Lazybones is a Tin Pan Alley tune written in 1933 by Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics). It tells the story of a man who would rather sleep than work, and Mercer's Savannah-born lyric helped give the song a vivid regional feel, opening with the pointed line “Long as there is chicken gravy on your rice.” The piece was first recorded in 1933 by Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra with Walter Hunt on vocal, and it quickly spread through early versions by Mildred Bailey with the Dorsey Brothers’ Orchestra and Paul Robeson, among others.
Key facts:
- Original/early recordings: first in 1933 by Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra; other early versions by Mildred Bailey, Paul Robeson, and The Mills Brothers (1934)
- Notable album appearances: The Supremes Sing Country Western and Pop (1965) by The Supremes; Old Doc Brown (1955) by Hank Snow; On the Track (1975) by Leon Redbone
- 1971 revival: Jonathan King released a UK top 20 soft rock/easy listening single on Decca 13177, which also charted on US Easy Listening and reportedly sold over a million copies
- Other touches in popular culture: performed by the Electric Mayhem on The Muppet Show in 1977
- Additional context: the song has been covered many times across genres, helping to cement its status as a classic of 1930s popular song writing
