"The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" is a
show tune
A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context.
T ...
from the 1943
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...
musical ''
Oklahoma!
''Oklahoma!'' is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, ''Green Grow the Lilacs''. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tell ...
''.
The piece was recorded in 1952 by jazz pianist
Ahmad Jamal, which influenced trumpeter
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
to include it in his repertoire in the 1950s,
which probably motivated other jazz musicians to play it.
References
External links
Lyrics
1943 songs
1940s jazz standards
Songs with music by Richard Rodgers
Songs with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Songs from Oklahoma!
{{Show-tune-stub