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“Among jazz instrumentalists,
‘I Got Rhythm’ is hands-down the
most common Gershwin song.”
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- C. Andre
Barbera
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Not only did
Ethel Merman introduce “I Got
Rhythm” in the Broadway musical,
Girl Cray, but Girl Crazy
introduced
Ethel Merman to Broadway. The
show opened on October 14, 1930,
at the Alvin Theatre and ran for
272 performances.
Ginger Rogers was the co-star
of the show, but in her debut as
a leading lady she lost the limelight
to
Ethel Merman.
Girl Crazy was originally
written as a vehicle for Bert Lahr,
but when he turned down the part
for legal reasons, Willie Howard
was brought in to take his place.
The orchestra was the Red Nichols
Band, including
Benny Goodman,
Glenn Miller, Jack Teagarden,
Jimmy Dorsey, and Gene Krupa. This
star-studded orchestra thrilled
the audiences with jam sessions
during the intermissions. George
Gershwin conducted the music at
the premier, but after that Earl
Busby took over the baton.
A short time later, in 1930,
Red Nichols and His Five Pennies
with vocalist Dick Robertson took
“I Got Rhythm” onto the recording
charts, rising to number five. In
1931 Ethel Waters’ rendition peaked
at seventeen, and in 1932 a
Louis Armstrong version also
rose to seventeen. Later on, in
1967, The Happenings (yes, the Happenings)
recorded a rock version of “I Got
Rhythm” which sold over a million
copies and, according to The Happenings
Official Web Site, placed number
one on the charts.
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In 1930
Ethel Merman had left her secretarial
position and was just breaking into
show business. An oft-repeated story
was of her audition for Girl
Crazy with George and Ira Gershwin.
Merman was nervously lost in thought
as to how she might phrase one of
the songs by these songwriting masters
who were seated before her. George
Gershwin mistakenly thought
Ethel Merman was tentative about
his compositions. He offered to
change anything she didn’t like
in the songs. Surprised, she blurted
out, “They will do very nicely,
Mr. Gershwin.” The Gershwins were
impressed by what they took as self-assurance,
a quality for which Merman would
later become well known. Her sensational
performance in Girl Crazy
was the beginning of a five-decade
career; her last New York performance
was at Carnegie Hall in 1982.
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Other songs in the Girl Crazy
score include:
A 1932 RKO film adaptation of
Girl Crazy, starring Bert
Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, relied
on sophomoric comedy and not the
original Gershwin score, retaining
only “Bidin’ My Time,” “I Got Rhythm,”
and “But
Not For Me.” Variety
called it “a weak sister” of the
Broadway production.
 A
1943 release of the film fared much
better. MGM’s
Girl Crazy was the eighth
Mickey Rooney/Judy
Garland film and was generally
well reviewed. The original story
and score were left almost intact
and all of the songs were included
along with “Fascinating
Rhythm” from 1924’s Lady
Be Good.
Girl Crazy was also the
basis for the 1966, MGM film,
When the Boys Meet the Girls,
starring Connie Francis and Harve
Presnell. Suffice it to say that
the best thing about this musical
was its songs.
And finally, Girl Crazy
was used as the basis for the 1992
Broadway hit, Crazy for You,
which opened February 19,
1992, and ran for 1622 performances.
Seven of the songs from Girl
Crazy were included in the score
along with 13 other Gershwin songs.
“I Got Rhythm” was George Gershwin’s
favorite among the songs he composed
for Broadway musicals. An indication
of this affection was the dedication
to his brother Ira of his last concert
work, The “I Got Rhythm” Variations,
which was written expressly for
a 1934 concert tour with the thirty-piece
Leo Reisman Orchestra, conducted
by Charles Previn. The 12,000-mile
tour was a self-financed affair
to celebrate the tenth anniversary
of “Rhapsody in Blue.”
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In Wayne Schneider’s
The Gershwin Style: New Looks at the Music of George
Gershwin, contributor C. Andre Barbera says,
“Among jazz instrumentalists, ‘I Got Rhythm’ is
hands-down the most common Gershwin song.” He goes
on to say that the reason for its popularity is
its regularity and simplicity which afford space
for invention and also the fact that it was published
in the “jazz-friendly” key of B-flat major.
Jazz musicians are familiar with the term “rhythm
changes,” which is a phrase referring to the chord
progressions of “I Got Rhythm.” In the first few
decades of the 1900’s, record companies began encouraging
musicians to reuse chord progressions of existing
popular songs. In that way, they could borrow the
harmonic formula of a successful song without running
afoul of copyright laws. Although the “rhythm
changes”
are usually attributed to Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm,”
their exact origin is not known; many of the well-known
composers of jazz standards, including Gershwin,
mined the early jazz clubs for their material.
Regardless of their origin, the “rhythm
changes” have been used for hundreds of
published songs. Some examples are, “Allen’s
Alley,” “Don’t
Be That Way,” “The Flintstones,” “The Jeep is
Jumpin’,” “Lemon Drop,” “Lester
Leaps In,” “Red
Cross,” “Rhythm-a-ning,”
“Salt
Peanuts,” “Shaw
Nuff,” and “Squatty
Roo.”
Charlie Parker had a genius for writing songs
based on the chord progressions of “I Got Rhythm.”
Just a few of these inventions are “Kim,” “Dexterity,”
“Ah-Leu-Cha,” “Crazeology,” “Anthropolgy” and “Moose
the Mooch.”
Sometimes Ira Gershwin would write the lyrics
to a song and George would add the music. In the
case of “I Got Rhythm,” George wrote the music and
only after several weeks and many discarded attempts
did Ira come up with satisfactory lyrics. The slangy
lyrics reflect the exaggerated jazz rhythm in George’s
music and also the upbeat tempo. The lyric’s optimism
seems to be escapist fare aimed squarely at a depression-weary
audience. In the verse, the singer declares happiness,
cheer, and no need of money and then asks, “How
do I get that way?” The answer in the refrain is,
of course, “I Got Rhythm,” but also, music, my man,
daisies, green pastures, starlight, and sweet dreams.
-JW
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Musical analysis of
“I Got Rhythm”
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| Original
Key |
Bb major |
| Form |
A1 – A1 –
B – A2 (with two measure extension; usually
omitted today) |
| Tonality |
Major throughout |
| Movement |
“A” is pentatonic
rising and falling starting on the fifth
degree of the scale. “B” is note embellished
by upper and lower neighbors that leap down
a fifth; sequence repeats a step lower before
returning to “A” |
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Comments
(assumed
background)
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The favorite harmonic progression of all
time except for the blues. The first two
measures correspond to the I – vi – ii7
–V7 of “Blue
Moon” and “Heart
And Soul,” etc. The next four measures–as
penned by Gershwin–are iii – ct˚7 – ii7
– V7 (Dm7 - Db˚7 – Cm7 – F7 in the original),
a nice variation. The final four measures
consist of I –I7 (V7/IV) – IV – iv – I over
an descending bass line. “B” is based on
a circle of fifths from the III7 chord,
but Gershwin surprises us just before V7
by inserting a Fr+6 (Gb7(b5) in the original
key). |
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com
Check out K. J. McElrath's book of Jazz Standards Guide Tone Lines at his web site (www.bardicle.com). |
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I doubt that George Gershwin could have foreseen
that “I Got Rhythm” would be the basis for dozens
of other jazz melodies employing his original changes.
The melody is cute and endearing, but it’s the tempo
and rapid progression that have made the tune a
litmus test for jazz soloists for 70 years.
John
Stowell, jazz guitarist
www.johnstowell.com
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published Vocalist or Instrumentalist?
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“I Got Rhythm”
was included in these films:
- Girl Crazy (1932, Kitty Kelly)
- Girl Crazy (1943, Judy Garland,
Mickey Rooney, Six Hits and a Miss, The Music
Maids,
- Rhapsody in Blue (1945, Hazel
Scott)
- An American in Paris (1951,
Gene Kelly, Children)
- Sincerely Yours (1955, Liberace)
- When the Boys Meet the Girls
(1965, Connie Francis, Harve Presnell, Louis
Armstrong)
- That's Entertainment II (1976,
Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Chorus, Tommy Dorsey
Orchestra,
- American Pop (1981)
- My Girl (1991, Ann Nelson)
- Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
- Celebrity (1998, Teddy Wilson
Trio)
And on stage:
- Girl Crazy (1930, Ethel Merman,
The Foursome) Broadway musical
- Who Cares? (1970, New York
City Ballet) dance theater
- Crazy for You (1992, Jodi
Benson, The Company) Broadway musical
- Ethel Merman's Broadway (1992,
Rita McKenzie) Off-Broadway
- Minnelli on Minnelli (1999,
Liza Minnelli) Broadway special
- Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey
(2000) Off-Broadway satirical revue
And on television:
- The Muppet Show (1980, Fozzie,
Rowlf) Season 4, Episode 120
- Crazy for You (1999, Stacey
Logan) PBS Great Performances
- Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
(1999, Halle Berry dubbed by Wendi Williams)
HBO biopic
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Click on a CD for more details
at Amazon.com
King & Moore
Potato Radio
1993, Justice Records 802
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| Vocalist Nancy King and bassist
Glen Moore set a new rhythmic pattern for
“I Got Rhythm” before Nancy scats it to
Mars and back, settling back in to end with
a giggle. |
Mark Murphy
Crazy Rhythm: His Debut Recordings
1999, GRP 670
Original recording, 1956-57
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| Vocalist Murphy sounds as great
today as he did in this composite of early
recordings. He’s always taken liberties
with every aspect of a song to make it his
own. In the mid-section of “I Got Rhythm”
the backup musicians go crazy while he holds
a deliberate pace. And his version of “Exactly
Like You” is still the definitive one. |
Zoot Sims
Zoot Sims and the Gershwin Brothers
1991, Original Jazz Classics 444
Original recording, 1975
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| This recording has a crackerjack
line-up, including Oscar Peterson, piano;
Joe Pass, guitar; George Mraz, bass; and
Grady Tate, drums. Zoot is in fine form
and finds plenty of meat in this timeless
standard. |
‘S Marvelous: The Gershwin Songbook
1994, Polygram521658
Compilation
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| This compilation includes 16 vocal
tracks by Billie Holiday, Joe Williams,
Sarah Vaughan, Arthur Prysock, Ella Fitzgerald,
and the list goes on. Ernestine Anderson
sings “I Got Rhythm” with the Hal Mooney
Orchestra. |
Charlie Parker
The Essential Charlie Parker
1992, Polygram 517173
Original recording, 1946
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| This twelve-minute rendition is
from a live no- net performance of Jazz
at the Philharmonic. It’s a virtual wall
of jazz sound and excitement. |
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June 9, 1945, stands out in particular as a fascinating
moment in jazz history. A concert held in New York’s
Town Hall featured some of the top small jazz groups
of the day. As a “filler,” there was a duet by Don
Byas (tenor saxophone) and Slam Stewart (string
bass)--an unheard of combination in jazz at that
time.
Byas’ mentors were Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster,
yet he was working on 52nd Street with more harmonically
advanced players like Charlie Parker and
Dizzy Gillespie, their work influencing his
approach (in turn, Byas influenced players like
Sonny Rollins). Slam Stewart created a sensation
by his great bass playing and unusual bowed solos
with which he vocalized. Together, their performance
on “I Got Rhythm” not only stole the show but made
it clear that jazz was changing.
Unbelievably, this performance is not currently
available on CD. However there have been a number
of LP issues on Mainstream, Atlantic and CBS Special
Products Commodore reissue series.
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| This section shows the jazz standards
written by the same writing team. Click on a name
to see all of a writer's jazz standards.
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Additional information on “I Got Rhythm” may be found in:
1 page including the following types of information: lyric analysis.
2 paragraphs including the following types of information: history and performers.
3 paragraphs including the following types of information: music analysis.
1 page including the following types of information: music analysis.
1 page including the following types of information: history.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: summary.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: history and performers.
30 pages including the following types of information: history, lyric analysis, music analysis, performers, recordings and song writer discussion.
3 pages including the following types of information: anecdotal, lyric analysis and song lyrics.
Includes the following types of information: song lyrics.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: lyric analysis and music analysis.
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