EVERYTHING HAPPENS TO ME

Music: Matt Dennis- Lyrics: Thomas Adair

Year: 1941

Origin of the song

In December 1940, the compositor Matt Dennis, through the singer Jo Stafford, met Tommy Dorsey in the Hollywood Palladium. Dorsey, after listening to some of the melodies, asked him to compose something for him. Although Dennis had the music of the songs written, he needed the lyrics. One night, while he was playing in a nightclub in Los Angeles, he ran into Tom Adair, who had already written the lyrics of another of his songs, ‘Will You Still be Mine?’. The compositor loved Adair’s sophisticated way of writing and asked him to write the lyrics for two of his compositions, ‘Everything Happens to Me’ and ‘Let’s Get Away from It All’.

Dorsey recorded ‘Everything Happens to Me’ on 7 February 1941, with Frank Sinatra as vocal soloist. It was an absolute success and, in April, the disc entered the top charts and reached the ninth position.

Apart from ‘Will You Still Be Mine?’ (1940) and ‘Everything Happens to Me’ (1941), Dennis and Adair wrote ’Violets for Your Furs’ (1941) and ‘The Night We Called It a Day’ (1944).

Versions in the top of charts

PERFORMERS	DATE OF RECORDING	DAY OF ENTRANCE	PERMANENCE WEEKS	HISG POSITION REACHEAD
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	1941.02.07	1941.04.19	10	9	Frank Sinatra (voc)

Jazz. Outstanding performances

Instrumental

PERFORMERS	DATE OF RECORDING	MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
Charlie Parker Quartet	1949.11.30	Charlie Parker (as), Stan Freeman (p), Ray Brown (b), Buddy Rich (d), Mitch Miller (ob, ci), Jimmy Carroll Orchestra
Stan Getz Quintet	1951.10.28	Stan Getz (ts), Al Haig (p), Jimmy Raney (g), Teddy Kotick (b), Tiny Kahn (d)
Art Pepper Quartet	1953.03.29	Art Pepper (as), Russ Freeman (p), Bob Whitlock (b), Bobby White (d)
Lee Konitz Quartet	1956.10.16	Lee Konitz (as, ts), Billy Bauer (g), Arnold Fishkin (b), Dick Scott (d)
Thelonious Monk	1964.10.31	Thelonious Monk (p)
Sonny Rollins Quartet	1965.07.08	Sonny Rollins (ts), Ray Bryant (p), Walter Booker (b), Mickey Roker (d)
Branford Marsalis Trio	1991.09.23	Branford Marsalis (ts, ss), Robert Hurst (b), Jeff 'Tain' Watts (d)
Tom Harrell	2001.11.15	Tom Harrell (fis), Xavier Davis (p)
Keith Jarrett- Charlie Haden Duo	2007.03.??	Keith Jarrett (p), Charlie Haden (b)

Vocal

PERFORMERS	DATE OF RECORDING	MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra	1941.02.07	Tommy Dorsey (tb, dir), Jimmy Blake, Ziggy Elman, Ray Linn, Chuck Peterson (tp), George Arus, Les Jenkins, Lowell Martin (tb), Heine Beau, Fred Stulce (as), Don Lodice, Paul Mason (ts), Johnny Mince (cl), Joe Bushkin (p), Clark Yocum (g), Sid Weiss (b), Buddy Rich (d), Frank Sinatra (voc)
Woody Herman Orchestra	1941.03.11	Woody Herman (cl, as, voc, dir), unidentified orchestra
Mel Tormé	1948.09.21	Mel Tormé (voc), The Mel-Tones (Virginia Maxey, Bernie Parke, Les Baxter, Sheldon Disruhd & Ralph Brewster) (voc), Dean Elliott Orchestra
Billie Holiday with Tony Scott Orchestra	1955.02.14	Billie Holiday (voc), Tony Scott (cl, dir), Charlie Shavers (tp), Budd Johnson (ts), Billy Taylor (p), Billy Bauer (g), Leonard Gaskin (b), Cozy Cole (d)
Chet Baker Quartet	1955.11.28	Chet Baker (voc), Raymond Fol (p), Benoit Quersin (b), Jean-Louis Viale (d)
Chet Baker Quartet	1958.08.01	Chet Baker (tp, voc), Kenny Drew (p), George Morrow (b), Philly Joe Jones (d)
Nat King Cole & George Shearing	1961.12.19	Nat Cole (voc), George Shearing (p), Emil Richards (vib), Alton Hendrickson (g), Alfred McKibbon, Meyer Rubin (b), Shelly Manne (d), string section, Ralph Carmichael (dir)
Claire Martin	1991.12.10	Claire Martin (voc), Jonathan Gee (p), Jim Mullen (g), Arnie Somogyi (b), Clark Tracey (d)
Sheila Jordan	1998.04.02	Sheila Jordan (voc), Steve Kuhn (p), Dave Finck (db), Billy Drummond (d)
John Pizzarelli with George Shearing Quintet	2001.10.16	John Pizzarelli (voc, g), George Shearing (p), Ted Piltzecker (vib), Reg Schwager (g), Neil Swainson (b), Dennis Mackrel (d)

On cinemas

The song 'Everything Happens to Me' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:

ORIGINAL TITLE	TITLE IN SPAIN	YEAR OF PRODUCTION	PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM
Playing by Heart	Jugando con el corazón	1998	Charlie Haden Quartet with Chet Baker
The Guard	El irlandés	2011	Chet Baker
Dolphin Tale	La gran aventura de Winter el delfín	2011