Bass player and arranger Bob Haggart composed the song “I’m Free” in October of 1938 while a member of Bob Crosby’s Orchestra. Haggart wrote the solo within the song with fellow band mate, trumpeter Billy Butterfield, in mind. The band would record “I’m Free” that very day.

The following year the publishers of the song decided “I’m Free” had potential as a vocal hit, and Johnny Burke was enlisted to write the lyrics. In an era when cute and romantic had given way to urbane, Burke devised a clever gimmick to tell a love story: casual conversational lyrics telling only one side of the conversation. The result was “What’s New?”

The song’s evolution doesn’t end there. In the 1990’s Australian jazz vocalist Catherine O’Brien was visited by piano player, journalist, and historian Dick Hughes, who told her that in his opinion, “the best trumpet solo of all time was Billy Butterfield playing the Bob Haggart composition ‘I’m Free’ recorded with the Bob Crosby Band in 1938.” O’Brien suggested Hughes write lyrics to the original title, and when he declined she spent the course of an evening and night writing her own. After tackling another Haggart song, “My Inspiration,” and gaining encouragement from local veteran jazz musicians, O’Brien contacted Bob Haggart and delighted him by singing her lyrics over the phone:

I’m free
You’ve said goodbye and I’m free
...

© 1994 Catherine O’Brien. All rights reserved.
(Used by permission)

It took O’Brien a couple of years to finance a trip to the United States, but in 1996 she crossed the Pacific. The singer obtained copyright permissions for publishing “What’s New?” as “I’m Free” with her lyrics and, with paperwork in hand, met with Haggart at a jazz festival and again when he was playing at Zinno’s in Greenwich Village. O’Brien explains “When I finally met Mr. Haggart with the letter from Warner-Chappell and photos of my meeting with them, he was really surprised and impressed that I had met with them and he took the letter. He told me the history of the songs and their recordings over lunch - fascinating stuff!” Catherine O’Brien recorded both “I’m Free” and “My Inspiration” on her 1996 CD LA or Busk. To see her work, visit www.catherineobrien.com.

“What’s New?” was introduced by Bob Crosby and His Orchestra with vocalist Teddy Grace in 1939, rising to number ten on the pop charts. Recordings to make the pop charts include:

• Bob Crosby and His Orchestra (1939, Teddy Grace, vocal, #10)
• Bing Crosby (1939, #2)
• Hal Kemp and His Orchestra (1939, Nan Wynn, vocal, #11)
• Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (1939, Louise Tobin, vocal, #7)

And in 1983, “What’s New?” was the title track for Linda Ronstadt’s first of three standards CD’s with arrangements by Nelson Riddle.