by

Puttin’ On The Ritz

Irving Berlin (Wikimedia Commons)

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…

Fred Astaire (Wikimedia Commons)

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.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

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!

34 thoughts on “Puttin’ On The Ritz”

  1. Wow….. Will. Such a beautiful and articulate way of honoring the true sources of the richness of our American culture. So much of what enriches the entire landscape of American culture is sourced from the creativity of the African American diaspora. Beautiful.

    Reply

  2. A delightful version, Will. I love Doug’s piano accompaniment, too.

    Another type of appropriation perhaps–I can’t hear this song now without picturing the scene in Young Frankenstein. 😂

    Happy holidays and a peaceful New Year!

    Reply

  3. Very interesting hidden history of this song, Will. Thanks for presenting it here. Also loved your singing it! Did you happen to see the Moscow flash mob version of it in 2012? It’s on YouTube–nontraditional but a lot of fun to watch.Happy Holidays!Peggy

    _______________ Peggy Kornegger Website: https://spirit-flower.com/New blog article: “The Miracle of Murmuration”

    Reply

  5. Here’s the link to that Moscow video, Will: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXd3wX_USc _______________ Peggy Kornegger Website: https://spirit-flower.com/New blog article: “The Miracle of Murmuration”

    Reply

    • Mr. Berlin was a great marketer and re-cycler of his songs, updating them as needed for new projects… Thank you for reading and listening and commenting! I think this recording really highlights Doug’s virtuosity and freedom at the keyboard — as well as the decades of rapport we share which allows for wonderfully wacky takes like this to arise…

      Reply

  9. I’m so glad you did this wonderful song, Will! You look great in a tux, too! BTW, did you know Irving Berlin wrote “God Bless America” because he hated our National Anthem – too difficult. Interestingly, Woody Guthrie wrote “This Land is Your Land” because he hated “God Bless America.” Who knew great music was inspired by artists feeling a need for change.

    Reply

    • Thanks for listening, Jennie! I do have several tuxes and one set of tails in my closet, but I don’t wear any of them very often these days. I had heard about Woody Guthrie responding to GBA by writing TLIYL. It is fascinating how people are inspired to be creative by a wide variety of energies, experiences and attitudes…

      Reply

      • Always a pleasure, Will. How cool that you have tuxes AND a set of tails. Wow! That is very, very cool. Yes, it’s interesting and fascinating how people are inspired by music. Music makes the world go ’round.

    • Thank you, Lisa (or Li!) I have a cache of photos from my life as a performer — starting with childhood headshots and then images from photoshoots I did over the years to promote various gigs. It is an ongoing pleasure to re-claim and re-use them in my graphic design work with Stephen my song releases during the past five years. I will share your lovely compliment with him.

      Reply

      • You’re welcome. Not sure if you know it or not, but I have two of your songs on my Spotify Holiday Songs playlist. Good on sharing the compliment with Stephen 🙂

Leave a comment