‘Black and Blue’ Lyric

Re the Ralph Ellison obituary, April 17:

While the late author Ralph Ellison credited Fats Waller’s “Black and Blue” lyric “with driving him to focus the painful introspection of autobiography that was evidenced in ‘Invisible Man,’ ” it was Andy Razaf (“Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Honeysuckle Rose”), the black, American-born son of a Madagascaran nobleman, Waller’s longtime lyricist, who must be credited with “what did I do to be so black and blue.”

Further “credit” should go to the gangster Dutch Schultz for inspiring Razaf, who inspired Ellison. The Dutchman, a business associate of my grandfather’s, bankrolled the 1920 musical “Hot Chocolates,” in which the song appeared, and came to Razaf with the idea to write a song about the plight of being colored. And that’s how songs are born.

DONALD ROSS

Beverly Hills