Open the Door, Richard
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Open the Door, Richard was a hit record first recorded on the Black & White Records label by tenor saxophoneist Jack McVea, at the suggest of A&R man Ralph Bass. In 1947 it was the No. 1 song on Billboard's "Honor Roll of Hits" and became a runaway pop sensation.[1]
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[edit] Origin
"Open the Door, Richard" started out as a black vaudeville routine made famous by Dusty Fletcher on stages like Apollo Theater in New York. Dressed in rags, drunk, and with a ladder as his only prop, Fletcher would repeatedly plunk the ladder down stage center, try to climb it to knock on an imaginary door, then crash sprawling on the floor after a few steps while shouting, half-singing "Open the Door, Richard". After this he would mutter a comic monologue, then try the ladder again and repeat the process, while the audience was imagining what Richard was so occupied doing.[2]
Jack McVea was responsible for the musical riff which became associated with the words "Open the Door, Richard" that became familiar to radio listeners and as many as 14 different recording were made.
[edit] Legacy
When "Open the Door, Richard" landed on the "Honor Roll of Hits" it joined such white pop songs as "Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah" for a Walt Disney film. But a black ballad "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" sung by Al Jolson on the list. These two songs became the first rhythm and blues songs since "I Wonder" to achieve sensational success in the white market and indicated that the pop mainstream was open to R&B.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Shaw, Arnold (1978). Honkers and Shouters. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, p. 226-227. ISBN 0-02-061740-2.
- ^ Fox, Ted (1993). Showtime at the Apollo, 2nd Ed., New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press, p. 96. ISBN 0-306-80503-0.
