“Nobody's Business”
Description
Singer confesses to all sorts of infractions -- rambling, drinking, gambling -- but says it's "nobody's business if I do." He says he might even kill somebody; his girlfriend "runs a weenie stand..." and drives a Cadillac, but it's all nobody's business
Long description
Singer confesses to all sorts of infractions -- rambling, drinking, gambling -- but says it's "nobody's business if I do." He says he might even kill somebody; morphine, cocaine and women will drive him out of his mind; his money goes to buy his girlfriend fancy clothes; "she runs a weenie stand/way down in no man's land" and drives a Cadillac, but it's all nobody's business
Notes
This shouldn't be confused with Will E. Skidmore & Marshall Walker's 1919 "It's Nobody's Business But My Own," which concerned the extracurricular activities of a deacon. Skidmore and Walker copyrighted that song (and Bert Williams recorded it on Columbia A2750 the same year), but the JAF reference precedes that copyright, so it's likely they arranged and adapted a traditional piece. And, while I have not seen the sheet music to the copyrighted version, I strongly suspect it doesn't contain all the verses listed above. - PJS
Recordings
- Emry Arthur, "Nobody's Business" (Vocalion 5230, 1927)
- Jerry Behrens, "Nobody's Business" (OKeh 45564, 1932)
- Warren Caplinger's Cumberland Mountain Entertainers, "Nobody's Business" (Brunswick 294, 1929; Brunswick [Canada] 224, 1928)
- Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Jordan & his Tympany Five, "Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do" (Decca 27200, c. 1950)
- Alberta Hunter, "T'ain't Nobody's Biz-ness" (Paramount 12018, 1923)
- Mississippi John Hurt, "Nobody's Dirty Business" (OKeh 8560, 1928; on MJHurt01, MJHurt02)
- Earl Johnson & his Dixie Entertainers, "Ain't Nobody's Business" (OKeh 45092, 1927, on Rough2)
- [Billy] Jones & [Ernest] Hare, "Nobody's Business" (CYL: Edison [BA] 5115, n.d.)
- Lulu Belle & Scotty, "It Ain't Nobody's Bizness" (OKeh 04962, 1939)
- Sara Martin w. Fats Waller "'Tain't Nobody's Bus'ness If I Do" (OKeh 8043, 1923; rec. 1922)
- Charles Nabell, "Nobody's Business" (OKeh 40389, 1925)
- Riley Puckett, "Nobody's Business" (Bluebird B-6103, 1935; Bluebird B-8621, 1941)
- Roy Sexton & his Arizona Hoedowners, "Nobody's Business" (Old Timer 8013, n.d.)
- Bessie Smith, "Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do" (Columbia A3898, 1923)
- Leo Soileau & his Aces, "Nobody's Business" (Decca 5101, 1935)
- Walker's Corbin Ramblers, "Nobody's Business" (Vocalion 01648, 1934)
- Lena Wilson, "Tain't Nobody's Business If I Do" (Victor 19085, 1923)
- Jimmy Witherspoon, "Ain't Nobody's Business, Pts. 1 & 2" (Supreme 1506/Swing Time 263, 1947)