The all-black musical St. Louis Woman lasted only 113 performances after opening on Broadway on March 30, 1946, and that might have been that, except for Johnny Mercer, the show's lyricist, who also happened to be one of the founders of Capitol Records. Mercer arranged to have St. Louis Woman recorded for Capitol's first venture into the original Broadway cast album market, and he had Margaret Whiting record one of the score's songs, "Come Rain or Come Shine," resulting in a singles chart entry and, eventually, the establishment of the composition as a standard. Whatever problems St. Louis Woman might have encountered as a stage production, Mercer and composer Harold Arlen's score was a gem. The woman of the title was played by newcomer Ruby Hill, who sang "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" and "Lullaby," and performed "Come Rain or Come Shine" as a duet with Harold Nicholas of the dance team the Nicholas Brothers (brother Fayard Nicholas was also in the cast in a non-singing role). But there were also other women; in fact, the score was largely devoted to them. Second female lead June Hawkins got "I Had Myself a True Love" and "Sleep Peaceful (Mr. Used-to-Be)," and Pearl Bailey, in a comic supporting role that allowed her to steal the show on-stage, sang the humorous songs "Legalize My Name" and "It's a Woman's Prerogative." Male stars Robert Pope ("Li'l Augie Is a Natural Man") and Harold Nicholas ("Ridin' on the Moon") were heard here and there, but the score of St. Louis Woman was really a showcase for women's songs pitched in the bluesy/jazzy Arlen style, with Mercer's witty lyrics. At least, that was the case on this cast album, which presented an abbreviated version of that score running less than half an hour. (Arlen later revised the score as Blues Opera, aka Free and Easy, and that version got a 1957 recording. In 1998, a concert performance of the show finally resulted in a full-length recording of the original score.)