If I Had You (1928)
If I Had You is a pop song that Ted Shapiro , Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly wrote under the common pseudonym Irving King and released in 1928. The song, which originally came from England, became popular in the United States in particular from the 1930s and also became a widely played jazz standard .
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The song, written in B flat major in the form AA'BA ' , was advertised as "the Prince of Wales' favorite foxtrot". If I Had You begins with the lines:
- I could show the world how to smile
- I could be glad all of the while
- I could change the gray skies to blue
- If I had you.
In the chorus, the song has a chromatic passage that can be heard twelve times. Initially the song was popular in Great Britain; the British singer Al Bowlly came with his recording of the song with the orchestra of Fred Elizalde ( Brunswick ) on # 12 of the US charts. If I Had You was one of Rudy Vallées first recordings for Harmony Records , accompanied by the Connecticut Yankees - named after a show by Rodgers and Hart in 1927. Vallee reached position 7 on the American charts with his version.
First recordings and later cover versions
Other musicians who covered the song from 1928 included Ray Miller (Brunswick), Sam Lanin / Bing Crosby (OKeh), Broadway Broadcasters (with Scrappy Lambert , vocals), the Original Wolverines (Vocalion, with Frank Sylvano , vocals) , Al Starita and the Piccadilly Players and The Colonial Club Orchestra . Bert Ambrose and his Embassy Club Orchestra recorded the song in London, Stefan Weintraub in Berlin and Ray Ventura in Paris.
The discographer Tom Lord lists a total of 610 (as of 2015) cover versions in the field of jazz , including recordings by Frank Sinatra , Charlie Parker , Dinah Washington , Art Blakey , Eddie Lockjaw Davis , Benny Goodman , Etta Jones , Diana Krall , Red Norvo ( ! Move ), Oscar Peterson , Lennie Tristano , Charlie Ventura and Joe Williams are emphasized Dan Dailey sang the song in You Were Meant for Me (1948, directed by Lloyd Bacon ); Doreen Tryden was a vocal double in The Hoodlum Saint (1946, directed by Norman Taurog ). The song was used u. a. also featured in the soundtrack of the Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and the Woody Allen film I See the Man of Your Dreams .
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Ted Shapiro (1899–1980) was known in the USA as the accompanying pianist and musical director of Sophie Tucker , for whom he worked from 1921 until her last appearance in 1963.
- ^ A b Marvin E. Paymer, Don E. Post: Sentimental Journey: Intimate Portraits of America's Great Popular Songs . 1999, p. 111
- ↑ George Batista Da Silva: A Música De Dinah Shore . 2007.
- ^ A b Max Morath: The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Popular Standards . 2002
- ↑ a b c d Information at Jazzstandards.com
- ↑ a b Tom Lord: Jazz discography (online)
- ↑ Johannes Kunz: Frank Sinatra: und seine Zeit , 2015
- ^ John Howard Reid: A Risky Business Crime in the Movies , p. 65.
- ↑ Woody Allen - Filmography: From "What's New Pussycat?" to "Irrational Man ... by Annette Körbel