Kate Smith - That’s Why Darkies Were Born - 1931

For Educational Purposes - Reached U.S. Billboard Charts #12 - 1931 (3 weeks) - That’s Why Darkies Were Born was a popular song written by Ray Henderson and Lew Brown. It originated in George White’s Scandals of 1931. It was most famously recorded by Kate Smith, whose rendition was a hit in 1931, and by Paul Robeson. It was also featured in a 1931 all-star recording of a medley of songs from George White’s Scandals, where it was sung by Frank Munn on Brunswick and just as famously part of Paul Whiteman medley sung by Mildred Bailey on Victor. The song is referenced in: The Marx Brothers film Duck Soup, when Groucho Marx’s character Rufus T. Firefly says, “My father was a little headstrong, my mother was a little Headstrongs married the Armstrongs, and that’s why darkies were born.“ Gordon and Revel’s satirical song “Underneath The Harlem Moon“, recorded by Don Redman in 1932 and by Randy Newman in 1970, explains: “They just live for danc