Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake were two pioneering African-American songwriters who began their careers in the early 1900s. The two met as part of a group called Joe Porter's Serenaders in 1915. Together they wrote their first song, It's All Your Fault. After splitting apart for awhile they were encouraged to try entering the "white" vaudeville circuit. There weren't many black teams there because only one "black" act was allowed per show. Sissle and Blake went ahead with the idea, calling themselves The Dixie Duo. Their act used a piano as the only prop and was preformed without blackface and became very successful.

In 1921 this writing team decided to organize one of the first musicals to be written, produced, and directed by blacks. They called it Shuffle Along and launched it on May 23, 1921. It became extremely successful and served as a launching pad for a number of black performers. The most popular tune to emerge from it was the I'm Just Wild About Harry.

One final tidbit: this song was written long before Harry Truman ran for President, but it was rewritten and then used during his campaign. Eubie Blake said that he strongly supported Truman because he integrated the armed forces.

If you want to learn even more about this song and the people behind it, here are few webpages you might want to check out.

• Photos from the Maryland Historical Society
• Sheet music for Harry from New Youk Public Library's Digital Collection
• Shuffle Along - American Treasures of the Library of Congress
• Photos and article about "Shuffle Along"
• Eube Blake - Composers and Lyricists Database
• Eubie Blake - biography from African American Registry
• Noble Sissle - biography from African American Registry
• Nobel Sissel and his Orchestra
• Biography for Noble Sissle from Imdb
• Biography for Eubie Blake from Imdb
• Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake
• Eubie Blake Collection (Maryland Historical Society)
• Eubie Blake performing "Bandana Days and I'm Just Wild About Harry"
• Midi file and lyrics