"Oh, Rinehart!" (Harvard slogan)

[George Thompson]

Harvard man Rinehart probably first came to the attention of the wider
world when his name was used in a blues lyric by George Frazier, a
Boston journalist, jazz fan and Harvard man.  The lyric was set to
music by Tab Smith of the Basie band and recorded by Jimmy Rushing.
The first mention of the song in Chris Sheridan's Count Basie: a Bio-
Discography (1986) is from November 17, 1941, aparently referring to a
live broadcast.  The 78 version has been released on LP and CD, and I'm
sure is easy to find.  Check it out: a masterpiece.

In any event, the song contains the line "Rinehart, Rinehart, I'm a
most indifferent guy"; also the line "I don't keep dogs nor women in my
rooms" -- Barry: how many Yale men could have made that boast?

GAT  (Boston U., '63)

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African
Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998.