Yesterday we rode Billy Strayhorn’s “A” Train — all instrumentals, all bright rails and easy scenery.
Today we hop aboard two vocal versions from The Delta Rhythm Boys, each with its own charm.
Their first take came in 1941 for Decca, the same year Ellington’s hit version rolled out:
It’s a lively, good‑natured rendition — the kind that feels like someone smiling behind the microphone.
Six years later, the group revisited the tune for RCA Victor:
Also fun, also buoyant… but listen closely. Something shifts.
Warehouse Whispers — A Lyric Mystery in the Stacks
And here’s where the lights dim.
Billy Strayhorn is always credited as the sole songwriter, but he probably didn’t write either set of lyrics. The official files sit there looking confident, but the recordings tell a different story — the kind that makes a warehouse clerk stop mid‑shuffle and squint at a mislabeled acetate.
Lee Gaines, leader of The Delta Rhythm Boys, is often credited for the 1941 lyrics. But the fingerprints feel fresher on the 1947 version. My hunch: Gaines wrote the later set, not the earlier one.
Then there’s Joya Sherrill, who reportedly wrote her own lyrics and brought them to the Ellington band in 1944 when she joined as a featured vocalist. But those same lyrics show up two years earlier, sung by Betty Roché in the movie Reveille with Beverly (1942).
Joya had a brief stint with the band as a high‑schooler in the summer of ’42, but her lyrics were already circulating — The Delta Rhythm Boys used the "Joya lyrics" for their Decca record in August 1941 — months before she ever stepped onto the bandstand.
We love a good mystery — especially one that hums along the rails!
P.S. And, yes, I'm aware that the title of this post is corny even by my standards, but I stand by it!
