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Nice Work If You Can Get It (song)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Nice Work If You Can Get It
| cover =
| alt =
| type =
| written =
| published = by Gershwin Publishing Corp., New York
| artist = Fred Astaire
| album =
| B-side = Things Are Looking Up
| EP =
| released = November 1937
| recorded = October 17, 1937
| studio = Los Angeles, California
| venue =
| genre = Jazz
| length =
| label = Brunswick 7983
| writer =
| composer = George Gershwin
| lyricist = Ira Gershwin
| producer =
| prev_title = A Foggy Day
| prev_year = 1937
| next_title = Change Partners
| next_year = 1938
}}
"'Nice Work If You Can Get It'" is a popular song and jazz standard composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
Background
It began life in 1930 as a nine-bar phrase with the working title "There's No Stopping Me Now". Its title phrase "Nice work if you can get it" came from an English magazine. It was one of nine songs the Gershwin brothers wrote for the movie 'A Damsel in Distress' in which it was performed by Fred Astaire with backing vocals by The Stafford Sisters. The song was published in 1937.
First recordings
The first jazz recording of the work was by Tommy Dorsey three weeks after the release of the film. Early chart versions were by Shep Fields, Teddy Wilson with Billie Holiday, Fred Astaire, Maxine Sullivan, and The Andrews Sisters. The song was recorded by many jazz singers and adopted by bebop instrumentalists; Jerry Newman recorded pianist Thelonious Monk performing the tune in 1941 at Minton's Playhouse, a nightclub closely connected with early bebop, and he subsequently recorded it several times.
Other recordings
* Tommy Dorsey 1937
* Ella Fitzgerald with Andre Previn 'Nice Work If You Can Get It', 1983
* Erroll Garner 'Erroll Garner Plays Gershwin and Kern', 1968
* Billie Holiday with Teddy Wilson 1937
* Thelonious Monk 1941, 1947
* Frank Sinatra 'A Swingin' Affair!' (1957) and 'Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First' (1962)
* Art Tatum 1949
* Mel Torm 'Mel Torm Sings Fred Astaire' (1956)
* Sarah Vaughan with Jimmy Jones music director; and Percy Faith arranger and conductor 'Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi' (1955)
Popular culture
*In the 1951 film 'An American in Paris', the song is performed by Georges Gutary.
*A version of this song was used during the opening credits of the 1995 to 1998 CBS sitcom 'Cybill', starring Cybill Shepherd, who performed the song.
*The song was included in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical 'Crazy for You' and lent its name to the musical 'Nice Work If You Can Get It'.
See also
*List of 1930s jazz standards
References
Category:Songs about labor
Category:1937 songs
Category:1938 singles
Category:1930s jazz standards
Category:Songs written for films
Category:Songs with music by George Gershwin
Category:Songs with lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Category:Ella Fitzgerald songs
Category:Comedy television theme songs
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