I GOT RHYTHM
Music: George Gershwin- Lyrics: Ira Gershwin
Year: 1930
Origin of the song
The musical Girl Crazy was released on 14 October 1930 in the Alvin Theatre of New York. The show, which had two hundred and seventy two performances, turned Ginger Rogers into a star. Ethel Merman, in the song that closed the first act, did an overwhelming performance of ‘I Got Rhythm’. The pit was taken by Red Nichols’ orchestra, with musician such as Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey, and Gene Krupa, who delighted the spectators with jam session during the intermissions. George Gershwin was the music director the night of the premiere but he was later replaced by Earl Busby.
In 1932, RKO Radio Pictures produced a cinema adaptation of the musical also called Girl Crazy, which wasn’t released in Spain. It was directed by William A. Seiter and starring Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. Only the songs ‘Bidin' My Time’, ‘I Got Rhythm’, and ‘But Not For Me’ were kept from the original Gershwin’s score.
In 1943, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made a new and much better adaptation, which was also called Girl Crazy. Norman Taurog and Busby Berkeley were the directors, with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland as main artists of a cast where June Allyson, Nancy Walker, Gil Stratton, and Robert E. Strickland also took part. It was the eighth collaboration between Rooney and Garland and the film was very successful. The original story and the score remained almost intact, all the songs from the original show were included and ‘Fascinating Rhyth’ was added to them, from the musical Lady Be Good (1924).
Versions in the top charts
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
DATE OF ENTRANCE |
PERMANENCE WEEKS |
HIGH POSITION REACHED |
|
|
1930.10.23 |
1930.12.06 |
8 |
5 |
Dick Robertson (voc) |
|
|
Ethel Waters |
1930.11.18 |
1931.01.17 |
1 |
17 |
Ethel Waters (voc), Ben Selvin Orchestra |
|
Louis Armstrong Orchestra |
1931.11.06 |
1932.04.02 |
2 |
17 |
Louis Armstrong (voc) |
|
1967.??.?? |
1967.04.08 |
13 |
3 |
Bob Miranda, Tom Giuliano, Ralph DiVito, Dave Libert (voc) |
Jazz. Outstanding performances
Instrumental
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1932.06.30 |
Don Redman (as, dir), Benny Morton, Claude Jones, Fred Robinson (tb), Robert Carroll (ts), Rupert Cole o Red Inge (cl), Horace Henderson (p), Bob Ysaguirre (b), Manzie Johnson (d), other unidentified musicians |
|
|
1935.10.?? |
Stéphane Grapelli (vn), Django Reinhardt (g), Joseph Reinhardt, Pierre Ferret (g), Louis Vola (b) |
|
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1938.01.16 |
Benny Goodman (cl), Lionel Hampton (vib), Teddy Wilson (p), Gene Krupa (d) In Carnegie Hall, New York |
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1938.05.31 |
Larry Adler (arm), Stéphane Grapelli (p), Django Reinhardt, Joseph Reinhardt, Eugene Vees (g), Roger Grasset (b) |
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1939.09.24 |
Jerry Jerome (ts, dir), Charlie Christian (g), Frankie Hines (p), Oscar Pettiford (b) |
|
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1944.01.05 |
Art Tatum (p), Tiny Grimes (g), Slam Stewart (b) |
|
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1944.01.18 |
Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge (tp), Jack Teagarden (tb), Barney Bigard (cl), Red Norvo (vib), Art Tatum (p), Al Casey (g), Oscar Pettiford (b), Sid Catlett (d) |
|
|
1945.06.09 |
Don Byas (ts), Slam Stewart (b) |
|
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1945.09.18 |
Benny Goodman (cl), Red Norvo (vib), Mel Powell (p), Mike Bryan (g), Slam Stewart (b), Morey Feld (d) |
|
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1945.10.?? |
Bud Freeman (ts, dir), Yank Lausen (tp), Louis McGarity (tb), Edmond Hall (cl), Gene Schroeder (p), Carmen Mastren (g), Bob Haggart (b), Ray McKinley (d) |
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1946.04.22 |
Buck Clayton (tp), Charlie Parker, Willie Smith (as), Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young (ts), Kenny Kersey (p), Irving Ashby (g), Billy Hadnott (b), Buddy Rich (d) In Embassy Auditorium, Los Angeles (California) |
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1946.04.25 |
Nat Cole (p) Oscar Moore (g) Johnny Miller (b) |
|
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1952.12.01 |
Oscar Peterson (p), Barney Kessel (g), Ray Brown (b) |
|
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1955.06.28 |
Hampton Hawes (p), Red Mitchell (b), Chuck Thompson (d) |
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1959.02.02 |
Freddie Hubbard (tp), Cannonball Adderley (as), Wynton Kelly (p), Paul Chambers (b), Jimmy Cobb (d) |
|
|
Sonny Stitt Quartet |
1972.02.08 |
Sonny Stitt (as, ts), Barry Harris (p), Sam Jones (b), Alan Dawson (d) |
|
1975.06.06 |
Zoot Sims (ts), Oscar Peterson (p), Joe Pass (g), George Mraz (b), Grady Tate (d) |
Vocal
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
Red Nichols Orchestra |
1930.10.23 |
Red Nichols (tp, dir), Ruby Weinstein, Charlie Teagarden (tp), Glenn Miller (tb), Benny Goodman (cl), Sid Stoneburn (as), Larry Binyon (ts, fl), Ed Bergman, Wladimir Selinsky (vn), Jack Russin (p), Treg Brown (g), Art Miller (b), Gene Krupa (d), Dick Robertson (voc) |
|
1930.11.18 |
Ethel Waters (voc), Ben Selvin Orchestra |
|
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1931.11.06 |
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Zilmer Randolph (tp), Preston Jackson (tb), Lester Boone (cl, as), George James (cl, ss, as), Albert Washington (cl, ts), Charlie Alexander (p), Mike McKendrick (bjo, g), John Lindsay (b), Tubby Hall (d) |
|
|
1935.12.04 |
Fats Waller (p, voc), Herman Autrey (tp), Benny Morton (tb), Emmet Matthews (ss), Rudy Powell (cl, as), Gene Sedric, Bob Carroll (ts), Hank Duncan (p), James Smith (g), Charles Turner (b), Yank Porter (d) |
|
|
1957.02.01 |
Chris Connor (voc), Joe Newman (tp), Al Cohn (ts), Eddie Costa (vib), Ralph Sharon (p), Milt Hinton (b), Osie Johnson (d), John Rodriguez (bon) |
|
|
1957.04.23 |
Mark Murphy (voc), Ralph Burns Orchestra |
|
|
1959.01.05 |
Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Nelson Riddle Orchestra |
On cinemas
The song 'I Got Rhythm' 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 |
Kitty Kelly |
|
Girl Crazy |
Loco por las chicas |
1943 |
Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Six Hits & a Miss, The Music Maids, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra & Chorus |
|
Rhapsody in Blue |
Rapsodia en blue |
1945 |
Hazel Scott |
|
The Unsuspected |
Sin sombra de sospecha |
1947 |
|
|
Winter Meeting |
Encuentro invernal |
1948 |
Background music |
|
An American in Paris |
Un americano en Paris |
1951 |
Gene Kelly and some children |
|
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? |
Danzad, danzad, malditos |
1969 |
Background music |
|
That’s Entertainment, Part II |
Hollywood, Hollywood |
1976 |
Secuence of 'Girl Crazy' |
|
My Girl |
Mi chica |
1991 |
Ann Nelson |
|
Mr. Holland’s Opus |
Profesor Holland |
1995 |
|
|
Celebrity |
Celebrity |
1998 |
Teddy Wilson Trio |
|
Take the Lead |
Déjate llevar |
2006 |
Lena Horne |