"Don't Blame Me": Song History, Commentary, Discography, Performances on Video
"Don't Blame Me"
Clowns in Clover was a 1932 Edgar Leslie produced revue that preceded a hoped for Broadway opening with runs in Detroit and Chicago, but bad reviews and a not very good show sealed its fate short of New York. It's only lasting legacy is "Don't Blame Me." Clowns in Clover did little to nothing to help the song along and after some failed attempts to plug it, McHugh and Fields managed to get it into their score for the movie Meet the Baron, but this Three Stooges / Jimmy Durante screwball comedy didn't do anything for it either. It wasn't until Ethel Waters came across the song and recorded it with the Dorsey brothers that it broke out. (See Shipton, pp. 114-115, and Gioia, pp. 88-90).
Notes
- Other songs written for Clowns in Clover currently included in the Cafe Songbook Catalog of The Great American Songbook : none
- Ted Gioia The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire New York: Oxford University Press, 2012 .
Questions
What is Don't Blame Me?
Clowns in Clover was a 1932 Edgar Leslie produced revue that preceded a hoped for Broadway opening with runs in Detroit and Chicago, but bad reviews and a not very good show sealed its fate short of New York. It's only lasting legacy is "Don't Blame Me." Clowns in Clover did litt
How should Don't Blame Me be cited?
Cite this page as ""Don't Blame Me": Song History, Commentary, Discography, Performances on Video," Cafe Songbook, https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songs/d/dont_blame_me.html
Which Cafe Songbook pages are related?
Also read Cafe Songbook Glossary of Terms (https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/misc_pages/glossary.html); "Don't Ever Leave Me" (https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songs/d/dont_ever_leave_me.html); "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly" (https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songs/d/doin_what_comes_nat_m.html); "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" (https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songs/d/dont_get_around_much_anymore.html).
Cite this page: "Don't Blame Me": Song History, Commentary, Discography, Performances on Video, Cafe Songbook, https://greatamericansongbook.net/pages/songs/d/dont_blame_me.html