Mississippi Mud is a 1927 song

1927 in music

-Events:* January 8 - Alban Berg's Lyric Suite is premiered in Vienna.* April 21 - Electric re-recording of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue by Paul Whiteman's Orchestra directed by Nathaniel Shilkret, with Gershwin at the piano....

 written by Harry Barris

Harry Barris

Harry Barris was an American popular singer and songwriter.Born in New York City, he was a member of the Rhythm Boys, a late 1920s singing trio which included Al Rinker and Bing Crosby, and was Crosby's entry into show business...

 and James Cavanaugh

James Cavanaugh

James Michael Cavanaugh was a representative from Minnesota and a delegate from the Territory of Montana. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, July 4, 1823 and received an academic education. He engaged in newspaper work, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1854 and began practice in...

 , first made popular by Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

 when he was still a member of The Rhythm Boys

The Rhythm Boys

The Rhythm Boys were a male singing trio consisting of Bing Crosby, Harry Barris and Al Rinker. Crosby and Rinker began performing together in 1925 and were recruited by Paul Whiteman in late 1926. Pianist/singer/songwriter Barris joined the team in 1927. They made a number of recordings with the...

. Bing Crosby recorded the song with The Rhythm Boys on June 20, 1927 for Victor. It was recorded by Paul Whiteman

Paul Whiteman

Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...

's orchestra in 1928 with vocals by Irene Taylor

Irene Taylor

Irene Taylor was an American singer best known for her recorded work with Paul Whiteman. She was married to singer and bandleader Seger Ellis....

 and The Rhythm Boys featuring Bing Crosby and with Bix Beiderbecke

Bix Beiderbecke

Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...

 on cornet. Two takes were released on Victor. Later it was also sung briefly by the latter in the 1930 film

1930 in film

-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...

 King of Jazz

King of Jazz

King of Jazz is a 1930 motion picture starring Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra. The film's title was taken from Whiteman's controversial, self-conferred appellation...

.

The song has been recorded by a number of artists since, including Frankie Trumbauer

Frankie Trumbauer

Orie Frank Trumbauer was one of the leading jazz saxophonists of the 1920s and 1930s. He played the C-melody saxophone which, in size, is between an alto and tenor saxophone...

 and His Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke, Dean Martin

Dean Martin

Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...

, and Ray Charles

Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...

, and become one of the standards of the American songbook, but with lyrics revised from the original politically incorrect version. The original lyrics featured the refrain line: "When the darkies beat their feet on the Mississippi Mud." which has since been revised to: "When the people beat their feet on the Mississippi Mud."

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...

 covered the song for their 1965 album The Chipmunks Sing with Children

The Chipmunks Sing with Children

The Chipmunks Sing with Children is an album by Alvin and the Chipmunks with David Seville. It was released on January 1, 1965 by Liberty Records.- Side one :# "Do-Re-Mi"# "Rag Mop"# "Me Too "# "Mister Sandman"# "Hello Dolly"...

.

The song was featured in the M*A*S*H episode "The General Flipped at Dawn", being sung and danced to by Harry Morgan (playing Brigadier General Steele, not Colonel Potter as he would go on to portray later in the series) after he asks an African American helicopter pilot to do a song number.