As Long as I Live: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Sheet music for the song "As Long as I Live" from the production of the 24th Edition of the Cotton Club Parade. The cover is orange with a large graphic of a woman's head. Her features are simplified with only her eyes, lips, and PL ear are seen. Her face is white, lips red, and hair black. The woman is found in the upper right quadrant. In her mouth is a cigarette, pointed toward the center of the cover. Below her is the illustrator's signature "Leff." Along the top is a band of white that contains the song title in black text "AS LONG AS I LIVE." In the upper left quadrant is additional black and white text, to the left of the woman "THE COTTON CLUB/ PRESENTS/ DAN HEALY'S/ 24TH/ edition." In a curve around the chin of the woman is black and white text "COTTON CLUB/ starring ADELAIDE HALL/ with JIMMIE LUNCEFORD'S ORCHESTRA/ Parade." In the lower left quadrant is additional production information "book and lyrics by / TED KOEHLER/ music by/ HAROLD ARLEN/ DANCES BY/ BOBBY CONNOLLY - CLUCK SANDOR - ELIDA WEBB." Also in the lower left corner is a small rectangle with the music publisher company with a small illustration of a windmill "MILLS MUSIC/ INC/ Music Publishers/ 1619 Broadway - New York, N.Y." In the lower right corner is a song list "ILL WIND/ AS LONG AS I LIVE/ HERE GOES/ PRIMITIVE PRIMA DONNA/ BREAKFAST BALL."

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1934
• Written by: Harold Arlen, American, 1905 - 1986
• Written by: Ted L. Koehler, American, 1894 - 1973
• Illustrated by: Sydney Lefkowitz, American
• Published by: Mills Music Incorporated, 1919 - 1965
• Produced by: Dan Healy, American, 1888 - 1969
• Subject of: Adelaide Hall, American, 1901 - 1993
• Subject of: Jimmie Lunceford, American, 1902 - 1947
• Subject of: Elida Webb, American, born 1896
• Type: sheet music
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 12 3/16 × 9 3/16 in. (31 × 23.3 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Musical Theatre
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Popular music
• Topic: Segregation
• Topic: Stereotypes
• Object number: 2013.223.11
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Vicki Gold Levi
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.