Harry the Hipster Gibson was discovered by fellow pianist Fats Waller, and his frantic, inventive stride/boogie-woogie, proto-rock blend would pave the way for players like Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. Club pianist by night, Juilliard graduate fellow by day, Gibson claimed to have coined the phrase “hipster” sometime in the 30’s and would take it on as his own nickname soon after.
“Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy’s Ovaltine?”, was released by Musicraft in 1944. It’s a little play on the Irish folk song “Who Put the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder”. But that tune never got anyone blacklisted, which this one did for Gibson that year. He’d recover, but it would take time. Over a quarter century, actually, when he’d resurface in the 1970s playing blues rock.