BUT NOT FOR ME
Music: George Gershwin- Lyrics: Ira Gershwin
Year: 1930
Origin of the song
On 14 October 1930, the musical Girl Crazy was released in the Alvin Theatre of New York. In the second act of the play, Willie Howard and Ginger Rogers sang ‘But Not for Me’. The show had a notable success for those times, during the Great Depression, and reached two hundred and seventy two performances. The pit was occupied by Red Nichols’ orchestra. Among its musicians, there was Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey, and Gene Krupa, who made the crowd tremble during the intermissions with a jam session.
In 1932, RKO Radio Pictures produced a film adaptation of Girl Crazy, directed by William A. Seiter and starring Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, that wasn’t released in Spain. Only the acts ‘Bidin’ My Time’, ‘I Got Rhythm’, and ‘But Not For Me’ were kept from the original score. The film had very bad reviews.
On 26 November 1943 a new adaptation of Girl Crazy was released in the US, which had a much better reception from the critics and the public. It was the eighth collaboration between the couple formed by Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. The original story remained almost intact and all the songs from the original show were included, to which ‘Fascinating Rhythm’ was added, taken from the musical Lady be Good of 1924.
Versions in the top charts
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
DAY OF ENTRANCE |
PERMANENCE WEEKS |
HIGH POSITION REACHED |
|
|
1941.12.30 |
1942.08.08 |
1 |
12 |
Helen Forrest (voc) |
|
|
Ketty Lester |
1962.??.?? |
1962.06.23 |
7 |
41 |
Ketty Lester (voc), unidentified orchestra |
Jazz. Outstanding performances
Instrumental
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1953.04.20 |
Buddy DeFranco (cl), Kenny Drew (p), Milt Hinton (b), Art Blakey (d) |
|
|
1953.06.25 |
Milt Jackson (vib), John Lewis (p), Percy Heath (b), Kenny Clarke (d) |
|
|
1954.06.29 |
Miles Davis (tp), Sonny Rollins (ts), Horace Silver (p), Percy Heath (b), Kenny Clarke (d) |
|
|
1958.01.16 |
Ahmad Jamal (p), Israel Crosby (b), Vernell Fournier (d) |
|
|
1958.08.19 |
Ruby Braff (tp), Al Cohn (ts, cl), Hank Jones (p), Jim Hall (g), George Duvivier (b), Buzzy Drootin (d) |
|
|
1958.11.18 |
Johnny Hodges (as), Horst Jankowski (p), unidentified string section, Wolfram Rohrig (dir) |
|
|
1960.06.17 |
Sun Ra (p), Phil Corhan (cnt), Marshall Allen (as), John Gilmore (ts), Ronnie Boykins (b), Jon Hardy (d) |
|
|
1960.10.26 |
John Coltrane (ts), McCoy Tyner (p), Steve Davis (b), Elvin Jones (d) |
|
|
Gary Bartz Quartet |
1994.09.24 |
Gary Bartz (as), Mulgrew Miller (p), Dave Holland (b), Greg Bandy (d) |
Vocal
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1939.11.15 |
Lee Wiley (voc), Max Kaminsky (tp, dir), Pee Wee Russell (cl), Bud Freeman (ts), Joe Bushkin (p), Eddie Condon (g), Artie Shapiro (b), George Wettling (d) |
|
|
1940.12.09 |
Teddy Wilson (p, dir), Bill Coleman (tp), Benny Morton (tb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl), George James (bars), Eddie Gibbs (g), Al Hall (b), Yank Porter (d), Helen Ward (voc) |
|
|
Harry James Orchestra |
1941.12.30 |
Harry James (tp, dir), Claude Bowen, Nick Buono (tp), Dalton Rizzotto, Hoyt Bohannon, Harry Roders (tb), Claude Lakey, Sam Marowitz (as), Dave Matthews (ts), Clint Davis (bars), Al Lerner (p), Ben Heller (g), Thurman Teague (b), Mickey Scrima (d), string section, Helen Forrest (voc) |
|
1950.09.12 |
Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Ellis Larkins (p) |
|
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1952.02.26 |
Oscar Peterson (p, voc), Barney Kessel (g), Ray Brown (b) |
|
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1954.02.15 |
Chet Baker (tp, voc), Russ Freeman (p), Carson Smith (b), Bob Neal (d) |
|
|
1956.06.05 |
Chris Connor (voc), Ralph Burns Orchestra |
|
|
1956.11.01 |
Sarah Vaughan (voc), Studio Orchestra, Hal Mooney (dir) |
|
|
1956.12.05 |
Dinah Washington (voc), Quincy Jones Orchestra |
|
|
1957.01.07 |
Billie Holiday (voc), Harry 'Sweets' Edison (tp), Ben Webster (ts), Jimmy Rowles (p), Barney Kessel (g), Red Mitchell (b), Alvin Stoller (d) |
|
|
1959.01.08 |
Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Nelson Riddle Orchestra |
|
|
Mark Murphy |
1960.07.07 |
Mark Murphy (voc), Conte Candoli, Ray Triscari, Stu Williamson, Al Porcino (tp), Frank Rosolino, Lew McCreary, Bob Fitzpatrick (tb), Joe Maini, Al Thomson (as), Med Flory, Bill Perkins (ts), Jack Nimitz (bars), Jimmy Rowles (p), Al Hendrickson (g), Joe Mondragon (b), Shelly Manne (d), Bill Holman (dir) |
|
1996.??.?? |
Ann Hampton Callaway (voc), Cyrus Chestnut (p), Christian McBride (b), Lewis Nash (d) |
|
|
Giacomo Gates |
1998.01.22 |
Giacomo Gates (voc), Jim Rotondi (tp), David Hazeltine (p), Peter Washington (b), Ben Riley (d) |
On cinemas
The song 'But Not for Me' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:
|
ORIGINAL
TITLE |
TITLE IN
SPAIN |
YEAR OF
PRODUCTION |
PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM |
|
Girl Crazy |
No se estrenó en España |
1932 |
Arline Judge, Eddie Quillan and Mitzi Green |
|
Girl Crazy |
Loco por las chicas |
1943 |
Judy Garland |
|
An American in Paris |
Un americano en Paris |
1951 |
Benny Carter Orchestra |
|
But Not For Me |
No soy para ti |
1959 |
Ella Fitzgerald |
|
That’s Entertainment! |
Érase una vez en Hollywood |
1974 |
Secuence of 'Girl Crazy' |
|
Manhattan |
Manhattan |
1979 |
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas (dir) |
|
Torch Song Trilogy |
Trilogía de Nueva York |
1988 |
Billie Holiday |
|
When Harry Met Sally |
Cuando Harry encontró a Sally |
1989 |
Harry Connick, Jr. |
|
Four Weddings And A Funeral |
Cuatro bodas y un funeral |
1994 |
Elton John |
|
L.A. Confidential |
L.A. Confidential |
1997 |
Jackie Gleason Orchestra |
|
Return To Me |
Hechizo del corazón |
2000 |
Benny Carter Orchestra |