Someone to Watch Over Me (song)
Someone to Watch Over Me is a song from the musical Oh, Kay! (1926). It was composed by George Gershwin . The lyrics are from his brother Ira Gershwin . The song was sung for the first time in the musical by Gertrude Lawrence . The song has been interpreted by countless artists of various musical styles since its debut and has become a jazz standard and a key work in the Great American Songbook .
background
Gershwin originally wrote the song as an up-tempo jazz tune, but also experimented with slower versions. His brother Ira recognized the potential of the song and suggested making a warm and gentle ballad out of it, which George Gershin then successfully implemented.
Gertrude Lawrence, the British-Danish film and Broadway actress, first featured the song on October 18, 1926 in the preview of the musical Oh Kay! in Philadelphia . Another preview was in Newark , New Jersey .
On November 8, 1926, the official premiere of the musical took place at the Imperial Theater in Manhattan , New York City . Other songs in the musical were: The Woman's Touch , Don't Ask! , Dear Little Girl , Maybe , Clap Yo 'Hands , Do, Do, Do , Bride and Groom , Fidgety Feet , Heaven on Earth and the theme song of the musical.
The musical was very successful on Broadway with 256 performances, and from September 21, 1927 it was also performed in London in Her Majesty's Theater , also with Gertrude Lawrence in the lead role. The success of the musical was demonstrated by its resumption in the USA in 1960 and 1990.
Someone to Watch over Me was in the charts three times in different versions in 1927. It started with the recording of Gertrude Lawrence accompanied by Tom Waring on piano, which was recorded on October 29, 1926 and released in January 1927. The version was in the charts for eleven weeks from February 1927 and at times even reached number 2. In March 1927, George Olsen and His Orchestra recorded an upbeat version of the song together with the singers Fran Frey , Bob Borger and Bob Rice it at number 3 on the charts. And the version by George Gershwin - also recorded in March 1927 - reached number 17.
Development to the jazz standard
The development of the song to the jazz standard began in the late 1930s. The American jazz singer Lee Wiley recorded an album in 1939 with all of George Gershwin's songs and was accompanied by various jazz musicians on their instruments. On the song Someone to Watch over Me it was Fats Waller who accompanied her on the organ. In the mid-1940s, the interpretation of the song by jazz musicians really took off. For example, recordings of the song by Billy Butterfield (1944), by Eddie Condon (1944), by Coleman Hawkins (1945), Ike Quebec (1946), Frank Sinatra (1946), Eroll Garner (1949), Art Tatum (1949) and Ella Fitzgerald (1950). Not a year has passed since the mid-1950s in which at least one version of the song was not interpreted and published by a wide variety of jazz musicians (but also by musicians of other musical styles). A search for the song in the Allmusic music database will list more than 1000 versions of the song.
Versions of the song
Original version
| Year of admission | Artist | Album / single |
|---|---|---|
| 1926 | George Gershwin | single |
| 1927 | Gertrude Lawrence with Tom Waring | single |
Selection of cover versions
A search for the song in the SecondHandSongs music database lists 350 versions of the song, Allmusic knows almost 1000 versions and Discogs has almost 600 versions. A small selection of the available versions based on the music databases mentioned is shown in the following two tables:
Vocal
| Year of admission | Artist | Album / single |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Lee Wiley with Fats Waller | Eight Show Tunes from Scores by George Gershwin |
| 1946 | Frank Sinatra | The Voice of Frank Sinatra |
| 1951 | Ella Fitzgerald | Ella Sings Gershwin |
| 1955 | Chet Baker , Bud Shank , Russ Freeman | Chet Baker Sings and Plays With Bud Shank, Russ Freeman and Strings |
| 1956 | The Platters | The Platters |
| 1957 | Sarah Vaughan | Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin |
| 1957 | Sammy Davis, Jr. | It's All Over but the Swingin ' |
| 1958 | Della Reese | A Date With Della Reese at Mr. Kelly's in Chicago |
| 1959 | Marge Dodson | In the still of the night |
| 1959 | Pearl Bailey | Pearl Bailey Sings Porgy & Bess and Other Gershwin Melodies |
| 1959 | Blossom Dearie | My gentleman friend |
| 1960 | Dakota Staton | Sings Ballads and the Blues |
| 1961 | Vic Dana | This Is Vic Dana |
| 1961 | Betty Roché | Lightly and Politely |
| 1962 | Etta James | Sings for Lovers |
| 1962 | Lena Horne | Lena on the Blue Side |
| 1963 | Rosemary Clooney | Love |
| 1963 | Nancy Wilson & Gerald Wilson Orchestra | Yesterday's Love Songs - Today's Blues |
| 1964 | Johnny Nash | Composer's Choice |
| 1965 | Barbra Streisand | My name is Barbra |
| 1965 | Svend Asmussen & Stéphane Grappelli | Two of a kind |
| 1967 | Helen Merrill | Autumn love |
| 1968 | Julie Andrews | Star! |
| 1969 | Ray Charles | single |
| 1969 | Ann Burton with The Louis Van Dyke Trio | Ballads and Burton |
| 1975 | Rita Reys , Rogier van Otterloo | The George Gershwin Songbook |
| 1978 | Willie Nelson | Stardust |
| 1978 | Benny Goodman | Live at Carnegie Hall - 40th Anniversary Concert |
| 1981 | Nikka Costa | Nikka Costa |
| 1982 | Michael Tilson Thomas , Sarah Vaughan, Los Angeles Philharmonic | Gershwin Live! |
| 1983 | Linda Ronstadt | What's new |
| 1984 | Carol Sloane | A Night of Ballads |
| 1985 | Michael Feinstein | Pure Gershwin |
| 1986 | Laila Dalseth & Al Cohn | Traveling Light |
| 1987 | Kiri Te Kanawa , John McGlinn & The New Princess Theater Orchestra | Kiri Sings Gershwin |
| 1988 | Sting | single |
| 1989 | Don McLean | For the Memories - Volumes 1 & 2 |
| 1991 | Kenny Rankin | Because of you |
| 1991 | Toots Thielemans & Shirley Horn Trio | For my lady |
| 1993 | Charlie Watts | Warm & tender |
| 1993 | Etta Jones | Reverse the charges |
| 1994 | Elton John | The Glory of Gershwin |
| 1994 | Peter Nero & Friends | It had to be you |
| 1996 | Andy Bey | Ballads, Blues & Bey |
| 1998 | Susannah McCorkle | Someone to Watch Over Me - The Songs of George Gershwin |
| 1998 | Sinéad O'Connor | Red Hot + Rhapsody - The Gershwin Groove |
| 1998 | Holly Cole Trio | Treasure 1989-1993 |
| 1999 | Patti Austin | Street of Dreams |
| 2000 | Tom Keane | I love a Gershwin Tune |
| 2003 | Rod Stewart & Queen Latifah | As Time Goes By… The Great American Songbook Volume II |
| 2003 | Caroline Henderson | Don't explain |
| 2004 | Krzysztof Krawczyk | Mona Lisa - Amerykańskie piosenki |
| 2005 | John Stevens | Red |
| 2006 | Gladys Knight | Before Me |
| 2007 | Kind of sparkle | Some Enchanted Evening |
| 2008 | Amy Winehouse | Frank |
| 2008 | Theis Jensen with Søren Kristiansen Trio | Songs to Remember Too |
| 2008 | Take 6 | The standard |
| 2009 | Coeur de Pirate & Ben Charest | Nos stars celèbrent le jazz à Montréal |
| 2010 | Brian Wilson | Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin |
| 2010 | Rebecca Martin | When I Was Long Ago |
| 2011 | Cheryl Bentyne | The Gershwin Songbook |
| 2012 | Lyambiko | Lyambiko Sings Gershwin |
| 2012 | Tok Tok Tok | Gershwin With Strings |
| 2012 | Rachael MacFarlane | Hayley Sings |
| 2013 | Clare Teal & Grant Windsor | And So It Goes |
| 2014 | Ann Hampton Callaway | From Sassy to Divine - The Sarah Vaughan Project |
| 2016 | Megan Hilty | Live at the Café Carlyle |
| 2016 | Kristin Chenoweth | The Art of Elegance |
| Billy Butterfield |
Instrumental
| Year of admission | Artist | Album / single |
|---|---|---|
| 1927 | George Olsen and His Music | single |
| 1941 | Eddy Duchin | Duchin-Gershwin |
| 1951 | Artie Shaw and His Orchestra | single |
| 1951 | David Rose and His Orchestra | David Rose and His Orchestra Play the Music of George Gershwin |
| 1954 | Al Haig Quartet | Al Haig Quartet |
| 1955 | Jimmy Raney | 1955 |
| 1955 | Bud Powell | Jazz original |
| 1955 | Charlie Shavers | Gershwin, Shavers and Strings |
| 1955 | Georgie Auld | I've Got You Under My Skin |
| 1955 | Carmen Cavallaro | Music at Midnight |
| 1955 | Donald Byrd | Byrd's Word |
| 1956 | Seldon Powell | Seldon Powell |
| 1956 | The Bob Brookmeyer - Zoot Sims Quintet | Today's Jazz |
| 1957 | Art Farmer with the Quincy Jones Orchestra | Last Night When We Were Young |
| 1957 | Ernie Henry Quartet | Seven Standards and a Blues |
| 1957 | Winifred Atwell with Ted Heath and His Music | Rhapsody in Blue |
| 1958 | Tete Montoliu y su cuarteto | Tete Montoliu y su cuarteto, volume 1 |
| 1958 | The Curtis Counce Quintet | Exploring the future |
| 1958 | Bud Shank , Len Mercer Strings | I'll take romance |
| 1959 | The Benny Carter Quartet! | Swingin 'in the' 20s |
| 1959 | Johnny Hodges and His Strings | Johnny Hodges and His Strings Plays the Prettiest Gershwin |
| 1961 | Gene Ammons | Nice to 'Cool |
| 1961 | Pierre Spiers Sextets with Stéphane Grappelli | nocturne |
| 1962 | Roland Kirk | domino |
| 1964 | Willis Jackson | 'Gator Tails |
| 1964 | Earl Grant | Just for a thrill |
| 1965 | Peter Nero | Career Girls |
| 1966 | Putte Wickman , Sivuca | Putte Wickman Meets Sivuca |
| 1966 | Lawrence Welk & Johnny Hodges | Lawrence Welk & Johnny Hodges |
| 1968 | Oscar Peterson | My Favorite Instrument |
| 1968 | Enoch Light and The Light Brigade | The Best of Hollywood - Movie Hits '68 -'69 |
| 1970 | Ben Webster | Webster's Dictionary |
| 1975 | Stéphane Grappelli & The Diz Disley Trio | On the road |
| 1975 | Zoot sims | Zoot Sims and the Gerswhin Brothers |
| 1977 | Doug Raney , Duke Jordan , Hugo Rasmussen , Billy Hart | Introducing Doug Raney |
| 1978 | André Persiani | As Time Goes By |
| 1980 | Pee Wee Erwin | Pee Wee in New York |
| 1980 | Eddie Higgins | Sweet Lorraine |
| 1981 | Lance Hayward | Body and Soul |
| 1983 | Carl Kress & George Barnes | Two guitars |
| 1984 | The Charlie Byrd Trio | Isn't it romantic |
| 1985 | Jean-Pierre Rampal | Fascinatin 'Rampal |
| 1986 | Pim Jacobs & Louis van Dijk Quintet | Fingers Unlimited |
| 1987 | George Cables | By George - George Cables Plays the Music of George Gershwin |
| 1988 | The Allen Toussaint Orchestra | 'S Wonderful - 20 Great Gershwin Themes |
| 1988 | Paul Bley | Solo piano |
| 1988 | Klaus Ignatzek | Gershwin Songs performed by Klaus Ignatzek |
| 1988 | Spike Robinson , Strings Arranged and Conducted by Jimmy Deuchar | The Gershwin Collection |
| 1989 | Paul Motian | Paul Motian on Broadway - Vol. 1 |
| 1989 | Roger Guérin , Henri Chenuet | ... des chansons de Gershwin ... |
| 1989 | McCoy Tyner | Revelations |
| 1994 | Marcus Roberts | Gershwin for Lovers |
| 1994 | Joe Pass | Songs for Ellen |
| 1994 | Chick Corea | Expressions |
| 1995 | Michael Moore Trio | Michael Moore Trio Plays Gershwin |
| 1995 | John Arpin | Someone to Watch over Me |
| 1996 | Brad Terry | Brad Terry Plays Gershwin |
| 1996 | The Ted Rosenthal Trio | Rose thology |
| 1996 | Chico Freeman | Still sensitive |
| 1997 | Dick Wellstood | Dick Wellstood Live at the Sticky Wicket - Commerating the Tenth Anniversary of Dick's Death |
| 1997 | Eddie Higgins Trio | Haunted Heart |
| 1998 | Bob Brookmeyer , Netherlands Metropole Orchestra | Out of This World |
| 1998 | Fabio Zeppetella, Emmanuel Bex , Roberto Gatto | A Tribute to Wes Montgomery |
| 1999 | Kind of Blakey | Different drummers |
| 1999 | Keith Jarrett | The Melody at Night, with You |
| 2000 | Johnny Griffin with Horace Parlan | Close your eyes |
| 2001 | Joe Temperley | Easy to remember |
| 2001 | Bucky pizzarelli | One morning in May |
| 2003 | Mark Soskin | Homage to Sonny Rollins |
| 2003 | Alan Barnes | If You Could See Me Now - The Alto Saxophone of Alan Barnes |
| 2003 | John Etheridge | Chasing Shadows |
| 2004 | Chris Botti | When I Fall in Love |
| 2004 | Brad Mehldau | Live in Tokyo |
| 2005 | Michel Camilo | solo |
| 2008 | Martin Taylor | Double standards |
| 2014 | Massimo Farao 'trio | Luiza |
Use in musical and theater
The song is used in the following other musicals and theater productions:
- The song is sung in the musical Crazy for You by Ken Ludwig with the music of George Gershwin and the lyrics by Ira Gershwins.
- The play Someone Who'll Watch Over Me by Frank McGuinness refers to the song.
Use in film and television
The song was among other soundtracks in the following films:
- Rhapsody in Blue (1945, sung by Joan Leslie )
- Young at Heart (1954, sung by Frank Sinatra )
- Three for the Show (1955, sung by Marge Champion )
- Beau James (1957, sung by Vera Miles )
- The Helen Morgan Story (1957, sung by Ann Blyth )
- Star! (1968, sung by Julie Andrews ; Star! Is the film adaptation of Gertrude Lawrence's biography)
- Someone to Watch Over Me (1987, sung by Sting )
- Cider House Rules (1999, played by George Gershwin)
- Someone to Watch Over Me (Love Amid the Stars) Star Trek Voyager Season 5 Episode 22 (April 28, 1999)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Someone to Watch Over Me at jazzstandards.com. Retrieved February 4, 2017 .
- ↑ Lyrics of the song at play.google.com. Retrieved February 4, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Someone to Watch Over Me at cafesongbook.com. Retrieved February 4, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d Someone to Watch Over Me at secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved February 4, 2017 .
- ↑ Someone to Watch Over Me on youtube. Retrieved March 6, 2017 .
- ↑ Someone to Watch Over Me at allmusic.com. Retrieved February 4, 2017 .
- ↑ Someone to Watch Over Me at www.discogs.com. Retrieved March 16, 2017 .