Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe

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Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe is a pop song written by Harold Arlen (music) and EY Harburg (lyrics) and released in 1942.

Using the song and first recording

Arlen and Harburg wrote the song for the film version of the musical Cabin in the Sky , which was based on Vernon Duke's stage version, in which it was presented by Ethel Waters and repeated her stage role as Petunia . Life's Full of Consecuences (a duet for Eddie "Rochester" Anderson and Lena Horne ) and Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe were among the most successful songs in the musical, which was one of the first MGM productions in which all roles were only cast with African American . The song was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Song category, which Harry Warren and Mack Gordon finally received in 1944 for the song You'll Never Know .

Cover versions

The song was covered by Thore Ehrling as early as 1943 ; In 1945 Woody Herman and His Orchestra took him on with the band vocalist Frances Wayne . This version prompted Judy Garland to add Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe to her stage repertoire. She also sang it in her 1955 revue Miss Show Business . From the 1940s, recordings by Tony Bennett , Ruth Brown , Dorothy Donegan , Georgia Gibbs , Ella Fitzgerald , Curtis Fuller / Manny Albam , Erroll Garner , Bengt Hallberg , Harry James , Peggy Lee , Abbey Lincoln , Patti Page , André Previn followed , Della Reese , Frank Sinatra , Cal Tjader and Sarah Vaughan , who also made the song a well-known jazz standard . Susan Hayward sang it in the movie Tomorrow I'll Cry (1955). In later years u. a. also Rosemary Clooney , Helen Forrest and Bette Midler or in instrumental versions a. a. Red Holloway , Roland Hanna and Bill Charlap of the song. Tom Lord lists 59 cover versions of the title.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David A. Jasen: Tin Pan Alley : An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song , p. 172.
  2. ↑ Song portrait at jazzstandards.com
  3. ^ David A. Jasen: Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song , p. 13
  4. ↑ Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960 , edited by Alan Gevinson, p. 149
  5. ↑ Mark Griffin: A Hundred Or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli , p. 80
  6. ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed January 2, 2014)