George Gershwin    (1898-1937)  

Gershwin was the composer with the largest number of tunes sung by Billie Holiday in this collection. All the commented songs below have their lyrics by his brother Ira Gershwin. Reading these lyrics is like an online university education in song craftsmanship.

• (MT 24)                 Summertime
• (MT 71)   Å           Nice Work If You Can Get It 
• (MT 72)   Å          Things Are Looking Up
• (MT 126) Å           The Man I Love (1924) a wonderful love song: Maybe I shall meet him Sunday / Maybe Monday, maybe not / Still I’m sure to meet him one day / Maybe Tuesday will be my good news day. From the famous play  “Lady Be Good” is one of the most popular songs ever. Billie do not honor the song, though, this being her sole recorded track.
• (MT 198) Å           Porgy
• (MT 291) ÅÅÅ      A Foggy Day  (1937) And suddenly, I saw you standing right there / And in foggy London town, the sun was shining everywhere. Beautiful.
• (MT 297) ÅÅÅ      But Not For Me
• (MT 301) ÅÅÅ      Our Love Is Here To Stay
• (MT 303) ÅÅÅ1/2 They Can’t Take That Away From Me
• (MT 304) ÅÅÅ1/2 Embraceable You (1930) listen: Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you! Embrace me, you irreplaceable you! From the play “Girl Crazy” and sung by Gene Kelly in the film “An American in Paris ” (1951). A jewel, one of the best songs ever written; also a memorable tune by Billie.
• (MT 305) ÅÅÅ       Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off

Ira Gershwin