Ill Wing Song Music Cover, 1934

"Ill Wind (You're Blowin' Me No Good)" is a song composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Ted Koehler. It was written for their last show at the Cotton Club in 1934 and was sung by Adelaide Hall[1] In an interview, Adelaide Hall explained how she performed the song to great effect during the show:

I starred in the Cotton Club Parade where I sang "Ill Wind," which Harold Arlen had written for me. There were twenty-four girl dancers behind me all dressed in grey and I was in pink. It was the first show ever that had nitrogen smoke rise from the floor on stage.

— Adelaide Hall[2]

The melody came to Arlen while he was visiting Anya Taranda, then a model who later became his wife.[3]

The song is also featured in the 1984 Francis Ford Coppola movie The Cotton Club sung by the actress Lonette McKee. McKee plays a character with similarities to Adelaide Hall in real life.

Notable recordings

References

  1. ↑ Williams, Iain Cameron (2002),Underneath A Harlem Moon ISBN 0-8264-5893-9
  2. ↑ "Obituary: Adelaide Hall," by Steve Voce, The Independent, November 8, 1993
    Note: Hall is quoted about her time spent at the Cotton Club and singing "Ill Wind"
    (retrieved 26 December 2014)
  3. ↑ Liner notes: Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook (LP), Verve MGV 4046-2 (1961)
  4. ↑ "Together overview". Allmusic.com.
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