- Style
- Jazz
- Tradition
- Jazz standard
- Form
- AABA, 34 bars
- Key
- B♭
- Level
- 4
- Played on
- Voice
In the public domain. Source
Music
The 34 bar refrain with its tag. Swing the eighths.
110bpm
Click any note to start from there
Chord chart
History
George and Ira Gershwin first wrote it as a slow song for Treasure Girl in 1928, then sped it up for Girl Crazy. The show opened at the Alvin Theatre on October 14, 1930, and Ethel Merman's version of the song made her a star. Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa and Glenn Miller played in the pit band.
Red Nichols recorded it for Brunswick on October 23, 1930, and Louis Armstrong recorded it in 1931. Jazz players took over its chord progression, now called rhythm changes, for new tunes such as Duke Ellington's "Cotton Tail" and Charlie Parker's "Moose the Mooche."