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I Won't Dance (1935)

Origin and Chart Information
Rank999
Music

Jerome Kern

LyricsDorothy Fields
Oscar Hammerstein II
Otto Harbach
Jimmy McHugh

Currently, 1000 jazz standards are ranked and have web pages (click on  Songs for the full list).

 The top 100 are fully documented:
 

YearRankTitle
19301Body and Soul
19392All the Things You Are
19353Summertime
19444'Round Midnight
19355I Can't Get Started (with You)
19376My Funny Valentine
19427Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be)
19308What Is This Thing Called Love?
19339Yesterdays
194610Stella By Starlight

Click on Songs for the full list.
Musician's Comments
To me this a great song because of some quirky things that make it special. The “A” section is normal and uses lots of direct repetition. The “B” uses a different kind of repetition in that the same phrase keeps modulating to different keys. The words are also witty rhyming “heaven rest us” with “I’m not asbestos.”

A great version is on the CD Ella and Louis, which is a good reference for many standards in the post big band era, swing style. They have fun and obviously enjoy working together on this playful duet.

Less obvious is Art Tatum with Roy Eldridge (The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 2) who prove that an effective instrumental version can still swing, although you lose out on the words and some of the cleverness. This version has a lot of the same spirit of the song as any good vocal version does.

Peter Kenagy, Trumpet Player

www.peterkenagy.com
www.myspace.com/peterkenagy
 


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Written by the Same Composer or Team...
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.

Dorothy Fields, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Jerome Kern and Jimmy McHugh

YearRankTitle
1935999I Won’t Dance
Reading and Research

Additional information on “I Won't Dance” may be found in:


2 pages including the following types of information: music analysis.

1 paragraph including the following types of information: film productions, summary, lyric analysis and music analysis.

Includes the following types of information: song lyrics.

1 paragraph including the following types of information: anecdotal. (Page 95).

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