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“In
addition to Astaire’s wistful
rendition of ‘They Can’t Take
That Away From Me,’ the score
included ‘Shall We Dance,’
‘(I’ve Got) Beginners Luck,’ ‘They
All Laughed,’ and ‘Let’s
Call the Whole Thing Off.’” |
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- JW
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After the success of Porgy
and Bess, which opened September
30, 1935, George and Ira Gershwin
returned to Hollywood to write music
exclusively for motion pictures.
George was hoping to produce musical
scores that would result in hit
songs, and his aspirations were
realized in the musicals Shall
We Dance (1937) and Damsel
in Distress (1937). Unfortunately
he did not live to see the completion
of The Goldwyn Follies (1938)
for which he had written two hit
songs, “Love
is Here to Stay” and “Love
Walked In.” George Gershwin
died on July 11, 1937.
Although its storyline was thin
and a bit tedious, Shall
We Dance
was a box-office success. The Gershwin
score and the popularity of its
stars,
Fred Astaire and
Ginger Rogers (their seventh
film appearance in four years),
overcame what the movie lacked in
plot. In addition to Astaire’s wistful
rendition of “They Can’t Take That
Away From Me,” the score included
“Shall We Dance,” “(I’ve Got) Beginners
Luck,” “They
All Laughed,” and “Let’s
Call the Whole Thing Off,”
all of which would become best
selling recordings by Astaire.
(Astaire reprises many of his
hits in
Steppin’Out, recorded in
1952 with a group of superlative
jazz musicians.)
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George Gershwin was counting
on Shall
We Dance to “plug”
his songs and was initially disappointed.
In his opinion “They Can’t Take
That Away From Me” was all but wasted
on the film due to the brevity of
its performance (only the verse
and just one chorus). His fears
were unfounded as the song went
on to do well on the pop charts:
-
Fred Astaire (1937, with
Johnny Green and His Orchestra,
#1 for 10 weeks)
- Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra
(1937, Ozzie Nelson, vocal,
#6)
- Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra
(1937, Jack Leonard, vocal,
#11)
-
Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra
(1937, #12)
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“They Can’t Take That Away
From
Me” would be the only Gershwin song
to win an Academy Award nomination.
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In 1949,
Fred Astaire sang “They
Can’t Take That Away From Me” to
Ginger Rogers again, in
their first film together in ten
years. MGM's The Barkleys of Broadway
was
originally scheduled to star
Fred Astaire and
Judy Garland, reprising their
recent success of Easter Parade.
Garland did not show up, however,
claiming health problems, and was
replaced by
Ginger Rogers, making it the
tenth and last film for the dancing
duo. Some of the
Harry Warren score was modified
to suit Roger’s voice, and the film’s
producer,
Arthur Freed, decided it would
be a nostalgic touch to include
“They Can’t Take That Away From
Me.”
Harry Warren was not happy about
this, saying, “Not that I didn’t
like the song, but there isn’t a
composer alive who likes having
a song by someone else interpolated
into his score.”
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Ira’s inspiration for those lyrics
was reportedly Paulette Goddard,
the object of George’s romantic
attention at the time, even though
she was married to Charlie Chaplin.
In his book
Easy to Remember: The Great American
Songwriters and Their Songs
William Zinsser suggests that “They
Can’t Take That Away From Me” fits
into the category he calls a “list”
song. A list song is one that “used
some kind of enumerating device
to catalogue affairs of the heart.”
He gives as other examples, “These
Foolish Things,” “I Wish I Were
in Love Again,” and, the king of
list songs, “You’re
the Top.”
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Much has been written about George
Gershwin’s use of repeated notes
in songs like “I
Got Rhythm,” “Lady
Be Good,” and “A
Foggy Day.” In Wayne Schneider’s
The Gershwin Style: New Looks at
the Music of George Gershwin,
contributor C. Andrι Barbera says
that this device is compelling for
jazz musicians: “[Repeated notes
build] melodic tension while emphasizing rhythm
and holding the door open for harmonic
ingenuity.”
In the
case of “They Can’t Take That Away
From Me,” the extent of the repeated
notes apparently was not by original
design. According to Edward Jablonski
in
Gershwin: A Biography, the
melody started out as “…a simple
but haunting rhythmic manipulation
of a single tone: three eighth notes
and one quarter note.” Ira, however
suggested two more repeated notes
so he could fit the lyrics, “The
way you wear your hat…”
-JW
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Musical analysis of
“They Can't Take That Away from Me”
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| Original
Key |
Eb major,
going temporarily to G minor in the bridge |
| Form |
A1 – A2 –
B – A2 with two-measure extension |
| Tonality |
“A” is primarily
major; “B” goes to the minor. |
| Movement |
Repeated
tones in “A” section are followed by skips
up and down and then descending pentatonically;
“B” is based on a descending pentatonic
pattern. |
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Comments
(assumed
background)
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Once again, Gershwin demonstrates his ability
to create a masterpiece with very little
in the way of material. The entire piece
is based on two closely related pentatonic
scales – Eb and Bb (over G minor tonality).
He uses one additional note (Ab) only one
time, going into the two-measure tag at
the end. The sophisticated harmonic progression,
with its ascending embellishment chords
and the use of altered chords, belies the
melodic simplicity but also creates challenges
for the performer.
At many significant points in the song
there is a chord change every beat. For
example, the first sustained note is played
over an ascending I –ii7 - #ii˚7 – I6 (3rd
in the bass), while the penultimate measure
of A, containing the title line, is played
IV – ii7 – iiim7(b5) – VI7(b9) – II7 or
IV – ii7 – V7 – V7 (first inversion) at
the rate of one chord per beat. Functionally,
they are not necessary since they represent
simple three-chord cadences (IV – VI7 –
II7 or IV – V7 – I), but much of this song’s
richness would be lost without them. The
same might be said for the I – V7 sequence
of “B”. Were it not for the addition of
the ii7(b5), it would become tedious very
quickly.
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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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“They Can't Take That Away
from Me” was included in these films:
And in the Broadway musical:
- Crazy for You (1992,
Harry Groener)
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Click on a CD for more details
at Amazon.com
Erroll Garner
Concert by the Sea
1990, Sony #40589
Original recording, 1955, Columbia
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| Garner’s masterwork contains definitive
versions of almost every song on the album.
“You Can’t Take That Away from Me” is unforgettable. |
Mel Tormι
Mel Tormι Sings Fred Astaire
1994, Bethlehem
Original recording, 1956
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| The combination of Marty Paich’s
arrangements, stellar jazz musicians, and
Tormι’s insightful approach to the songs
that Astaire introduced makes this a desert
island disc. |
Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong
Ella & Louis
2000, Polygram
Original recording, 1956
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| Fitzgerald’s silky voice wraps itself
around Armstrong’s gruff growl in this rendition,
one of the best tracks on a great album. |
Duke Jordan
Trio & Quintet
1994, Savoy 149
Original recording, 1955
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| Pianist Jordan’s version of the
song belies the bop influence of his time
with Charlie Parker. Percy Heath and Art
Blakey join him for this one. |
Joe Pass
Blues for Fred
2004, Pablo
Original recording, 1988
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| Pass was the complete soloist on
guitar, playing the bass line and the melody
while keeping the rhythm going. Here he
starts “You Can’t Take That Away from Me”
sweetly and then ups the tempo. |
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For a few months during 1937 Count Basie had
vocalist
Billie Holiday with his band. Sadly no commercial
recordings were made with Holiday, but there are
a handful of live broadcast recordings, including
“They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” showing Holiday
in a much more relaxed form than on her April, 1937,
studio recording.
Alto sax wonder Charlie Parker was next to record
the tune, in 1950, on his famous session with strings.
Parker’s frequent colleague, trumpeter
Dizzy Gillespie, would do two versions, in 1952
and 1953.
Fred Astaire, dancer and vocalist who introduced
the tune in 1937, would revisit it (along with other
numbers from his movie career) in a session for
Verve Records, with Oscar Peterson and guest all-stars
in 1952.
Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian
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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 “They Can't Take That Away from Me” may be found in:
1 page including the following types of information: lyric analysis.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: music analysis.
4 paragraphs including the following types of information: music analysis.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: anecdotal.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: summary, lyric analysis and music analysis.
1 paragraph including the following types of information: history and performers.
5 paragraphs including the following types of information: film productions, history and performers.
2 pages including the following types of information: history, lyric analysis and song lyrics.
2 pages including the following types of information: anecdotal and lyric analysis.
Includes the following types of information: song lyrics.
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