Glad to Be Unhappy
Encyclopedia
"Glad to Be Unhappy" is a popular song
composed by Richard Rodgers
, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart
. It was introduced in their 1936 musical On Your Toes
by Doris Carson and David Morris
, although it was not popular at the time, as there was only one 1936 recording of the tune. In the 1937 London production, it was sung by Gina Malo
and Eddie Pola. The song was performed in the 1954 Broadway revival by Kay Coulter and Joshua Shelley
.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
composed by Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz "Larry" Milton Hart was the lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart...
. It was introduced in their 1936 musical On Your Toes
On Your Toes
On Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
by Doris Carson and David Morris
David Morris
David Morris may refer to:*David Morris , American general*David Morris , musician and radio personality*David Morris, one of the two defendants in the McLibel Case...
, although it was not popular at the time, as there was only one 1936 recording of the tune. In the 1937 London production, it was sung by Gina Malo
Gina Malo
Gina Malo was an American film actress, born Janet Flynn in Cincinnati, Ohio. She appeared in a number of British films in the 1930s, often playing an American.-Filmography:* In a Monastery Garden * A Tight Corner...
and Eddie Pola. The song was performed in the 1954 Broadway revival by Kay Coulter and Joshua Shelley
Joshua Shelley
Joshua Shelley was one of the actors blacklisted by movie studios as a result of the House Un-American Activities Committee's investigation of the Communist Party in Hollywood in 1952. He did not begin to again work regularly in Hollywood until 1973 when his career restarted.-External links:...
.
Notable recordings
- Bea WainBea WainBea Wain was an American Big Band-era vocalist born in New York City, New York. On a 1937 recording with Artie Shaw, she was credited as "Beatrice Wayne", which led some to assume that was her real name. On record labels, her name was shortened to "Bea" by the record company, ostensibly for space...
(1939) - Lee WileyLee WileyLee Wiley was an American jazz singer popular in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.Wiley was born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. While still in her early teens, she left home to pursue a singing career with the Leo Reisman band. Her career was temporarily interrupted by a fall while horseback riding...
(February 1940) - Lena HorneLena HorneLena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
(October 1946) - Helen MerrillHelen MerrillHelen Merrill is an internationally known jazz vocalist.Merrill's recording career has spanned six decades and she is popular with fans of jazz in Japan and Italy as well as in her native United States...
(February 1954) - Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, on In the Wee Small HoursIn the Wee Small HoursIn 2003, the album was ranked number 100 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album is also the first album reviewed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery. In 2007, Time Magazine selected it as one of The All-TIME 100 Albums...
(recorded February 8, 1955) - Audrey Morris (July 1956)
- Billie HolidayBillie HolidayBillie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
(recorded February 21, 1958) - Chris ConnorChris ConnorChris Connor was an American jazz singer.-Biography:She was born as Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri to Clyde and Mabel Loutsenhizer. She studied and became proficient on the clarinet, having studied for 8 years throughout junior high and high school...
(recorded January 29, 1959) - Eric DolphyEric DolphyEric Allan Dolphy was an American jazz alto saxophonist, flutist, and bass clarinetist. On a few occasions he also played the clarinet and baritone saxophone. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the 1960s...
on the album Outward BoundOutward Bound (album)Outward Bound is a jazz album by Eric Dolphy, released in 1960. It was his first album as leader, and is considerably less adventurous and more standardly beboppish than his later recordings, though there are unorthodox elements that point to what was to come...
(1960) - The Mamas & the PapasThe Mamas & the PapasThe Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
(1967), reached #26 on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart - Nancy Wilson, on "But Beautiful" (1969)
- Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, on Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical InstrumentsBarbra Streisand...And Other Musical InstrumentsBarbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments is a studio album by Barbra Streisand, released in 1973. The material on the album was drawn from Streisand's fifth television special which had aired earlier in the same year, on which Streisand had sung a selection of her best-known tracks and...
(1973) - Carmen McRaeCarmen McRaeCarmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
, on The Carmen McRae-Betty Carter Duets (1987) - Wynton MarsalisWynton MarsalisWynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, on Standard Time, Vol. 5: the Midnight Blues (1998) - Etienne DahoÉtienne DahoÉtienne Daho is a French singer, songwriter and record producer who has released a number of synth-driven and rock-surf influenced pop hit singles since 1981.- Career :...
(2007) - Chris BottiChris BottiChristopher Stephen "Chris" Botti , is an American trumpeter and composer. In 2007, Botti was nominated for two Grammy Awards including Best Pop Instrumental Album. On December 4, 2009, he was nominated for three more Grammy Awards including Best Pop Instrumental Album and Best Long Form Music Video...
(Featuring John MayerJohn MayerJohn Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...
on lead vocals), on Chris Botti in Boston (2009)