“Among jazz instrumentalists, ‘I Got Rhythm’ is hands-down the most common Gershwin song.” - C. Andre Barbera

AKA I've Got Rhythm Rank 73 Music George Gershwin Lyrics Ira Gershwin   Not only did Ethel Merman introduce “I Got Rhythm” in the Broadway musical, Girl Cray, but Girl Crazy introducedEthel Merman to Broadway. The show opened on October 14, 1930, at the Alvin Theatre and ran for 272 performances. Ginger Rogers was the co-star of the show, but in her debut as a leading lady she lost the limelight to Ethel Merman. Girl Crazy was originally written as a vehicle for Bert Lahr, but when he turned down the part for legal reasons, Willie Howard was brought in to take his place. The orchestra was the Red Nichols Band, including Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey, and Gene Krupa. This star-studded orchestra thrilled the audiences with jam sessions during the intermissions. George Gershwin conducted the music at the premier, but after that Earl Busby took over the baton. A short time later, in 1930, Red Nichols and His Five Pennies with vocalist Dick Robertson took “I Got Rhythm” onto the recording charts, rising to number five. In 1931 Ethel Waters’ rendition peaked at seventeen, and in 1932 a Louis Armstrong version also rose to seventeen. Later on, in 1967, The Happenings (yes, the Happenings) recorded a rock version of “I Got Rhythm” which sold over a million copies and, according to The Happenings Official Web Site, placed number one on the charts.   Chart information used by permission from Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954   In 1930 Ethel Merman had left her secretarial position and was just breaking into show business. An oft-repeated story was of her audition for Girl Crazy with George and Ira Gershwin. Merman was nervously lost in thought as to how she might phrase one of the songs by these songwriting masters who were seated before her. George Gershwin mistakenly thought Ethel Merman was tentative about his compositions. He offered to change anything she didn’t like in the songs. Surprised, she blurted out, “They will do very nicely, Mr. Gershwin.” The Gershwins were impressed by what they took as self-assurance, a quality for which Merman would later become well known. Her sensational performance in Girl Crazy was the beginning of a five-decade career; her last New York performance was at Carnegie Hall in 1982.     More on George Gershwin       More on Ira Gershwin   Other songs in the Girl Crazy score include: “Bidin’ My Time” “Embraceable You” “Sam and Delilah” “But Not for Me” “Treat Me Rough!” “Boy! What Love Has Done to Me!” A 1932 RKO film adaptation of Girl Crazy, starring Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, relied on sophomoric comedy and not the original Gershwin score, retaining only “Bidin’ My Time,” “I Got Rhythm,” and “But Not For Me.” Variety called it “a weak sister” of the Broadway production. A 1943 release of the film fared much better. MGM’s Girl Crazy was the eighth Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland film and was generally well reviewed. The original story and score were left almost intact and all of the songs were included along with “Fascinating Rhythm” from 1924’s Lady Be Good. Girl Crazy was also the basis for the 1966, MGM film, When the Boys Meet the Girls, starring Connie Francis and Harve Presnell. Suffice it to say that the best thing about this musical was its songs. And finally, Girl Crazy was used as the basis for the 1992 Broadway hit, Crazy for You, which openedFebruary 19, 1992, and ran for 1622 performances. Seven of the songs from Girl Crazy were included in the score along with 13 other Gershwin songs. “I Got Rhythm” was George Gershwin’s favorite among the songs he composed for Broadway musicals. An indication of this affection was the dedication to his brother Ira of his last concert work, The “I Got Rhythm” Variations, which was written expressly for a 1934 concert tour with the thirty-piece Leo Reisman Orchestra, conducted by Charles Previn. The 12,000-mile tour was a self-financed affair to celebrate the tenth anniversary of “Rhapsody in Blue.”

More information on this tune... Will Friedwald Stardust Melodies Pantheon; 1st edition Hardcover: 416 pages (The author devotes 30 pages to ”I Got Rhythm” including its significance in history, analyses of the lyric and music, information on the songwriters, performers, and recordings. Eleven other great American songs are examined in depth in the book.) 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 “I Got Rhythm.” These recordings have been selected from the Jazz History and CD Recommendations sections.

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There is something deceptive about exploring the definitive versions of “I Got Rhythm.” Its chord changes have been mined for countless other jazz tunes and there are classic performances of these other tunes, with solos that are completely applicable to “I Got Rhythm,” by virtually every major jazz artist from the swing and bop movements. Looking only at versions of “I Got Rhythm” itself, Benny Goodman’s live quartet version from his famous Carnegie Hall concert (Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert) is both historically significant and brilliant. Also brilliant is Nat “King” Cole’s 1946 trio version (Transcriptions), which shows him bridging the gap between swing and bop. Among vocal versions, Ella Fitzgerald’s 1959 recording (Oh, Lady, Be Good! Best of the Gershwin Songbook) is a good place to start, as the performance is swinging and faithful to the song.

Noah Baerman - Jazz Pianist and Educator

In Wayne Schneider’s The Gershwin Style: New Looks at the Music of George Gershwin, contributor C. Andre Barbera says, “Among jazz instrumentalists, ‘I Got Rhythm’ is hands-down the most common Gershwin song.” He goes on to say that the reason for its popularity is its regularity and simplicity which afford space for invention and also the fact that it was published in the “jazz-friendly” key of B-flat major.

Jazz musicians are familiar with the term “rhythm changes,” which is a phrase referring to the chord progressions of “I Got Rhythm.” In the first few decades of the 1900’s, record companies began encouraging musicians to reuse chord progressions of existing popular songs. In that way, they could borrow the harmonic formula of a successful song without running afoul of copyright laws. Although the “rhythm changes” are usually attributed to Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm,” their exact origin is not known; many of the well-known composers of jazz standards, including Gershwin, mined the early jazz clubs for their material.

Regardless of their origin, the “rhythm changes” have been used for hundreds of published songs. Some examples are, “Allen’s Alley,” “Don’t Be That Way,” “The Flintstones,” “The Jeep is Jumpin’,” “Lemon Drop,” “Lester Leaps In,” “Red Cross,” “Rhythm-a-ning,” “Salt Peanuts,” “Shaw Nuff,” and “Squatty Roo.”

Charlie Parker had a genius for writing songs based on the chord progressions of “I Got Rhythm.” Just a few of these inventions are “Kim,” “Dexterity,” “Ah-Leu-Cha,” “Crazeology,” “Anthropology” and “Moose the Mooche.”

Sometimes Ira Gershwin would write the lyrics to a song and George would add the music. In the case of “I Got Rhythm,” George wrote the music and only after several weeks and many discarded attempts did Ira come up with satisfactory lyrics. The slangy lyrics reflect the exaggerated jazz rhythm in George’s music and also the upbeat tempo. The lyric’s optimism seems to be escapist fare aimed squarely at a depression-weary audience. In the verse, the singer declares happiness, cheer, and no need of money and then asks, “How do I get that way?” The answer in the refrain is, of course, “I Got Rhythm,” but also, music, my man, daisies, green pastures, starlight, and sweet dreams. -JW

Musical analysis of “I Got Rhythm”
Original Key	Bb major
Form	A1 – A1 – B – A2 (with two measure extension; usually omitted today)
Tonality	Major throughout
Movement	“A” is pentatonic rising and falling starting on the fifth degree of the scale. “B” is note embellished by upper and lower neighbors that leap down a fifth; sequence repeats a step lower before returning to “A”
Comments     (assumed background)
The favorite harmonic progression of all time except for the blues. The first two measures correspond to the I – vi – ii7 –V7 of “Blue Moon” and “Heart And Soul,” etc. The next four measures–as penned by Gershwin–are iii – ct˚7 – ii7 – V7 (Dm7 - Db˚7 – Cm7 – F7 in the original), a nice variation. The final four measures consist of I –I7 (V7/IV) – IV – iv – I over an descending bass line. “B” is based on a circle of fifths from the III7 chord, but Gershwin surprises us just before V7 by inserting a Fr+6 (Gb7(b5) in the original key).
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com

June 9, 1945, stands out in particular as a fascinating moment in jazz history. A concert held in New York’s Town Hall featured some of the top small jazz groups of the day. As a “filler,” there was a duet by Don Byas (tenor saxophone) and Slam Stewart (string bass)--an unheard of combination in jazz at that time.

Byas’ mentors were Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, yet he was working on 52nd Street with more harmonically advanced players like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, their work influencing his approach (in turn, Byas influenced players like Sonny Rollins). Slam Stewart created a sensation by his great bass playing and unusual bowed solos with which he vocalized. Together, their performance on “I Got Rhythm” not only stole the show but made it clear that jazz was changing.

Unbelievably, this performance is not currently available on CD. However there have been a number of LP issues on Mainstream, Atlantic and CBS Special Products Commodore reissue series.

Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian

“I Got Rhythm” was included in these films:

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• Girl Crazy (1932, Kitty Kelly)
• Girl Crazy (1943, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Six Hits and a Miss, The Music Maids,
• Rhapsody in Blue (1945, Hazel Scott)
• An American in Paris (1951, Gene Kelly, Children)
• Sincerely Yours (1955, Liberace)
• When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965, Connie Francis, Harve Presnell, Louis Armstrong)
• That’s Entertainment II (1976, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Chorus, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra,
• American Pop (1981)
• My Girl (1991, Ann Nelson)
• Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)
• Celebrity (1998, Teddy Wilson Trio)

And on stage:

• Girl Crazy (1930, Ethel Merman, The Foursome) Broadway musical
• Who Cares? (1970, New York City Ballet) dance theater
• Crazy for You (1992, Jodi Benson, The Company) Broadway musical
• Ethel Merman’s Broadway (1992, Rita McKenzie) Off-Broadway
• Minnelli on Minnelli (1999, Liza Minnelli) Broadway special
• Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey (2000) Off-Broadway satirical revue

And on television:

• The Muppet Show (1980, Fozzie, Rowlf) Season 4, Episode 120
• Crazy for You (1999, Stacey Logan) PBS Great Performances
• Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (1999, Halle Berry dubbed by Wendi Williams) HBO biopic

This section shows the jazz standards written by the same writing team.

George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
Year	Rank	Title
1924	18	“The Man I Love”
1924	22	“Oh, Lady Be Good!”
1930	24	“Embraceable You”
1930	54	“But Not for Me”
1938	57	“Love Is Here to Stay”
1930	73	“I Got Rhythm”
1926	77	“Someone to Watch Over Me”
1937	86	“They Can't Take That Away from Me”
1937	88	“A Foggy Day”
1927	98	“'S Wonderful!”
1937	158	“Nice Work If You Can Get It”
1937	201	“Love Walked In”
1927	213	“How Long Has This Been Going On?”
1929	320	“Strike Up the Band”
1924	329	“Fascinating Rhythm”
1929	381	“Soon”
1931	419	“Who Cares? (So Long As You Care for Me)”
1935	420	“It Ain't Necessarily So”
1930	487	“I've Got a Crush on You”
1936	766	“Let's Call the Whole Thing Off”
1936	927	“They All Laughed”
1926	983	“Maybe”

George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward
Year	Rank	Title
1935	270	“I Loves You Porgy”
1935	539	“Bess, You Is My Woman Now”

George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin and Gus Kahn
Year	Rank	Title
1929	189	“Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away)”

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