"Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard composed in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, with lyrics by Kenneth Casey. History Reportedly, Ben Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the credited lyricist – after meeting Dr. George Thaddeus Brown in New York City. Dr. Brown, a longtime member of the Georgia State House of Representatives, told Bernie about his daughter, Georgia Brown, and how subsequent to the baby girl's birth on August 11, 1911, the Georgia General Assembly had issued a declaration that she was to be named Georgia after the state. This anecdote would be directly referenced by the song's lyric: "Georgia claimed her – Georgia named her." The tune was first recorded on March 19, 1925, by bandleader Ben Bernie, resulting in a five-week stretch at number one for Ben Bernie and his Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra. One of the most popular versions of "Sweet Georgia Brown" was recorded in 1949 by Brother Bones and His Shadows and later adopted as the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team in 1952. Renditions Ben Bernie and His Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra, 1925 California Ramblers, 1925 Ethel Waters, 1925 Lillie Delk Christian with Johnny St. Cyr, 1926 Cab Calloway, 1931 Bing Crosby recorded the song on April 23, 1932 with Isham Jones and his Orchestra and it is assessed as reaching the No. 2 spot in the charts of the day. Coleman Hawkins with Benny Carter and Django Reinhardt, 1937 Django Reinhardt, 1938 Art Tatum, 1941 Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, 1943 The version used by the Globetrotters is a 1949 instrumental by Brother Bones and His Shadows with whistling and bones by Brother Bones. It was adopted as the Globetrotters theme in 1952. Bud Powell, 1950 Red Norvo with Charles Mingus and Tal Farlow, 1950 Gale Storm, album Gale Storm Sings, 1956. Anita O'Day, Jazz on a Summer's Day, 1958 Carol Burnett, 1960 Tony Sheridan recorded it in December 1961 with his studio backing group, The Beat Brothers, and it was issued on his 1962 album My Bonnie. He rerecorded the song in 1964 for his next album, A Little Bit of Tony Sheridan this time backed by The Bobby Patrick Big Six but still credited to The Beat Brothers. The Beatles, with Roy Young, as a backup band recorded it again for Tony Sheridan on May 24, 1962, in