I know that you know
I Know That You Know is a song written by Vincent Youmans (music) and Anne Caldwell (lyrics) and released in 1926. It also became a widely played jazz standard from the mid-1930s .
history
A year after Tea for Two , which would become one of its biggest hit titles, Vincent Youman's I Know What You Know wrote ; the lyrics were provided by the Tin Pan Alley songwriter Anne Caldwell (1867–1936). The song was performed by Beatrice Lillie in the 1926 Broadway musical Oh, Please! presented. Although the show only saw 75 performances, the song I Know That You Know rose to # 5 on the American charts in 1927, recorded by Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra. The Benny Goodman Orchestra covered him in 1936 and reached # 14 on the charts.
Especially in the instrumental version, the Youmans song became a popular jazz title, even if it was described as too monotonous by some critics. Author and critic William Zinnser wrote in Easy to Remember: The Great American Songwriters and Their Songs that the song's great success came from its simple musical structure (What gives Youmans' songs their tremendous energy is their small range [in this case an octave and a third]) . In contrast to Jerome Kern and other composers, whose melodies rose and fell over long curves, Youmans generally only used a few adjacent notes. “Even in the bridge he doesn't feel the urge to look for variation.” For Zinnser, Youmans proceeds in a similar way to Tea for Two , I Want to Be Happy , Sometimes I'm Happy and Great Day . He is thus in the tradition of urban songwriters who make frequent use of repeated notes; "Vincent Youmans was a master of repeated note."
In 1926 the song was recorded by Cliff Edwards (Pathé, among others with Red Nichols , Jimmy Dorsey ). He was covered by Jimmie Noone in 1928, followed by Fred Rich , Benny Goodman , Teddy Wilson , Red Norvo , Seger Ellis , Lionel Hampton , Louis Armstrong , Leith Stevens , Kansas City Five , Gene Krupa , Coleman Hawkins , Glenn Miller , Paul Whiteman and Rex in the following decade Stewart . It was followed in the following years major versions of the song by Stan Kenton , Erroll Garner , Oscar Peterson , Dizzy Gillespie and Lester Young ; in later years also by Jackie & Roy , Harry Allen , Jesse Davis , John Pizzarelli and Jackie Ryan . The discographer Tom Lord lists 206 (as of 2017) versions in the field of jazz . According to Jazzstandards.com, the versions by Nat King Cole / Stuff Smith , Milt Hinton , Bud Powell , Sonny Rollins , Art Tatum and by Warren Vaché / Howard Alden are particularly noteworthy .
The song appeared several times in the soundtrack of the Oscar-nominated short film So You Want to Be on the Radio (1948). The actress Doris Day sang I Know That You Know in the film Tea for Two (1950, directed by David Butler ). The song was also used in the film version of the Broadway show Hit the Deck (1955), in which it was interpreted by Jane Powell and Vic Damone . Woody Allen used Gene Krupa's version in Crimes and Other Trifles (1989).