“Benny Goodman’s Sextet grabs the honors for the first jazz recording of this tune, and it’s an excellent version...” - Chris Tyle

Rank 65 Words and Music James Campbell Reginald Connelly Ted Shapiro   Originally “If I Had You” was a British ballad popularized by Al Bowlly. Within weeks of the song’s release Rudy Vallee and His Connecticut Yankees brought it across the Atlantic. Both the Bowlly and the Vallee recordings made it onto the pop charts. Al Bowlly (1929, with Fred Elizalde and His Orchestra, #12) Rudy Vallee and His Connecticut Yankees (1929, #7)     More on Al Bowlly       More on Rudy Vallee   Among other 1929 recordings of “If I Had You” in the U.S. were, The Original Wolverines Al Starita and the Piccadilly Players The Colonial Club Orchestra Bert Ambrose and his Embassy Club Orchestra Sam Lanin and His Orchestra (Bing Crosby, vocal) And in France, Ray Ventura and His Collegians.   Chart information used by permission from Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954   “If I Had You” composers, Brits James Campbell and Reginald Connelly, were lyricists who usually worked with other composers. They are best known today for Campbell and Connelly & Co. Ltd., the music-publishing house they founded in London in 1925. Now part of the international publishing conglomerate Music Sales, Campbell and Connelly boasts a catalog of over 75,000 individual song copyrights and musical shows. Their sheet music collection includes, of course, “If I Had You,” which proudly declares across its front cover, “The Prince of Wales’ Favorite Fox Trot.” In addition to “If Had You,” the Campbell and Connelly team wrote “Goodnight, Sweetheart” (1931, Ray Noble, music) and “Try a Little Tenderness” (1933, Harry M. Woods, music).     More on James Campbell       More on Reginald Connelly   Ted Shapiro (1899-1980) is best known as Sophie Tucker’s accompanist and musical director from 1921 until her last performance in 1963.     More on Ted Shapiro

More information on this tune... Thomas S. Hischak The Tin Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia Greenwood Press Hardcover: 552 pages (Hischak summarizes the history of the song, discusses its style, and mentions performers and films in which it has appeared.) See the Reading and Research page for this tune for additional references. - Jeremy Wilson

This section suggests definitive or otherwise significant recordings that will help jazz students get acquainted with “If I Had You.” These recordings have been selected from the Jazz History and CD Recommendations sections.

---

Benny Goodman’s bouncy sextet performance of “If I Had You” (Small Groups: 1941-1945 ) is an early classic and still holds up well. Art Blakey provided another instrumental classic in 1954 (A Night at Birdland, Vol. 2) on a performance that stands among saxophonist Lou Donaldson’s definitive ballad performances. Vocalist Etta Jones’ 1960 version (Don't Go to Strangers), meanwhile, is a landmark rendition of the tune and one of the shining moments of her early days as a recording artist.

Noah Baerman - Jazz Pianist and Educator

“If I Had You” was written with a 32-bar A1-A2-B-A2 form and the Campbell-Connelly lyrics describe all the things “I” could do “If I had you.” All three A sections lead off with the phrase, “I could” (e.g., “I could show the world how to smile”) and end with the four-note hook, “If I had you.”

In the B section (bridge) where one would expect a change in tone, coincident with the change in key, the lyrics merely mimic the A sections, commencing with “I could” and ending with the slight variation, “If I had you by my side.” The repetition combined with an optimistic message provides a pleasant, if not routine, driving feeling.

One might wonder how much Campbell and Connelly borrowed from Irving Berlin’s “If I Had You” (1914), one of many songs that share the same name. There are a few similarities including, “All that I want is a chance to be glad” compared with the Campbell / Connelly “I could be glad all of the while.” But Berlin’s lyric takes a distinctly different approach, stating the desire for romance over wealth and providing emotional counterpoints along the way, including “I’ve grown so tired of being so sad,” and a series of negative statements in the verse, such as “I never envied those rich millionaires.” -JW

Musical analysis of “If I Had You”
Original Key	Bb major; false key change to D minor in section “B”
Form	A1 – A2 – B – A2
Tonality	Major throughout section “A”; minor throughout section “B”
Movement	“A” consists of chromatic upward runs, followed by upward leaps and short chromatic falls. “B” has neighbor-note movement with downward skips.
Comments     (assumed background)
Initial harmonic progression similar to “Cherokee” (I – v7 – I7 – IV – iv), except that this song does a I – iii – VI7 – ii (substituting a biii for VI7) turnaround on the first ending. Section “B” is simply a i – ii7(b5) – V7 in D minor (the 3rd scale degree of the initial tonic) repeated three times before returning to V7 of the tonic via a circle of fifths.
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com

Benny Goodman’s Sextet grabs the honors for the first jazz recording of this tune, and it’s an excellent version, featuring clarinetist Goodman, trombonist Lou McGarity and pianist Mel Powell, recorded in 1941.

Three years later Cab Calloway’s tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec brought several of his band mates into the studio for a date at Blue Note. “If I Had You” was a feature for his Coleman Hawkins-ish style of playing, and his version is memorable. Quebec later become the artist-and-repertoire representative for Blue Note, and among his finds was another great tenor player, Dexter Gordon.

Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian

---

Benny Goodman Small Groups 1941-1945 Sony 44437 Ike Quebec Ike Quebec, 1944-1945 Classics 957

“If I Had You” was included in these films:

---

• The Clock aka Under the Clock (1945, Judy Garland)
• Thrill of a Romance (1945, Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra)
• You Were Meant for Me (1948, Dan Dailey)
• The Silencers (1966, Dean Martin)
• Hannah and Her Sisters (1986, Roy Eldridge)
• Everyone Says I Love You (1996, Tim Roth, Dick Hyman, The New York Studio Players)
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999, Roy Gerson)
• What Women Want (2000, Nnenna Freelon)
• Two Weeks Notice (2002, Dick Hyman)

And on stage:

• Minnelli on Minnelli (1999, Liza Minnelli) Broadway special

And on television:

• Jeeves and Wooster (1990) Granada TV comedy series

Comment Policy Your comments are welcome, including why you like this tune, any musical challenges it presents, or additional background information. Jazz musicians, fans, and students of all ages use this website as an educational resource. As such, off-topic, off-color, unduly negative, and patently promotional comments will be removed. Once submitted, all comments become property of JazzStandards.com. By posting, you give JazzStandards.com permission to republish or otherwise distribute your comments in any format or other medium. JazzStandards.com reserves the right to edit or remove any comments at its sole discretion.