Nice Work If You Can Get It (song)

"Nice Work If You Can Get It" is a popular song and jazz standard composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.

"Nice Work If You Can Get It"
Song by Fred Astaire
B-side	Things Are Looking Up[1]
Published	September 16, 1937 (1937-09-16) by Gershwin Publishing Corp., New York[2]
Released	November 1937
Recorded	October 17, 1937[3][4]
Studio	Los Angeles, California
Genre	Jazz
Label	Brunswick 7983[5]
Composer(s)	George Gershwin
Lyricist(s)	Ira Gershwin
Fred Astaire singles chronology
"A Foggy Day" (1937) "Nice Work If You Can Get It" (1937) "Change Partners" (1938)

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.^[6][7] 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.^[7] Early chart versions were by Shep Fields, Teddy Wilson with Billie Holiday,^[7] Fred Astaire, Maxine Sullivan, and The Andrews Sisters.^[8] 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.^[7]

Other recordings

• Tommy Dorsey – 1937^[7]
• Ella Fitzgerald with Andre Previn – Nice Work If You Can Get It, 1983^[7]
• Erroll Garner – Erroll Garner Plays Gershwin and Kern, 1968^[7]
• Billie Holiday with Teddy Wilson – 1937^[7]
• Thelonious Monk – 1941, 1947^[7]
• Frank Sinatra – A Swingin' Affair! (1957)^[9] and Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First (1962)^[7]
• Art Tatum – 1949^[7]
• Mel Tormé – Mel Tormé Sings Fred Astaire (1956)^[7]
• Sarah Vaughan with Jimmy Jones music director; and Percy Faith arranger and conductor – Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi (1955)^[6]

Popular culture

• In the 1951 film An American in Paris, the song is performed by Georges Guétary.
• A version of this song was used during the opening credits of the 1995 to 1998 CBS sitcom Cybill,^[7] starring Cybill Shepherd, who performed the song.^[10]
• 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

1. ""Nice Work If You Can Get It": Song history, Commentary, Discography, Performances on Video". greatamericansongbook.net. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
2. Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1937). Catalog of Copyright Entries 1937 Musical Compositions New Series Vol 32 Pt 3 For the Year 1937. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
3. "BRUNSWICK 78rpm numerical listing discography: 7500 - 8000". www.78discography.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
4. "Cover versions of Nice Work if You Can Get It by Fred Astaire with Ray Noble and His Orchestra | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
5. Fred Astaire With Ray Noble And His Orchestra – Things Are Looking Up / Nice Work If You Can Get It (1937, Shellac), retrieved 2021-08-04
6. "Nice Work If You Can Get It". Jazz Standards. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
7. Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. New York City: Oxford University Press. pp. 295–297. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.
8. Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890–1954. Wisconsin: Record Research. p. 558. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
9. "A Swingin' Affair!". AllMusic. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
10. Everett, Todd (July 26, 1995). "Cybill Shepherd". Variety. Retrieved May 10, 2018.