Clarence Muse, Leon René and Otis René · Sung by Nina Mae McKinney in the film Safe in Hell, 1931
When It's Sleepy Time Down South
A 1931 song by Clarence Muse, Leon René and Otis René, sung in the film Safe in Hell. Louis Armstrong made it his signature song and recorded it almost a hundred times. Its words lean on racial stereotypes of the South; after protests in the 1950s, Armstrong changed them for a reissue. You can hear it from Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Dave Brubeck and Wynton Marsalis.
Listen in this order
The path opens with Louis Armstrong, who made the song his own, in 1931 and 1951. It then moves through quintets led by trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Roy Eldridge, Billie Holiday's voice, Dave Brubeck's quartet and Earl Hines alone at the piano. It ends with Wynton Marsalis's band in 1990.
Louis Armstrong and his orchestra recorded the song in Chicago on April 20, 1931, and OKeh issued it on a 78. It became his signature song, and he recorded it almost a hundred times.
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Listen for
Armstrong sings and plays trumpet, with a trombone, saxophones, piano, guitar and drums behind him. The record runs just over three minutes, the length of one side of a 78.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight (the ): , , , , , , Fmaj7 , then . Hum the tune over them. Smaller version: play only the root of each : F, B♭, C, A, D, G, E, F, B♭, C.
Louis Armstrong with Gordon Jenkins and His Orchestra · 1951
Decca single
Armstrong recorded it for Decca on November 28, 1951, with Gordon Jenkins conducting the orchestra. Decca issued it as a single, and it appeared on the 1959 LP Satchmo in Style.
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Listen for
Armstrong's voice leads, as in 1931, but now Gordon Jenkins conducts an orchestra behind him. The record runs 3:14.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or hum the tune slowly while you play the , one chord to each half where the chart shows two. Smaller version: play only the first chord of each bar.
Dizzy Gillespie's quintet recorded it at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on April 6, 1952, with Don Byas on tenor saxophone. French Blue Star issued it, and it later appeared on The Great Blue Star Sessions 1952-1953.
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Listen for
Two horns carry the record, Gillespie's trumpet and Byas's tenor saxophone, with piano, bass and drums behind them. It runs under three minutes, so every part is short.
Try it on your instrument
Play the at a quick swing, with one to a where the chart shows two, and play the melody on top. Smaller version: play the melody alone over a held F, then C.
Roy Eldridge recorded it in Los Angeles in December 1953 with Oscar Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass and Alvin Stoller on drums. Clef issued it as a single and on the 1954 LP The Strolling Mr. Eldridge, with Norman Granz producing.
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Listen for
Eldridge's trumpet leads, with Peterson's piano, Ellis's guitar, Brown's bass and Stoller's drums behind it. The record runs about three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the , , , and , with a steady swing, and play the melody on top. Smaller version: play only the root of each : F, B♭, C, D.
Billie Holiday with Ray Ellis and His Orchestra · 1959 · Swing
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday recorded it with Ray Ellis and his orchestra in March 1959, for the MGM album that came out in July 1959 and was retitled Last Recording after her death.
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Listen for
Holiday's voice is the center of the record, with an orchestra led by Ray Ellis behind her. At just over four minutes it runs longer than Armstrong's 1931 record.
Try it on your instrument
Play the slowly, one to a where the chart shows two, and hum the tune over the chords. Smaller version: play only the first chord of each bar.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded it in New York on September 10, 1959, and Columbia released it on the 1960 album Southern Scene, produced by Teo Macero.
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Listen for
Desmond's alto saxophone, Brubeck's piano, Wright's bass and Morello's drums share the song for almost six minutes, nearly twice as long as the early records.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole tune once as A, A, B, A, 32 in all, and watch for the change at the . Smaller version: play the twice, then the bridge.
“Sleepy Time Down South”, My Tribute to Louis: Piano Solos by Earl Hines
Earl Hines recorded this solo piano tribute on July 18, 1971, twelve days after Louis Armstrong died. It comes from his album My Tribute to Louis, issued on Audiophile.
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Listen for
One pianist plays alone, with no band, for just under five minutes. Hines made the record soon after Armstrong died.
Try it on your instrument
Play the tune alone, with the melody in your right hand and in your left, only. Smaller version: play the melody with just the first chord of each .
“When It's Sleepytime Down South”, Standard Time, Vol. 2: Intimacy Calling
Wynton Marsalis recorded it in August 1990 for Standard Time, Vol. 2: Intimacy Calling, with Marcus Roberts on piano, Reginald Veal on bass and Herlin Riley on drums. Columbia released the album in March 1991.
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Listen for
Marsalis's trumpet leads a trio of piano, bass and drums for just over five minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , 17 to 24: E , , , E , then the same four bars with E last. Smaller version: play only E, E, F♯m7, B7 and repeat.
Clarence Muse, Leon René and Otis René write the song in 1931, and Nina Mae McKinney sings it in the film Safe in Hell. Louis Armstrong records it in Chicago on April 20, 1931.
1950s
Louis Armstrong records it again in 1951 with Gordon Jenkins' orchestra. Dizzy Gillespie's quintet plays it in Paris in 1952, and Billie Holiday sings it in March 1959.
1960s
Columbia releases Dave Brubeck's quartet version, recorded in 1959, on the 1960 album Southern Scene. In 1968 Louis Armstrong plays the song live at BBC Studios.
1970s
Earl Hines records a solo piano tribute on July 18, 1971, twelve days after Louis Armstrong died. In 1975 Bing Crosby sings it for A Southern Memoir.
1990s
Wynton Marsalis records it with a piano trio in August 1990 for Standard Time, Vol. 2, released in 1991. Terence Blanchard's version on Simply Stated comes out in 1992.
More great versions
4 more, from 1968 to 1992. Tap a cover to play it here.
1960sLouis Armstrong1968
1970sBing Crosby1975 · Big band
Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson1975 · Bebop
1980s
1990sTerence Blanchard1992 · Post-bop
Louis Armstrong
1968
“When It's Sleepy Time Down South (Live At The BBC)”, Louis in London
Louis Armstrong plays the song live at BBC Studios in 1968, in a film posted by his official channel.
Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie recorded it with Oscar Peterson's at RCA Studios in New York on June 3, 1975, for the 1978 Pablo album Jazz Maturity... Where It's Coming From.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
C majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
C major → E major → C majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
C
E
C
The tune is 32 in four 8-bar sections: A, A, B, A. In iReal Pro's chart the runs , , , , (with ), , Fmaj7 and in bars 1 to 8. The second A ends with C6 in place of C6 C7, which leads into the . The , bars 17 to 24, moves up to : E , , B7 and E , then the same four bars again with E G7 in the last bar, which leads back to C. The last A, bars 25 to 32, repeats the first. The areas above are a reading of iReal Pro's chart, and other lead sheets may spell some differently.