Ain't Nobody's Business

"Ain't Nobody's Business"
Written by	Porter Grainger, Everett Robbins
Published	1922
Language	English
Form	Eight bar blues, Vaudeville
Original artist	Anna Meyer and the Original Memphis Five (1922)
Recorded by	Sara Martin (1922) Alberta Hunter (1923) Bessie Smith (1923) Mississippi John Hurt (1928) Frank Stokes (1928) Jimmy Witherspoon (1949) Willie Nelson (2000) Steve Earle & Preservation Hall Jazz Band (2010) James Booker(1977)
Performed by	Billie Holiday Eric Clapton

"Ain't Nobody's Business" or "'Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness if I Do" is an eight-bar vaudeville blues song that became an early blues standard. It was written in the 1920s by pianist Porter Grainger, who had been Bessie Smith's accompanist, and Everett Robbins. The song was first recorded October 19, 1922 by Anna Meyer with the Original Memphis Five.^[1] Other early versions include Sara Martin (with Fats Waller on piano) (December 1, 1922 OKeh 8043), Alberta Hunter (February 1923 Paramount 12016), and Bessie Smith (April 26, 1923 Columbia 3898). Porter Grainger's lyrics to the song were copyrighted in 1922,^[2] thus they are now in the public domain.^[3]

Later versions

In addition to the early versions, the song has been recorded by numerous artists, including Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Ardis, Diana Ross (for the film Lady Sings the Blues), Hank Williams Jr., Freddie King, Frank Stokes, Mississippi John Hurt, Eric Clapton, Otis Spann, Susan Tedeschi, Taj Mahal, Wingnut Dishwasher's Union and Willie Nelson. In some of the earliest versions, a theme of violence against women is made explicit. For example, Dinah Washington specifically identifies her then-husband bandleader Eddie Chamblee in her version, "If me and Eddie fuss and fight..." and follows with this verse included in the earlier Bessie Smith recording:

If I should get beat up by my poppa

That don't mean you should call no copper

Cause it ain't nobody's business if we do

The biggest hit on the number came with Jimmy Witherspoon's version in 1949, with the blues shouter booming out the opening line:

One day, we got ham and bacon

Next day, ain't nothing shakin'

But it ain't nobody's business if we do

The song was a career cornerstone for Witherspoon, reaching number one on the R&B charts,^[4] but he received only limited royalties from his record company. Witherspoon later ruefully argued that losing those royalties was the price he paid for a long show business career.^{[citation needed]}

Author Peter McWilliams used the song and its theme as the title of his libertarian book, Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in our Free Country.

References

1. ^ Kostelanetz, Richard (2005). The B.B. King Reader: Six Decades of Commentary. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-634-09927-4. 
2. ^ The Blues. Hal Leonard Corporation. 1995. pp. 210–212. ISBN 0-7935-5259-1. 
3. ^ Hirtle, Peter B. (2010). "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States". Cornell University. http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm. Retrieved November 2, 2010. 
4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 634. 

Preceded by "Trouble Blues" by Charles Brown Trio

Billboard Best Selling Retail Rhythm & Blues Records number-one single (Jimmmy Witherspoon version) August 20, 1949

Succeeded by "Trouble Blues" by Charles Brown Trio "All She Wants to Do Is Rock" by Wynonie Harris