Andy Razaf

Razaf was born in 1895 in Washington, D.C., United States. His birth name was Andriamanantena Paul Razafinkarefo. He was the son of Henri Razafinkarefo, nephew of Queen Ranavalona III of the Imerina kingdom in Madagascar, and Jennie Razafinkarefo (née Waller), daughter of John L. Waller, the first African American consul to Imerina.{{Cite web|url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/razaf-andy-1895-1973/|title=Andy Razaf (1895-1973)|website=Blackpast.org|first=Olga|last=Bourlin|date=November 29, 2015|access-date=October 6, 2021}} The French invasion of Madagascar (1894-95) left Henri dead, and forced pregnant 15-year-old Jennie to escape to the U.S..{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JUjFNpgoZD0C&dq=madagascar+Andy+razaf&pg=PA71|title=Easy to Remember: The Great American Songwriters and Their Songs|first=William|last=Zinsser|page=71/2|date=October 6, 2006|publisher=David R. Godine Publisher|isbn=9781567923254|access-date=October 6, 2021|via=Google Books}} Razaf was raised in Harlem, Manhattan.

At age 16, Razaf quit school and took a job as an elevator operator in a Tin Pan Alley office building. A year later he penned his first song text, embarking on his career as a lyricist. During this time he spent many nights in the Greyhound Lines bus station in Times Square, and picked up his mail at the Gaiety Theatre office building, which was considered the black Tin Pan Alley.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rqi3d1925IcC&q=City+Investing+Five+Broadway+Theatres&pg=PA180|title=Broadway: An Encyclopedia|author=Ken Bloom|publisher=Routledge|edition=Second|date=November 11, 2003|isbn=0-415-93704-3}}

Some of Razaf's early poems were published in 1917–18 in the Hubert Harrison-edited Voice, the first newspaper of the "New Negro Movement". He was a contributor to and editor of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League's Negro World newspaper.

Razaf's most important collaborator was Fats Waller. Among the best-known Razaf-Waller songs are "Ain't Misbehavin'", "Honeysuckle Rose", "The Joint Is Jumpin'", "Willow Tree", "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now" and "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue". Razaf also worked with other composers including Eubie Blake, James P. Johnson, J. C. Johnson, Don Redman and Harry Brooks. His songs were played by them and other songwriter-performers, as well as by Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman and many other musicians. He wrote a number of raunchy "character" blues-type songs that were sung by many 1920s female blues singers.{{example needed|date=May 2025}}

Though primarily a lyricist, Razaf wrote both the words and the music of many songs, though none became as well known as his collaborations with other composers.{{cite book |last1=Singer |first1=Barry |title=Black and Blue: The Life and Lyrics of Andy Razaf |date=1992 |publisher=Schirmer Books |location=New York |isbn=0-02-872395-3 |pages=390–406}}

Razaf also made many recordings as a vocalist, of both his own songs and others', most in the late 1920s,{{sfn|Singer|1992|p=416-417}} as a soloist (sometimes on ukelele) and with musicians including James P. Johnson{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} and Fletcher Henderson.

He married Annabelle Miller in 1915 but abandoned her within a few years.{{sfn|Singer|1992|p=158-162}} He was married to Jean Blackwell Hutson from 1939 to 1947{{Cite news|last=Smith|first=Dinitia|date=1998-02-07|title=Jean Hutson, Schomburg Chief, Dies at 83 (Published 1998)|language=en-US|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/07/arts/jean-hutson-schomburg-chief-dies-at-83.html|access-date=2021-02-09|issn=0362-4331}}, to Dorothy Carpenter from 1948 to around 1960{{sfn|Singer|1992|p=321,341}}, and to Alicia Wilson Georgiade from 1963 until his death.{{sfn|Singer|1992|p=345-346}}

In 1972, Razaf was recognized by his Tin Pan Alley peers when he was inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.{{cite web|url=http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_home_page.asp?exhibitId=305|title=Songwriters Hall of Fame website|website=Songwritershalloffame.org|access-date=5 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080402040910/http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_home_page.asp?exhibitId=305|archive-date=April 2, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}} He died in North Hollywood, California in February 1973 from renal failure, aged 77.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame entry for Andy Razaf lists 215 compositions, giving co-writers and publishers. He had many unpublished songs; Singer's biography lists more than 800, published and unpublished (but without giving lyrics). Some notable lyrics include:

• "Baltimo", which he wrote at age 17, was sung by members of The Passing Show of 1913 at the Winter Garden Theatre, New York.
• "Ain't Misbehavin'"
• "Black and Blue"
• "Christopher Columbus" with Leon Berry (1936)
• "Garvey! Hats Off to Garvey"
• "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You" with Don Redman (1929)
• "Honeysuckle Rose"
• "I'll Keep Sittin' on It (If I Can't Sell It)" with Alex Hill (1936)
• "In the Mood"
• "The Joint Is Jumpin'"
• "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now"
• "Louisiana"
• "Memories of You"
• "Mound Bayou" was named for Mound Bayou, an independent Black community in Mississippi. The original song was sung by Maxine Sullivan, and was on an album dedicated to his work, A Tribute to Andy Razaf.{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxfzgjRUIPA|title=Maxine Sullivan : Mound Bayou|publisher=YouTube|access-date=5 September 2014}}
• "A Porter's Love Song to a Chambermaid"
• "S'posin'"
• "Stompin' at the Savoy"
• "That's What I Like About the South"
• "UNIA"

See also :Category:Songs written by Andy Razaf.

Although Razaf's songs are found on hundreds of recordings, there are only two albums devoted exclusively to his songs:

• Maxine Sullivan, A Tribute to Andy Razaf, 1956, produced by Leonard Feather,{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-tribute-to-andy-razaf-mw0000674600|title=A Tribute to Andy Razaf - Maxine Sullivan & Her All-Stars | Songs, Reviews, Credits |website=AllMusic|access-date=October 6, 2021}} re-issued in 2006 as My Memories of You with two additional non-Razaf tracks.
• Bobby Short, Guess Who's in Town: Bobby Short Performs the Songs of Andy Razaf, 1987,{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/guess-whos-in-town-bobby-short-performs-the-songs-of-andy-razaf-mw0000197951|title=Guess Who's in Town: Bobby Short Performs the Songs of Andy Razaf - Bobby Short | Songs, Reviews, Credits |website=AllMusic|access-date=October 6, 2021}} re-released in 2001 in tandem with Bobby Short Loves Cole Porter.

• Wired, Hired, Fired, an expression of grief and sorrow that color bars one fitted to position (that is, one otherwise qualified for, or well suited to the job, is barred on the basis of race).
• Jack Johnson, touching on defeat with honor.

{{Reflist}}

• Black and Blue: The Life and Lyrics of Andy Razaf by Barry Singer, Foreword by Bobby Short, {{ISBN|0-02-872395-3}}
• Easy to Remember: The Great American Songwriters and Their Songs by William Zinsser, David R. Godine Publisher, 2006, {{ISBN|1-56792-325-9}}
• The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America's Great Lyricists by Philip Furia, {{ISBN|0-19-507473-4}}
• Who's Who of the Colored Race, Memento Edition Half-Century Anniversary of Negro Freedom in U.S., reprinted by Gale Research Company, Book Tower Detroit, 1976.

• {{cite web |title=Andy Razaf papers |url=https://archives.nypl.org/scm/20766 |website=The New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts |publisher=The New York Public Library |access-date=5 June 2025}}
• {{Find a Grave|5167}}
• [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105535 Andy Razaf recordings] at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
• [https://archive.org/details/AndyRazafFBIFile FBI file on Andy Razaf] at the Internet Archive

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Razaf, Andy}}

Category:1895 births

Category:1973 deaths

Category:African-American musicians

Category:American people of Malagasy descent

Category:Burials at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery

Category:Deaths from cancer in California

Category:Musicians from Washington, D.C.

Category:Musicians from New York City

Category:People from Harlem

Category:Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League members

Category:20th-century American musicians