china boy

“China Boy” was written in 1922 by Dick Winfree and Phil Boutelje. Winfree was a member of the west coast dance band led by Art Hickman, and Boutelje was a pianist and author who arranged for and played with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra before becoming director of Paramount Pictures and United Artists Studios. He scored for films and was twice nominated for Academy Awards.

The song was introduced in vaudeville by Henry E. Murtagh and became very popular with Dixieland groups, such as the McKenzie/Condon Chicagoans, Stephane Grappelli’s Hot Four, and Muggsy Spanier. Paul Whiteman’s 1929 recording, which was arranged by Lenny Heyton and featured a solo by Bix Beiderbecke, popularized the tune. The song lost favor for a while but was revived by Benny Goodman’s trio in 1935 and performed by Goodman’s big band at their famous Carnegie Hall Concert in 1938. Teddy Wilson recorded it as a piano solo in 1941. The song appeared in the 1940 film Strike Up the Band and in 1955’s The Benny Goodman Story