“TAKE THE ‘A’ TRAIN” (1941)

"You must take the `A` train to go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem."
Instead of ending up in Harlem, “Take the ‘A’ Train” nearly ended up in the trash. Legend has it that after Billy Strayhorn wrote the song, he tossed it in the wastebasket, declaring that it sounded too much like a Fletcher Henderson composition. Duke Ellington’s son Mercer retrieved it, saving from oblivion what later became the theme song of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. That was only another twist of fate in the life of a song born of chance and circumstance.
At the end of 1940 a long-running negotiation between the radio networks and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) regarding increases in licensing fees reached a crisis. The radio stations refused to increase their music broadcasting payments to ASCAP and, during a 10-month period in 1941, ASCAP members could not broadcast their songs on the radio. At the time, that was tantamount to banning all popular music from radio and was a disastrous situation for Duke Ellington, who, as a member of ASCAP, virtually lost his repertoire. He needed radio broadcasts to promote record sales in order to pay his orchestra’s salaries, but, as of January 1, 1941, his music was banned from the radio. He turned to Strayhorn and son Mercer, who were not ASCAP members, for a new set of songs. The young composers took full advantage of this unanticipated opportunity to write for the Ellington Orchestra; within a few days Strayhorn produced songs that included “Take the ‘A’ Train, “Chelsea Bridge” and “Daydream”, and Mercer wrote “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be” and “Blue Serge”. The prolific songwriting during this short period kept the Ellington Orchestra solvent during the radio ban.
The Duke Ellington Orchestra initially recorded “Take the ‘A’ Train” in February 1941, and it rose to number 11 in the pop charts by July of that year. The original recording is still definitive, with the Ray Nance trumpet solo considered one of the most admired and copied trumpet solos in jazz. It was so successful that Nance repeated the solo verbatim in future performances. When Cootie Williams replaced Nance in the Ellington band in the 1960s, he repeated Nance’s solo note for note.
The Sugar Hill mentioned in the lyrics is a neighborhood in the northern part of Harlem where wealthy African-Americans moved in the 1920s. A number of artists and musicians who played important roles in the Harlem Renaissance, including Duke Ellington, owned homes there. One of the anecdotes about how "Take the 'A' Train" got its title is that it was based on directions Ellington gave to Strayhorn to get to his apartment via the subway. However, there is some disagreement regarding who composed the actual lyrics for the song. Strayhorn is given credit for the lyrics as well as the music by a number of sources, including liner notes on Duke Ellington Orchestra recordings of the song. However, The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz and others credited Joya Sherrill with writing the lyrics in 1944. Sherrill was a 17-year old living in Detroit and is said to have written the lyrics while listing to the song on the radio at her home. Apparently, when Ellington heard her sing, her poise and singing ability caused him to hire her as a singer and adopt her version of the lyrics. She did sing with the Ellington band from 1944-1948, but her role as lyricist is less easily verifiable.
No matter who composed the lyrics, it does not diminish the impact the song has had on jazz. To quote Quincy Jones, “Take the ‘A’ Train” was the Holy Grail. It identifies a population, it identifies a lifestyle because it’s the Harlem Renaissance. It’s unbelievable. It covers everything—and it says it all in 32 bars.”