Open the door richardcount basie and his orchestrawords by dusty fletcher and john masonmusic by jack mcvea and don howellpeaked at # 1 in 1947 and, true to the times, six other versions also made the top 10three flames (#1); dusty fletcher (#3); jack mcvea (#3); the charioteers (#6); louis jordan (#6); and the pied pipers (#8)intro-conversations mingled in a crowded roomandlt;all parts are spoken except where indicatedandgt;???? at the club tonight. ole richard went home early-heand's got the key to the house. iand'm gonna knock on the door, see if i kin get in.andlt;five rapid drumbeatsandgt;open the door, richard!! ya see, richard sleeps in the back room. itand's kinda hard to hear. maybe i better knock a little louder.andlt;five louder rapid drumbeatsandgt;open the door, richard!! i donand't think richard heard me yet. knock one more time-letand's see whatand's gonna happen.andlt;five louder and even more-rapid drumbeatsandgt;richard, open the door, please. sung: open the door, richard open the door and let me in open the door, richard richard, why donand't you open that door?richard, open the door, man-itand's *co-hold* out hereand'n this air. now look-thereand's that old woman and'cross the street lookinand' out the windah (whoand's that, widow sweet?)that must be her sister, i guess. she wants to make sure this is me. sheand's tryinand' to find out whatand's happeninand'. yes, itand's me and iand'm late again! (??, did you hear what the ladyand's sayinand'?)no, what is she sayinand'? (she said you sure look common out hereand'n the street.)common? man, i got class i ainand't never used yet. iand'm gonna knock again-richardand's got to get up.andlt;five rapid drumbeatsandgt;open the door, richard!! man, you got a key to the house? (no, ??, i donand't have a key. i donand't have a key.)somebodyand's got to get in the house. we canand't climb in the transit. (oh, i know heand's in there.)how you know heand's in there? (i can hear him breathinand'.)ooooh, letand's try it one more time!andlt;seven loud rapid drumbeatsandgt;richard, open that door, man. maybe richardand's gone. andlt;five rapid drumbeatsandgt; sung: open the door, richard open the door and let me in open the door, richard richard, why donand't you open that door? andlt; halfway thru this singing part, it blends with a background conversation.andgt; i know heand's in there. (how you know heand's in there?)why, you got on the suit. i know i got on the only suit. ainand't got but one suit between us. thatand's the reason why i donand't like to roooooom with nobody.faderichard, why donand'tcha open the door, man?transcriberand's notes: *cold.andquot;* this entire song is done on an ad-lib basis and it varies widely from other versions, which were considerably funnier. andquot;??andquot; represents the names or nicknames of the band members which i could not comprehend. still it is the version that made #1.
