"Why Don't You Do Right?" is a song broadcast on Radio New Vegas in Fallout: New Vegas and in the mysterious broadcast radio station in Old World Blues. The song was written by Kansas Joe McCoy in 1936.
Though Peggy Lee made several recordings in her lifetime, the version used in the game was recorded by Peggy Lee and the Dave Barbour Quintet in 1950 as a Snader Telescription.
Background
Peggy Lee's first recording of the song was made July 27, 1942 with Benny Goodman and his orchestra for Columbia Records. She was an unknown singing with the band, but the record sold over 1 million copies, bringing her to stardom.
Her second recording was made after she left the band. She had married guitarist Dave Barbour and together they quit Benny Goodman's group in March 1943. Peggy Lee recorded "Why Don't You Do Right" with a brassier arrangement with Dave Barbour's Orchestra for Capitol Records in 1948. It was released as a single and as part of the album Rendezvous With Peggy Lee.[1]
The recording used in the game was made as a Snader Telescription, an early type of music video. Louis D. Snader sought to take advantage of the burgeoning television market and the transition from radio. Not content with merely showing a disc-jockey spinning a record, Snader wanted to take the stars and record their actual performances. It was an entirely low-budget affair with minimalist and reused sets [2] and emphasis on one-take live-recording instead of lip-syncing.[3]
Peggy Lee's performance of "Why Don't You Do Right" took place on September 14, 1950 at the Hollywood Center Studios.[4] The song as used in the game is taken directly from the soundtrack of the film.
Lyrics
You had plenty money in 1922
You let other women make a fool of you
Why don't you do right, like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money, too
You're sittin' down wonderin' what it's all about
You ain't got no money, they will put you out
Why don't you do right, like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money, too
If you had prepared twenty years ago
You wouldn't be a-wanderin' now from door to door
Why don't you do right, like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money, too
I fell for your jivin' and I took you in
Now all you got to offer me's a drink of gin
Why don't you do right, like some other men do
Get out of here and get me some money, too
Why don't you do right, like some other men do
Like some other men do
Videos
"Why Don't You Do Right?" as heard in-game
The original Snader Telescription
References
- ↑ Album Index For The Peggy Lee Bio-Discography And Videography at Peggy Lee Discography
- ↑ Peggy Lee's "Why Don't You Do Right?" uses the same backdrop as Herb Jeffries' "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home"
Visual Comparison
Herb Jeffries' "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home" (skip to 24:15) - ↑ The Peggy Lee Bio-Discography And Videography: An Inquiry Into The Snader, Studio, And Camay Companies at Peggy Lee Discography
- ↑ The Peggy Lee Bio-Discography And Videography: The Snader Telescriptions at Peggy Lee Discography