I Ain’t Got Nobody

I Ain’t Got Nobody Published 1915 Songwriter(s) Composer: Spencer Williams Lyricist: Roger A. Graham. “I Ain’t Got Nobody” (sometimes referred to as “I’m So Sad and Lonely” or “I Ain’t Got Nobody Much”) is a popular song copyrighted in 1915. Roger A. Graham (1885–1938) wrote the lyrics, Spencer Williams composed it, and Roger Graham Music Publishing published it.[2] It was first recorded by Marion Harris, and became a perennial standard, recorded many times over following generations, in styles ranging from pop to jazz to country music. The 2008 film Be Kind Rewind uses the version recorded by Booker T. & the M.G.’s, although two covers were recorded for the film as well: a piano solo version by Jean-Michel Bernard, and a Fats Waller-esque version by Mos Def. Chicago and Saint Louis ragtime pianist and blues composer Charles Warfield (1878–1955) claimed to have originally written the song and a copyright dated April 1914 attributes Warfield as the composer, David Young as the lyricist, and Marie Lucas as the arranger. The title of the song is given as “I Ain’t Got Nobody and Nobody Cares for Me”. Spencer Williams’ copyright entry from 1916 under a shorter title attributes the composition to Davy Peyton and himself and the lyrics to publisher Roger Graham. In 1916, Frank K. Root & Co., a Chicago publisher (né Frank Kimball Root; 1856–1932), acquired the Craig & Co. copyright, and, later that year, also acquired the Warfield-Young copyright. Clarence E. Brandon Sr. and Billy Smythe, both St. Louis musicians, both claim that they wrote the first version, words and music, of “I Ain’t Got Nobody”, filed two copyrights 1911, and published it