An early jazz standard, the song was recorded by Bessie Smith, Ted Lewis, Fletcher Henderson, Cab Calloway, and many others.

The 1946 film Beale Street Mama was named after the song.

The film is set in Memphis, Tennessee, and focuses on a street sweeper who comes upon a large parcel of money.

He uses the newly acquired wealth to go on a spending spree, with the hope of getting back at an old girlfriend who dumped him for another man.

[1][2] No copyright was filed for Beale Street Mama, which makes the production a public domain film.