"Drum Boogie" is a 1941 jazz " boogie-woogie" standard, composed by

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman ...

and trumpeter

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...

and originally sung by Irene Daye, soon replaced by

Anita O'Day Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self-proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appe ...

Movie appearance

It was first recorded on January 17, 1941 in Chicago and was also featured in a film that year, '' Ball of Fire'', performed by Krupa and his band in an extended version, when it was sung by Barbara Stanwyck, whose singing was dubbed by Martha Tilton.

Other versions

In 1942,

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

sang the song on tour with the Gene Krupa Orchestra. In 1953, Gene Krupa played the song at the US-operated Ernie Pyle Theatre in Tokyo, which "brought the house down" according to ''The Pittsburgh Courier''.

Analysis

David Dicaire referred to the song as "Krupa's best drum solo, an accumulation of twenty years of studying the intricacies of rhythmic textures". It is an E flat blues boogie-woogie progression with lyrics such as "Boogie! You hear the rhythm rompin'! Boogie! You see the drummer stompin'! It really is a killer!". In 1971 ''The Danville Register'' cited it as one of "50 Great Songs" of the Swinging 40's.

References

1940s jazz standards Jazz compositions in E-flat major 1941 songs Songs about jazz Songs about drums {{1940s-jazz-composition-stub