Biography
Harry Brooks, the composer, entered the world on September 20, 1895, in Homestead, Pennsylvania. Enduring fame attaches to him chiefly through the jazz perennial "Ain't Misbehavin'," which he created in 1929 together with Fats Waller and lyricist Andy Razaf. The identical trio also produced "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue" and "Jungle Jamboree." Although Brooks joined Sidney Bechet and Noble Sissle in 1938 to co-write "Southern Sunset (When the Sun Sets Down South)," recognition arrived less for his composing than for his work at the piano. He died June 22, 1970, in Teaneck, New Jersey.