Squeeze Me is an early jazz standard composed by Fats Waller, with lyrics by Clarence Williams and Andy Razaf, published in 1926. It was Waller's second published piece but his first real commercial success, helping establish him as a songwriter beyond his reputation as a pianist and accompanist. The tune has complex origins, adapted from Spencer Williams' 1922 composition Got to Cool My Doggies Now and an older bawdy blues number called The Boy in the Boat, with Waller reworking the melody and replacing the original suggestive lyrics for commercial release. Among the earliest recordings, Clarence Williams cut a version featuring vocals by Eva Taylor with Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins as sidemen, and Bessie Smith recorded it in May 1926 with Williams on piano. Armstrong himself recorded a masterful version with scat vocal in 1928. Waller later recorded a definitive rendition with His Rhythm in 1939. The composition is notably distinctive for its waltz-like quality, featuring a gentle, singable melody that lends itself to both instrumental and vocal interpretations. While not as universally recognized as Waller's later masterworks Ain't Misbehavin' and Honeysuckle Rose, Squeeze Me has maintained a steady presence in the jazz repertoire. On AllSolos, the tune is featured from Live From Emmet's Place Vol. 56 with Joe Lovano, with solos by both Russell Hall on bass and Emmet Cohen on piano.
