Product Code Database
Andy Razaf (born Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo; December 16, 1895 – February 3, 1973) (1992). 9780851129396, Guinness Publishing. ISBN 9780851129396 was the American lyricist of such well-known songs as "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose". He was also a composer, poet and vocalist.
At age 16, Razaf quit school and took a job as an elevator operator in a Tin Pan Alley office building. A year later he penned his first song text, embarking on his career as a lyricist. During this time he spent many nights in the Greyhound Lines bus station in Times Square, and picked up his mail at the Gaiety Theatre office building, which was considered the black Tin Pan Alley.
Some of Razaf's early poems were published in 1917–18 in the Hubert Harrison-edited Voice, the first newspaper of the "New Negro Movement". He was a contributor to and editor of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League's Negro World newspaper.
Razaf's most important collaborator was Fats Waller. Among the best-known Razaf-Waller songs are "Ain't Misbehavin'", "Honeysuckle Rose", "The Joint Is Jumpin'", "Willow Tree", "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now" and "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue". Razaf also worked with other composers including Eubie Blake, James P. Johnson, J. C. Johnson, Don Redman and Harry Brooks. His songs were played by them and other songwriter-performers, as well as by Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman and many other musicians. He wrote a number of raunchy "character" blues-type songs that were sung by many 1920s female blues singers.This is an example.
Though primarily a lyricist, Razaf wrote both the words and the music of many songs, though none became as well known as his collaborations with other composers. (1992). 9780028723952, Schirmer Books. ISBN 9780028723952
Razaf also made many recordings as a vocalist, of both his own songs and others', most in the late 1920s, as a soloist (sometimes on ukelele) and with musicians including James P. Johnson and Fletcher Henderson.
He married Annabelle Miller in 1915 but abandoned her within a few years. He was married to Jean Blackwell Hutson from 1939 to 1947, to Dorothy Carpenter from 1948 to around 1960, and to Alicia Wilson Georgiade from 1963 until his death.
In 1972, Razaf was recognized by his Tin Pan Alley peers when he was inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He died in North Hollywood, California, in February 1973 from renal failure, aged 77.
See also Songs written by Andy Razaf.
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