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Andy Razaf (lyrics), Thomas “Fats” Waller and Harry Brooks (score), “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” Jazz and the Radio, 1929

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.

Suggested Sequencing


Introduction

Among the many inventions that began to be mass produced during the 1920s, the radio was one the most influential. The rise of mass media in American society affected the nation in a variety of ways. Businesses could advertise their products to a wider audience, communication across the nation became easier, and Americans had access to a new form of entertainment. In the 1920s, families could gather around the radio to listen to plays, quiz games, various types of live and recorded music, comedy shows, sports, news broadcasts, and more. The radio also helped popularize jazz music. Jazz had its origins in the ragtime and blues styles that emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Jazz drew on the musical traditions of formerly enslaved men and women and its roots were cultivated in the African American community in New Orleans. Jazz musicians traveled north to perform in clubs and exposed a wider audience to jazz, but the radio brought jazz music into any American home that wanted to listen.

Sourcing Questions

  1. What musical tradition did jazz develop from?
  2. What was the role of the radio in popularizing jazz?

Vocabulary Text
No one to talk with
All by myself
No one to walk with
But I’m happy on the shelf
Ain’t misbehavin’
I’m savin’ my love for you
I know for certain
The one I love
I’m through with flirtin’
It’s just you I’m thinkin’ of
Ain’t misbehavin’
I’m savin’ my love for you
Jack Horner: a boy from a traditional English nursery rhyme Like Jack Horner
In the corner
Don’t go nowhere
What do I care?
Your kisses are worth waitin’ for
Believe me
I don’t stay out late
Don’t care to go
I’m home about eight
Just me and my radio
Ain’t misbehavin’
I’m savin’ my love for you
Like Jack Horner
In the corner
Don’t go nowhere
What do I care?
Your kisses are worth waitin’ for
Believe me
I don’t stay out late
Don’t care to go
I’m home about eight
Just me and my radio
Ain’t misbehavin’
I’m savin’ my love for you

Comprehension Questions

  1. What proof did the singer offer that he was not misbehaving?
  2. What provided company for the singer at home?

Historical Reasoning Questions

  1. Explain how technological inventions like the radio altered the social lives of Americans while also transforming the entertainment industry in the 1920s.

“Ain’t Misbehavin’” (audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtfXnwi_Njo

“Ain’t Misbehavin” (lyrics) https://genius.com/Fats-waller-aint-misbehavin-lyrics