If we scratch the surface of almost any cultural artifact — in this case a song written in the late 1920s by Irving Berlin — it is very likely that we will discover layers of herstory/history which have been buried, misplaced, overlooked or otherwise airbrushed out of the picture.

Wikipedia informs me that Irving Berlin wrote his original version of this song in May 1927, and it was first included in a 1930 movie — when “talkies” were an exciting new technology.

“The title derives from an (African-American) slang expression ‘to put on the Ritz’ — meaning to dress very fashionably — (which) was inspired by the opulent Ritz Hotel in London.”

And Mr. Berlin’s first set of lyrics do indeed describe very well-dressed African-Americans strolling on Lenox Avenue in Harlem…

However, when Fred Astaire performed “Puttin’ On The Ritz” in the 1946 movie BLUE SKIES, Mr. Berlin re-wrote the lyrics to become the version which I recorded with Doug Hammer playing his Schimmel grand piano.

“Lenox Avenue” became “Fifth Avenue,” and “Spangled gowns upon the bevy/Of high browns from down the levy — all misfits” become “Different types who wear a day coat/Pants with stripes and cutaway coat — perfect fits.”

This appears to be yet another example of how African-American culture inspires — and then gets appropriated and re-purposed to earn money for non-African-Americans.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

And here I go, continuing this sad cultural practice, by recording my own version with Doug!

Another deep breath in.

And deep breath out.

We did this when I was creating an hour-long program of songs written for — or made famous by — Fred Astaire.

This version is the second or third take Doug and I recorded — and it’s a great example of how spontaneous and playful our creative process can be when we are both “in the zone” together.

Although there are a few more winter holiday favorites written by Jewish songwriters which I would like to record with Doug, we never got around to doing that in 2025… so I have released “Puttin’ On The Ritz” in December as a nod to upcoming New Year’s Eve festivities…

If you’d like to stream it via Pandora, Apple Music, YouTube, etc, you can click here.

Thank you to Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons for these photos.

Thank you to Doug Hammer for his piano-playing and his producing/engineering skills.

Thank you to Stephen Charles Fischer for his graphic design work.

Thank you to Irving Berlin for writing — and re-writing — this song.

Thank you to the African-American residents of Harlem who inspired Mr. Berlin to write this song in the first place.

And thank YOU for reading and listening to this blog post!