"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. 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.
Other recordings to reach the Billboard charts in 1944 were by Woody Herman and by Stan Kenton (vocal: Red Dorris).
Other versions
"Do Nothing till You Hear from Me" has since been performed by many other famous musical artists, including:
- Nat King Cole, 1944, with The King Cole Trio
- Billie Holiday, 1944 – Live, 1955, Studio, Stay With Me
- Lena Horne, 1944, appears on her 2002 compilation album The Young Star
- Patti Page, 1949, released in 1986 on The Uncollected Patti Page (1949): Patti Page with Lou Stein's Music
- Hampton Hawes, 1956 – All Night Session! Vol. 3
- Bing Crosby recorded the song in 1957 for use on his radio show and it was subsequently included in the album Shall We Dance? (2012).
- Ella Fitzgerald, 1957, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book
- Abbey Lincoln, 1957, Abbey Lincoln's Affair: A Story of a Girl in Love
- Mose Allison, 1959 – Autumn Song
- Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, 1961, The Great Summit
- Frances Faye, 1962, Swinging All the Way with Frances Faye
- Al Hirt, 1962, Horn-A-Plenty
- Joni James, 1962, After Hours
- Don Lamond & His Orchestra, 1962, Off Beat Percussion
- Anita O'Day, 1962, All the Sad Young Men
- Nina Simone, 1962, Nina Simone Sings Ellington
- Dinah Washington, 1962, In Love
- Sammy Davis Jr. (with Sam Butera & the Witnesses, 1965, When the Feeling Hits You!
- Cal Tjader & Carmen McRae, 1982, Heat Wave
- Keith Jarrett, 1987, Solo Tribute
- Harry Connick Jr., 1988, 20
- Robert Palmer, 1992, Ridin' High
- Diana Krall, 1993, Stepping Out
- Phil Collins, 1995, from Quincy Jones's album Q's Jook Joint
- Tony Bennett, 1999, Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool
- Dr. John, 1999, Duke Elegant –
- Silje Nergaard, 2000, Port of Call
- Andy Williams, 2000, Released on his 2001 live album Andy Williams Live
- Mary J. Blige, 2001, Red Hot + Indigo
- Robbie Williams, 2001, Swing When You're Winning
- Suzy Bogguss, 2003 – Swing
- Gladys Knight, 2006, Before Me
- Fiona Apple & Jon Brion, 2011 or earlier
- Phil Collins again on his 2018 compilation Plays Well With Others with Quincy Jones.
- Gabriela Anders, 2022, Los Dukes: A Latina Tribute to Duke Ellington
References
- 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.
- Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 185.
- Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 492. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
- The King Cole Trio. Sessions of 1944. Nat King Cole: An Informal Discography.
- Holiday, Billie. B. Live Sessions. Billie Holiday Songs.
- Horne, Lena. The Young Star (CD, Compilation, Remastered, Mono). RCA/BMG/Bluebird. 2 September 2002.
- Page, Patti. The Uncollected Patti Page...with Lou Stein's Music. Hindsight, 1986.
- "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
- "allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
- Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington. The Complete...Sessions. Roulette Records, 1990.
- Al Hirt. Horn A-Plenty. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- "www.allmusic.com". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
- Dr. John. Duke Elegant (CD, Album).Parlophone, 1999.
- Nergaard, Silje. Port of Call (CD, Album, Digipak). EmArcy, 2000.
- Williams, Andy. Andy Williams Live: Treasures from His Personal Collection. Neon Records, 10 July 2001.
- Bogguss, Suzy. Swing (CD, Album). Compadre Records, 2003.
- Knight, Gladys. Before Me. Verve, 10 October 2006.
- Fiona Apple & Jon Brion. Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me. YouTube: LyricsBYFionaAppleIT. 21 February 2011.
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