Vocalist Aida Ward introduced this Ted Koehler-Harold Arlen tune in the Cotton Club show Rhyth-Mania, which premiered in March, 1931. Featured in the production was Cab Calloway’s Orchestra which hit the charts with the tune that year:

• Cab Calloway and His Orchestra (1931, vocal, #15)
• Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra (1932, vocal, #12)
• Boswell Sisters (1932, vocal, #13)

Rhyth-Mania was the first collaboration of Koehler and Arlen for Cotton Club revues, and they would do three more together. Although the duo collaborated on a total of nine tunes for the show, only three in addition to “Devil...” made a splash. Calloway recorded two--“Kickin’ the Gong Around,” a follow-up to his successful “Minnie the Moocher,” and “Trickeration.” Calloway’s recording of “Kickin’the Gong Around” made the charts in 1931, as did Louis Armstrong’s performance. Another tune from the show, “I Love a Parade,” hit the charts in 1932, performed by the Victor Arden-Phil Ohman Orchestra, and Calloway performed a brief version of it in the 1934 film short Cab Calloway’s Hi-de-Ho.

Unlike some standards which made a splash the first year of release only to resurface years later, “Between the Devil...” continued to be performed and recorded on a regular basis over the years.

The term “between the devil and the deep blue sea” is the same as “between a rock and a hard place,” which means caught in a difficult situation or state of mind. Koehler’s lyrics echo this sentiment nicely: “I don’t want you, but I hate to lose you” and “I forgive you, ‘cause I can’t forget you.” The lyrics to the bridge are especially witty: “I ought to cross you off my list, but when you come a-knocking at my door, fate seems to give my heart a twist, and I come running back for more.”