wrote the lyrics to "Lazybones" as a protest against those artificial "Dixies", announcing the song's authenticity at the start with "Long as there is chicken gravy on your rice".[2]
Recordings
| "Lazybones" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Jonathan King | ||||
| B-side | "I Just Want to Say "Thank You"" | |||
| Released | 1971 | |||
| Genre | Soft rock, easy listening | |||
| Length | 2:10 | |||
| Label | Decca Records 13177 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael | |||
| Producer(s) | Jonathan King | |||
| Jonathan King singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Official audio | ||||
| "Lazy Bones" on YouTube | ||||
The song has been recorded scores of times over the years. Recordings were released as early as 1933 by
Jonathan King's 1971 revival was a top 20 hit in the UK and was played on US soft rock stations, earning a position on Billboard's Easy Listening chart, reached #34.[5] King's version sold over a million copies around the world.[citation needed]
Notes
- ISBN 0-19-501445-6.
- ISBN 0-19-507473-4.
- ^ NPR: "We Love Nellie McKay"
- ^ LP Discography
- ^ Jonathan King's Lazybones chart positions Retrieved November 2, 2012.
External links
- Lyrics
- "Lazybones" - Lead sheet at wikifonia.org
