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No One But The Right Man,
(Can Do Me Wrong)

Sophie Tucker

Sophie Tucker

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Filmed in London, England in 1930 featuring "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas" herself Sophie Tucker vocals.

Sophie Tucker made several classic popular recordings. They included "Some of These Days", which first came out in 1911 on Edison Records and then again in 1926. The tune, written and composed by Shelton Brooks, was a huge hit, and became Tucker's career-long theme song and the title of her 1945 autobiography.

Tucker hired pianist and songwriter Ted Shapiro in 1921 as her accompanist and musical director, a position he would keep throughout her career. Besides writing a number of songs for Tucker, Shapiro became part of her stage act, playing piano on stage while she sang, and exchanging banter and wisecracks with her in between numbers. Tucker remained a popular singer through the 1920's, and hired stars such as Mamie Smith and Ethel Waters to give her lessons.

In 1925, Jack Yellen wrote one of her most famous songs, "My Yiddishe Momme." The song was performed in large American cities where there were sizable Jewish audiences. Tucker explained, "Even though I loved the song and it was a sensational hit every time I sang it, I was always careful to use it only when I knew the majority of the house would understand Yiddish. However, you didn't have to be a Jew to be moved by 'My Yiddish Momme.' 'Mother' in any language means the same thing." She also made the first of her many movie appearances in the 1929 sound picture Honky Tonk. During the 1930's, Tucker brought elements of nostalgia for the early years of 20th century into her show. She was billed as "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas," as her hearty sexual appetite was a frequent subject of her songs, unusual for female performers of the era.