"Straighten Up and Fly Right"

[Jonathon Green]

The phr. also appears in

1944 Dan Burley _Original Handbook of Harlem Jive_ 105 A deuce of ruffs [sc.
20 cents] a stick will make you straighten up and fly right.

Whether this reflects or precedes the Cole lyric, I do not know. Both 1944,
but given publication schedules, it may technically reflect pre-1944 usage.
Given that 'stick' means a marijuana cigarette, there may be a link to both
'getting straight', i.e. taking a given drug, and flying, i.e. getting
'high' (the first use of which seems to be that found in Burley).

Jonathon Green