Favourite recording of ... He Ain't Got Rhythm?

[anton]

Today two versions of this song happened to end up next to each other on my playlist, and they are both sooo good:

• Benny Goodman and his Orchestra (feat. Jimmy Rushing) - Dec. 1936 (159 bpm) (Was this the only time JR recorded with BG?)
  Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra (feat. Billie Holiday) - Jan. 1937 (176 bpm)

Absolute top musicians on both sessions.

[Eyeball]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnO1ddjvEHg

Alice Faye with girlie chorus.

The poster cut the clip just before The Ritz Brothers come on. They are my fave recording of HAGRhythm, but Faye is always good.

[Eyeball]

(Was this the only time JR recorded with BG?)

They are together on LP/CD in Brussels in 1958, IIRC.

[zzzzoom]

Lunceford does a nice version (1937).

http://www.jazz-on-line.com/a/ramb/Dec61550-A.ram

[Haydn]

Today two versions of this song happened to end up next to each other on my playlist, and they are both sooo good:

• Benny Goodman and his Orchestra (feat. Jimmy Rushing) - Dec. 1936 (159 bpm) (Was this the only time JR recorded with BG?)
  Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra (feat. Billie Holiday) - Jan. 1937 (176 bpm)

Absolute top musicians on both sessions.

I've just recently got into this one a little. I have the Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Jimmie Lunceford and Nat Gonella versions. Re-listening to them now, the Goodman has a nice steady beat and some neat section arrangements. The Lunceford has a lighter feel and more energy. Gonella's is faster, Gonella's voice doesn't really work on this one. The Teddy Wilson one has Billie Holliday on lyrics and a lovely light feel. I'd say my favourite at the moment is probably Benny Goodman's, for familiarity and the strength of the arrangement. But I find this song depressing, and it fails because the tune is not exciting and the words are about a sad lonely man who can't dance -

He Ain't Got Rhythm (Irving Berlin)

"He ain't got rhythm
Every night he sits in the house alone
'Cause he ain't got rhythm
Every night he sits there wearing a frown
He attracted some attention
When he found the fourth dimension
But he ain't got rhythm
So no one's with him
The loneliest man in town

Oh lonely man is he
Bending over his books
His wife and family
Keep giving him dirty looks

'Cause he ain't got rhythm
When they call him up
It's to call him down
With that daring aviator
He encircled the equator
But he ain't got rhythm
So no one's with him
Loneliest man in town"

[Eyeball]

If anyone can find The Ritz Brothers doing this song in the film, ON THE AVENUE, I'd like to see it and so would you. Has dancing in it, too.

[CafeSavoy]

(Was this the only time JR recorded with BG?)

They are together on LP/CD in Brussels in 1958, IIRC.

Good recording. They also recorded together on the Yale University set.

[Eyeball]

(Was this the only time JR recorded with BG?)

They are together on LP/CD in Brussels in 1958, IIRC.

Good recording. They also recorded together on the Yale University set.

I dont know that one. Is it around the same time?

[lipi]

(Was this the only time JR recorded with BG?)

They are together on LP/CD in Brussels in 1958, IIRC.

Good recording. They also recorded together on the Yale University set.

are you sure you're not thinking of the same brussels dates, rayned? those were issued in the yale archive series.

[Eyeball]

It was recorded at the Brussell's World's Fair" - 1958, IIRC. 2 LPs on Columbia.

The Columbias reissued on the Collectables Records label :

[CafeSavoy]

They are together on LP/CD in Brussels in 1958, IIRC.

Good recording. They also recorded together on the Yale University set.

are you sure you're not thinking of the same brussels dates, rayned? those were issued in the yale archive series.

Yes, those songs are on the yale archive series, but the versions are different. If you compare to the songs on the CDs/LPs John posted and the versions on the Yale set, you will see they are different. For example, the versions of Brussels Blues are different.

[djstarr]

But I find this song depressing, and it fails because the tune is not exciting and the words are about a sad lonely man who can't dance -

really you find the tune not exciting? I love how Jimmy Rushing sings "When he found the fourth dimension". The lyrics to this song always cracked me up - it's a nerd alert and you ain't hip unless you dance. ha ha.

I most often play the BG/Jimmy Rushing version because I like how he sings it, although the Billie Holiday is also good.

[Eyeball]

"In the month of January
He compiled a dictionary,
But he ain't got rhythm
So no one's with him
Loneliest man in town"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnO1ddjvEHg

There's a verse, too.