EMBRACEABLE YOU
Music: George Gershwin- Lyrics: Ira Gershwin
Year: 1930
Origin of the song
The music of ‘Embraceable You’ was originally written for a Ziegfeld’s show that never came to stage. Some of the songs in it were recycled for Show Girl, another Ziegfeld’s production, and ‘Embraceable You’ was included in Girl Crazy.
Girl Crazy was released in the Alvin Theatre of New York on 14 October 1930. In the first act of the play, Ginger Rogers and Allen Kearns sang ‘Embraceable You’. The musical was relatively successful for the times, at the height of the Great Depression, as it was played two hundred and seventy two times.
On 26 November 1943, Girl Crazy, an adaptation for the big screen, was released and had much better reception by the critics and the audience than the one RKO Radio Pictures had produced before in 1932. It was the eighth collaboration between Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. The original story and the music remained almost intact and all the songs were included in the original show, adding ‘Fascinating Rhythm’, taken from the musical Lady Be Good (1924).
Versions in the top charts
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
DAY OF
ENTRANCE |
PERMANENCE WEEKS |
HIGH POSITION REACHED |
|
|
1930.10.23 |
1930.11.22 |
9 |
2 (one week) |
Dick Robertson (voc) |
|
|
Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra |
1941.05.19 |
1941.08.30 |
1 |
23 |
Helen O’Connell (voc) |
Jazz. Outstanding performances
Instrumental
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1938.04.30 |
Bobby Hackett (cnt), Jack Teagarden (tb), Pee Wee Russell (cl), Bud Freeman (ts), Jess Stacy (p), Eddie Condon (g), Artie Shapiro (b), George Wettling (d) |
|
|
1939.04.13 |
Bobby Hackett (cnt, dir), Sterling Bose, Jack Thompson (tp), Brad Gowans (vtb), George Troup (tb), Pee Wee Russell (cl), Louis Colombo (as), Bernie Billings (ts), Sid Jacob (bars), Dave Bowman (p), Eddie Condon (g), Ernie Caceres (b), Don Carter (d) |
|
|
1944.06.15 |
Teddy Wilson (p), Emmett Berry (tp), Benny Morton (tb), Edmond Hall (cl), Slam Stewart (b), Sid Catlett (d) |
|
|
1945.12.05 |
Erroll Garner (p), Red Callender (b), Lou Singer (d) |
|
|
1946.01.31 |
Django Reinhardt (g), Stéphane Grappelli (vn), Jack Llewellyn, Allan Hodgkiss (g), Coleridge Goode (b) |
|
|
1947.10.28 |
Charlie Parker (as), Miles Davis (tp), Duke Jordan (p), Tommy Potter (b), Max Roach (d) |
|
|
1949.09.17 |
Roy Eldridge (tp), Tommy Turk (tb), Charlie Parker (as), Lester Young, Flip Phillips (ts), Hank Jones (p), Ray Brown (b), Buddy Rich (d) In Carnegie Hall, New York |
|
|
1950.10.09 |
James Moody (ts), Errol Parker (p), Pierre Michelot (b), Kenny Clarke (d) |
|
|
1953.05.15 |
Bud Powell (p), Charles Mingus (b), Max Roach (d) |
|
|
1955.01.20 |
Clifford Brown (tp), Richie Powell (p), Barry Galbraith (g), George Morrow (b), Max Roach (d), Neal Hefti Orchestra |
|
|
Barney Kessel |
1955.07.26 |
Barney Kessel, Al Hendrickson (g), Jimmy Rowles (p), Red Mitchell (b), Irv Cottler (d) |
|
Jimmy Smith Quartet |
1960.03.22 |
Jackie McLean (as), Jimmy Smith (org), Quentin Warren (g), Donald Bailey (d) |
|
1960.07.26 |
Don Cherry (cnt), Ornette Coleman (as), Charlie Haden (b), Ed Blackwell (d) |
|
|
1965.09.01 |
Eric Kloss (as, ts), Don Patterson (org), Pat Martino (g), Billy James (d) |
|
|
1975.06.06 |
Zoot Sims (ts), Oscar Peterson (p), Joe Pass (g), George Mraz (b), Grady Tate (d) |
|
|
1982.11.?? |
Jim Hall (g), Ron Carter (b) |
|
|
George Cables Trio |
1987.02.27 |
George Cables (p), John Heard (b), Ralph Penland (d) |
|
John Stetch |
1996.02.02 |
John Stetch (p) |
Vocal
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
The Captivators |
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) |
|
1941.09.26 |
Tommy Dorsey (tb, dir), Ziggy Elman, Chuck Peterson, Jimmy Blake, Al Stearns (tp), Dave Jacobs, George Arus, Jimmy Skiles (tb), Heinie Beau, Mannie Gershmann (cl, as), Fred Stulce (as), Don Lodice, Bruce Snyder (ts), Joe Bushkin (p), Clark Yocum (g), Sid Weiss (b), Buddy Rich (d), Jo Stafford, The Pied Pipers (voc) |
|
|
1943.12.15 |
Nat Cole (p, voc), Oscar Moore (g), Johnny Miller (b) |
|
|
1944.04.01 |
Billie Holiday (voc), Eddie Heywood (p, dir), Doc Cheatham (tp), Vic Dickenson (tb), Lem Davis (as), John Simmons (b), Sid Catlett (d) |
|
|
1944.12.19 |
Frank Sinatra (voc), Charles Griffard, Leonard Mach, William May (tp), Carl Loeffler, Jimmy Skiles, Elmer Smithers (tb), James Stagliano (tpa), Heine Beau, Leonard Hartman, Harold Lawson, Don Logiudice, Fred Stulce (sax), Dave Barbour (g), Philip Stephens (b), Mark McIntyre (p), Irma Clow (arp), Ray Hagan (d), string section, Axel Stordahl (dir) |
|
|
1946.01.14 |
||
|
1954.12.18 |
Sarah Vaughan (voc),
Jimmy Jones (p),
Joe Benjamin (b),
Roy Haynes
(d) |
|
|
1957.01.09 |
Billie Holiday (voc), Harry 'Sweets' Edison (tp), Ben Webster (ts), Jimmy Rowles (p), Barney Kessel (g), Red Mitchell (b), Larry Bunker (d) |
|
|
Chet Baker Trio |
1957.12.09 |
Chet Baker (tp, voc), Dave Wheat (g), Russ Savakus (b) |
On cinemas
The song 'Embraceable You' 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 |
Loco por las chicas |
1943 |
Judy Garland and chorus |
|
Old Acquaintance |
Vieja amistad |
1943 |
|
|
Rhapsody in Blue |
Rapsodia en blue |
1945 |
Joan Leslie (dubbed by Louanne Hogan) |
|
Humoresque |
Humoresque / De amor también se muere |
1946 |
Peg LaCentra |
|
Nancy Goes to Rio |
Nancy va a Río |
1950 |
Jane Powell |
|
An American in Paris |
Un americano en Paris |
1951 |
Danced by Leslie Caron |
|
With A Song In My Heart |
Con una canción en mi corazón |
1952 |
Susan Hayward (dubbed by Jane Froman) and Robert Wagner |
|
Manhattan |
Manhattan |
1979 |
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta (dir) |
|
City Heat |
Ciudad muy caliente |
1984 |
Irene Cara |
|
Off Beat |
Policía por error |
1986 |
|
|
Betsy’s Wedding |
Boda pasada por agua |
1990 |
|
|
The Public Eye |
El ojo público |
1992 |
Roy Eldridge Orchestra |
|
Bicentennial Man |
El hombre bicentenario |
1999 |
Paula West |
|
Catch Me If You Can |
Atrápame si puedes |
2002 |
Judy Garland |
|
The Human Stain |
La mancha humana |
2003 |
Teddy Wilson |
|
The Good Shepherd |
El buen pastor |
2006 |
|
|
Edge of Darkness |
Al límite |
2010 |
Charlie Parker |