Reportedly Ben Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the accredited lyricist – after meeting Dr. George Thaddeus Brown in New York City: Dr. Brown, a longtime member of the State House of Representatives for Georgia, told Bernie about Dr. Brown's daughter Georgia Brown and how subsequent to the baby girl's birth on August 11, 1911 the Georgia General Assembly had issued a declaration that she was to be named Georgia after the state, an anecdote which would be directly referenced by the song's lyric: "Georgia claimed her – Georgia named her." The tune was first recorded on March 19, 1925, by bandleader Ben Bernie, resulting in a five-week number one for Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra. One of the most popular versions of "Sweet Georgia Brown" was recorded in 1949 by Brother Bones and His Shadows and later adopted as the theme song of the Harlem Globetrottersbasketball team in 1952.
Renditions
Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra, 1925
Bing Crosby recorded the song on April 23, 1932 with Isham Jones and his Orchestra and it is assessed as reaching the No. 2 spot in the charts of the day.
The version used by the Globetrotters is a 1949 instrumental by Brother Bones and His Shadows with whistling and bones by Brother Bones. It was adopted as the Globetrotters theme in 1952.
The Beatles as a backup band recorded it also for Tony Sheridan. The first version was recorded on May 24, 1962, in Hamburg, Germany, using the original lyrics and released in Germany on his EP Ya Ya in 1962. The second was released as a single in 1964 during the wave of Beatlemania with Sheridan having re-recorded the vocals with tamer lyrics and the additional verse: "In Liverpool she even dares/to criticize the Beatles' hair/With their whole fan-club standing there/oh Sweet Georgia Brown". This version can be heard on the German compilation albumThe Beatles' First ! and it's numerous reissues.
Roberta Flack recorded "Sweet Georgia Brown" for her 1994 album Roberta: as Flack feared the song might be perceived as demeaning to women her version featured newly-added lyrics - written by Flack with her producers Jerry Barnes and Katreese Barnes - meant to establish Georgia Brown as "a strong woman who is gorgeous, sexy, strong and intelligent" rather than a pass-around girl. "Sweet Georgia Brown" has become a staple of Flack's live shows, the singer having stated that the lyric changes "cost me $25,000 so I sing whenever I have the chance."
