(Also known as Ain’t Nobody’s Business or Tain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do)
This song was written by Porter Grainger and Everett Robbins. The lyrics were published in 1922, which means they are now in the public domain in the US — they are no longer under copyright protection and therefore free to use for any musical purpose or otherwise. It’s the first blues song I’ve ever recorded, and I wasn’t sure how to adapt my voice to this genre — but I ended up with a gruff mixture of Tom Waits and Steve Earle. Just don’t expect too much after I casually dropped those two names into the conversation.
Musically, my version is closer to Randy Newman than it is to Fats Waller. I can’t seem to be able to arrange a piece without adding at least a couple of string pads. The theme is related to violence against women, and with the exception of Eric Clapton, most recordings of this song are by female black artists, and great artists like Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Abbey Lincoln and Carmen McRae at that, which makes it feel a bit pointless to publish my little piece of gruffy fluff at all, but I won’t let that stop me.
