"Do Nothing till You Hear from Me" (also written as "Do Nothin' Til You Hear from Me") is a song with music by Duke Ellington and lyrics by Bob Russell. It originated as a 1940 instrumental ("Concerto for Cootie") that was designed to highlight the playing of Ellington's lead trumpeter, Cootie Williams.[1] Russell's words were added later. In 1944, Ellington's own recording of the song was a number one hit R&B chart for eight non-consecutive weeks and number six on the pop chart.[2]

Other recordings to reach the Billboard charts in 1944 were by Woody Herman and by Stan Kenton (vocal: Red Dorris).[3]

Other versions

"Do Nothing till You Hear from Me" has since been performed by many other famous musical artists, including:

References

  1. ^ Gilliland, John (1994). Pop Chronicles the 40s: The Lively Story of Pop Music in the 40s (audiobook). ISBN 978-1-55935-147-8. OCLC 31611854. Tape 2, side A.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 185.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 492. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  4. ^ The King Cole Trio. Sessions of 1944. Nat King Cole: An Informal Discography.
  5. ^ Holiday, Billie. B. Live Sessions. Billie Holiday Songs.
  6. ^ Horne, Lena. The Young Star (CD, Compilation, Remastered, Mono). RCA/BMG/Bluebird. 2 September 2002.
  7. ^ Page, Patti. The Uncollected Patti Page...with Lou Stein's Music. Hindsight, 1986.
  8. ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  9. ^ "allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  10. ^ Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington. The Complete...Sessions. Roulette Records, 1990.
  11. ^ Al Hirt. Horn A-Plenty. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  12. ^ Dr. John. Duke Elegant (CD, Album).Parlophone, 1999.
  13. ^ Nergaard, Silje. Port of Call (CD, Album, Digipak). EmArcy, 2000.
  14. ^ Williams, Andy. Andy Williams Live: Treasures from His Personal Collection. Neon Records, 10 July 2001.
  15. ^ Bogguss, Suzy. Swing (CD, Album). Compadre Records, 2003.
  16. ^ Knight, Gladys. Before Me. Verve, 10 October 2006.
  17. ^ Fiona Apple & Jon Brion. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me. YouTube: LyricsBYFionaAppleIT. 21 February 2011.


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