<P> ' Tai n't What You Do ( It 's the Way That You Do It ) is a song written by jazz musicians Melvin `` Sy '' Oliver and James `` Trummy '' Young . It was first recorded in 1939 by Jimmie Lunceford , Harry James , and Ella Fitzgerald , and again the same year by Nat Gonella and His Georgians . The `` shim sham '' is often danced to the Lunceford recording of this song . </P>
who sang it ai n 't what you do it 's the way that you do it
Jimmie Lunceford Harry James Ella Fitzgerald Nat Gonella and His Georgians