It Had to Be You (song)
Encyclopedia
"It Had to Be You" is a popular
song
written by Isham Jones
, with lyrics by Gus Kahn
, and was first published in 1924
.
The song was performed by Priscilla Lane in the 1939 film The Roaring Twenties
and by Danny Thomas
in the 1951 film I'll See You in My Dreams. The latter film was based loosely upon the lives of Gus Kahn
and his wife Grace LeBoy Kahn. It was also performed by Dooley Wilson
in the 1942 film Casablanca
, Betty Hutton
in the 1945 film Incendiary Blonde
, and by Diane Keaton
in the 1977 film Annie Hall
. It was also performed in the film A League of Their Own
by Megan Cavanagh
.
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...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
written by Isham Jones
Isham Jones
Isham Jones was a United States bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter.-Career:Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, to a musical and mining family, and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where he started his first band...
, with lyrics by Gus Kahn
Gus Kahn
Gustav Gerson Kahn was a musician, songwriter and lyricist.-Biography:Kahn was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1886. The family emigrated from there to the United States and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890...
, and was first published in 1924
1924 in music
-Events:*February 18 – First recordings by Bix Beiderbecke*February 24 – An Experiment In Modern Music concert at Aeolian Hall, New York – première of Rhapsody in Blue.*June – Alexander von Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony is premiered in Prague....
.
The song was performed by Priscilla Lane in the 1939 film The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a 1939 crime thriller starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart and Gladys George. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh, and written by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen based on the story "The World Moves On" by Mark Hellinger...
and by Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas
Danny Thomas was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy . He was also the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...
in the 1951 film I'll See You in My Dreams. The latter film was based loosely upon the lives of Gus Kahn
Gus Kahn
Gustav Gerson Kahn was a musician, songwriter and lyricist.-Biography:Kahn was born in Koblenz, Germany in 1886. The family emigrated from there to the United States and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1890...
and his wife Grace LeBoy Kahn. It was also performed by Dooley Wilson
Dooley Wilson
Arthur "Dooley" Wilson was an American actor and singer. He was born in Tyler, Texas, and is remembered as piano-player "Sam" who sings "As Time Goes By" at the request of Ilsa Lund in the 1942 film, Casablanca - the Sam in the famously misremembered line "Play it again, Sam" -- a phrase which...
in the 1942 film Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
, Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton
Betty Hutton was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedienne and singer.-Early life:Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg, daughter of a railroad foreman, Percy E. Thornburg and his wife, the former Mabel Lum . While she was very young, her father abandoned the family for...
in the 1945 film Incendiary Blonde
Incendiary Blonde
Incendiary Blonde is a 1945 American musical drama film of 1920s nightclub star Texas Guinan. Filmed in Technicolor by director George Marshall, it starred actress Betty Hutton in the title role. The music was written by Robert Emmett Dolan...
, and by Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
in the 1977 film Annie Hall
Annie Hall
Annie Hall is a 1977 American romantic comedy directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay co-written with Marshall Brickman and co-starring Diane Keaton. One of Allen's most popular and most honored films, it won four Academy Awards including Best Picture...
. It was also performed in the film A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own is a 1992 American comedy-drama film that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League . Directed by Penny Marshall, the film stars Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell...
by Megan Cavanagh
Megan Cavanagh
Megan Cavanagh is an American actress who portrayed the roles of Marla Hooch in A League of Their Own , Broomhilde in Robin Hood: Men in Tights , Essie in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and was the voice of Judy Neutron in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Hilary Higgenbottom in The Mighty B!...
.
Lyrics
The lyrics explain why the singer puts up with a domineering partner. The reason offered is depth of attachment: "somebody who could make me be true, could make me be blue." However, domination itself may be the attraction: "some others I've seen might never be mean, never be cross, try to be boss, but they wouldn't do." The singer concludes: "nobody else gave me a thrill ... wonderful you, it had to be you." However, the lyrics can be interpreted as a realistic and bemused commentary on the reality of attachment, a recognition that the beloved is not perfect but has significant flaws which can be tolerated and accepted because of her (or his) virtues. While "It Had to Be You" is not unique in taking this stand about romantic love, it does counterpose itself to the dominant pattern in the Great American Songbook of celebrating the beloved as a perfect angel. In any case, the complicated melody, minor chords, and ambiguous lyrics make this a classic torch song.Notable recordings
- Sam LaninSam LaninSam Lanin was an American jazz bandleader.Lanin's brothers, Howard and Lester, were also bandleaders, and all of them had sustained, successful careers in music. Lanin was one of ten children born to Russian-Jewish immigrants who emigrated to Philadelphia in the decade of the 1900s...
& his Orchestra on Okeh 40084 recorded March 20, 1924 - Ambassadors on Vocalion 14792 (matrix 12951) recorded March 24, 1924
- Marion HarrisMarion HarrisMarion Harris was an American popular singer, most successful in the 1920s. She was the first widely known white singer to sing jazz and blues songs....
on Brunswick 2610 (matrix 12760-62) recorded March 28, 1924 - Paul WhitemanPaul WhitemanPaul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
& his Orchestra on Victor 19339 (matrix 29779) recorded April 8, 1924 - Cliff EdwardsCliff EdwardsCliff Edwards , also known as "Ukelele Ike", was an American singer and voice actor who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. He had a number-one hit with "Singin' in the Rain" in 1929...
on Pathé Actuelle 032047 (matrix 105278) recorded on April 15, 1924 - The California RamblersThe California RamblersThe California Ramblers were a popular and prolific jazz group from the 1920s, that recorded hundreds of songs under many different record labels throughout the 1920s. Three of the members of the band, Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey, and Tommy Dorsey, would go on to front big bands in later decades...
on Columbia 127-D (matrix 81700-2) recorded on April 18, 1924 - Isham JonesIsham JonesIsham Jones was a United States bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter.-Career:Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, to a musical and mining family, and grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where he started his first band...
& his Orchestra on Brunswick 2614 recorded on April 24, 1924 - Aileen StanleyAileen StanleyAileen Stanley, born Maude Elsie Aileen Muggeridge , was a popular American singer.-Early life:...
& Billy MurrayBilly Murray (singer)William Thomas "Billy" Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century...
with Prince's OrchestraCharles A. PrinceCharles Adams Prince was an American bandleader, pianist and organist known for conducting the Columbia Orchestra and, later, Prince's Band and Orchestra. He made his first recordings as a pianist in 1891 for the New York Phonograph Co...
on Victor 19373 (matrix 30247-3) recorded on June 5, 1924 - Chappie d'Amato with Jack HyltonJack HyltonJack Hylton was a British band leader and impresario.He was born John Greenhalgh Hilton in the Great Lever area of Bolton, Lancashire, the son of George Hilton, a cotton yarn twister. His father was an amateur singer at the local Labour Club and Jack learned piano to accompany him on the stage...
& his Orchestra on HMV B-1887 (matrix Bb 4978-2) recorded on August 19, 1924 - Dorothy LamourDorothy LamourDorothy Lamour was an American film actress. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope .-Early life:Lamour was born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Carmen Louise Dorothy...
with orchestra conducted by Lou Bring on Bluebird B 10758 (matrix 042385-2) recorded on January 19, 1940 - Betty HuttonBetty HuttonBetty Hutton was an American stage, film, and television actress, comedienne and singer.-Early life:Hutton was born Elizabeth June Thornburg, daughter of a railroad foreman, Percy E. Thornburg and his wife, the former Mabel Lum . While she was very young, her father abandoned the family for...
with Paul WestonPaul WestonPaul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer and conductor. Weston was born Paul Wetstein in Springfield, Massachusetts...
and his Orchestra on Capitol 155 recorded on March 11, 1944 - Dick HaymesDick HaymesRichard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
& Helen ForrestHelen ForrestHelen Forrest was one of the most popular female jazz vocalists during America's Big Band era. She was born Helen Fogel to a Jewish family in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 12, 1917...
with Victor YoungVictor YoungVictor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...
& his Orchestra on Decca 23349 (matrix L-3446) recorded on June 28, 1944. This version first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on September 14, 1944 and lasted 5 weeks on the chart, peaking at #4. This recording was paired on a single with "TogetherTogether (1928 song)"Together" is a 1928 popular song with music by Ray Henderson and lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown. The most popular 1928 recording of the song, by Paul Whiteman, with Bix Beiderbecke on cornet, was a #1 hit for two weeks....
," a #3 hit, producing a big two-sided hit. - Julie Dawn with Carroll GibbonsCarroll GibbonsCarroll Gibbons was an American-born musician, bandleader and composer who made his career primarily in Britain. He was born and raised in Clinton, Massachusetts. In his late teens he travelled to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music...
& the Savoy Hotel Orpheans on English Columbia FB 3060 (matrix CA 19595-1) recorded on October 4, 1944 - Mildred BaileyMildred BaileyMildred Bailey was a popular and influential American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing"...
, 1944 - Buddy ClarkBuddy ClarkBuddy Clark was a popular American singer in the 1930s and 1940s.-Life and career:Clark was born Samuel Goldberg to Jewish parents in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He made his Big Band singing debut in 1934 with Benny Goodman on the Let's Dance radio program. In 1936 he started to perform on the...
with Dick JonesDick JonesDickie Jones is an American actor who achieved some success as a child and as a young adult, especially in B-Westerns and television. He is best known as the voice of Pinocchio in the 1940 Walt Disney film.-Early life:...
and his Orchestra on Columbia 38040 (matrix CO 38382) recorded on November 12, 1947 - Doris DayDoris DayDoris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
with Paul WestonPaul WestonPaul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer and conductor. Weston was born Paul Wetstein in Springfield, Massachusetts...
& his Orchestra on Columbia 39625 (matrix RHCO 10029-1A) recorded on November 9, 1951 - Petula ClarkPetula ClarkPetula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
with The Steve RaceSteve RaceStephen Russell Race OBE was a British composer, pianist and radio and television presenter.-Biography:Born in Lincoln, the son of a lawyer, Race learned the piano from the age of five...
Quartet featuring Steve RaceSteve RaceStephen Russell Race OBE was a British composer, pianist and radio and television presenter.-Biography:Born in Lincoln, the son of a lawyer, Race learned the piano from the age of five...
(pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
) and Roy Plummer (guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
) on PolygonPolygon RecordsPolygon Records was one of the first British independent record labels.It was started in 1949 as the Polygon Record Company Ltd. by Alan A. Freeman and Leslie Clark, who was anxious to control distribution of his daughter Petula Clark's recordings...
P1043 (matrix PL. 42) in 1951 - Hugo WinterhalterHugo WinterhalterHugo Winterhalter was an American musician.An easy listening arranger and composer, Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Mount St. Mary's near Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1931, where he played saxophone for the orchestra and sang in two of the choirs...
and His Orchestra on RCA Victor 20-3858 (in USA) and on His Master's Voice X 7810 - Ray CharlesRay CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
recorded it in 1959 for his album The Genius of Ray CharlesThe Genius of Ray CharlesThe Genius of Ray Charles is a 1959 album by Ray Charles. In 2003, the album was ranked number 263 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.... - 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,...
for the album The Third Album (1963) - Harry NilssonHarry NilssonHarry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
on the album A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the NightA Little Touch of Schmilsson in the NightA Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night is an album of classic 20th-century standards sung by Harry Nilsson. The album was arranged by Sinatra arranger Gordon Jenkins, and produced by Derek Taylor....
, (RCA Victor), released in 1973 - John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
covered the song on his self titled 1976 album John Travolta - Diane KeatonDiane KeatonDiane Keaton is an American film actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. Keaton began her career on stage, and made her screen debut in 1970...
playing the character Annie HallAnnie HallAnnie Hall is a 1977 American romantic comedy directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay co-written with Marshall Brickman and co-starring Diane Keaton. One of Allen's most popular and most honored films, it won four Academy Awards including Best Picture...
in the Oscar-winning Woody AllenWoody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
film of the same name, released 1977 - 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...
with Billy MayBilly MayWilliam E. "Billy" May was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music, for The Green Hornet , Batman , and Naked City and collaborated on films, such as Pennies from Heaven , and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return among...
& his Orchestra on the Reprise album TrilogyTrilogy: Past Present FutureTrilogy: Past Present Future is a 1980 triple album by the American singer Frank Sinatra. This album produced the last of Sinatra's many signature numbers, "Theme from New York, New York."...
(matrix XCA-9297) recorded on July 18, 1979 - Harry Connick, Jr.Harry Connick, Jr.Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
on Columbia on the soundtrack for When Harry Met Sally... recorded on June 6, 12 & 19, 1989 - Don McLeanDon McLeanDonald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...
, on his live album For the Memories Vols I & IIFor the Memories Vols I & IIFor the Memories Vols I & II is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1989.- Track listing :#"Maybe Baby"#"A White Sport Coat " #"Don't"#"Travelin' Man"#"Sittin' in the Balcony"...
, released 1989 - Kenny G. on the album I'm in the Mood for Love: The Most Romantic Melodies of All Time, in 20062006 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 – Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....
- Ella FitzgeraldElla FitzgeraldElla Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
and Louis ArmstrongLouis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.... - 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...
- Elliott YaminElliott YaminElliott Yamin , born Efraym Elliott Yamin, is an American singer known for his hit single "Wait for You" and placing third on the fifth season of American Idol....
; American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
season 5 - Yoyo MungYoyo MungYoyo Mung is a Hong Kong actress working for Television Broadcasts Limited. She is best known for playing Leung Siu-yau in Forensic Heroes I and II.-Filmography:-Television:-External links:*...
in The W Files a Hong Kong TV series about Wesley, a private detective and his girlfriend So. - Liza MinnelliLiza MinnelliLiza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
, on her 19961996 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
album Gently - Ginger GrantGinger GrantGinger Grant is a fictional character in the 1964 to 1967 television sitcom Gilligan's Island.-Career:...
in Gilligan's IslandGilligan's IslandGilligan's Island is an American television series created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The situation comedy series featured Bob Denver; Alan Hale, Jr.; Jim Backus; Natalie Schafer; Tina Louise; Russell Johnson; and Dawn Wells. It aired for...
episode "Forward March", to Gilligan. - Tony BennettTony BennettTony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
recorded the song as a duet with country musicCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer Carrie UnderwoodCarrie UnderwoodCarrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, in 2005...
for his second duets album, Duets IIDuets II (Tony Bennett album)Duets II is an album by Tony Bennett, released on September 20, 2011. It was released in conjunction with Bennett's 85th birthday and is a sequel to his previous duet album, Duets: An American Classic. One of the songs, "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", however, was released on iTunes as a free song...
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