My Funny Valentine
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"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms. It is now considered a jazz standard, appearing on over 1300 albums performed by over 600 artists.
Babes in Arms opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway, in New York, New York on April 14, 1937 and ran for 289 performances. In the original play, a character named Billie Smith (played by Mitzi Green) sings the song to Valentine "Val" LaMar (played by Ray Heatherton).[1]
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[edit] Funny again
The first recorded version of the song to make the charts was by Hal McIntyre with vocals by Ruth Gaylor in 1945. It only appeared for one week and hit #16.
The song reemerged in the 1950s and was performed by most of the great jazz musicians and popular vocalists of the time including: Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughan, Stan Getz, Paul Desmond, Tony Bennett, Ben Webster, Buddy Rich, Anita O'Day, Mel Tormé, Sammy Davis, Jr., and many others.
The song made it to the top of the charts when Chet Baker released a very popular and influential version (released on the album My Funny Valentine / Blue Note Records). His soft, delicate and serene delivery introduced the world to Chet Baker's singing skills (he was previously known only for his trumpeting skills, also displayed on this recording). Baker is still associated more with "My Funny Valentine" than with any other of the long list of songs he recorded.
Baker's version of the song leaves out the introductory verse and begins with the chorus ("My funny Valentine, sweet comic valentine"). As a result, many subsequent version also skip the verse. The most notable exception to this rule are songs recorded from the many performances of the musicals Babes in Arms and (in the film version) Pal Joey. (The verse is clearly a female voice speaking about her man, giving male singers an additional reason to omit it.)
The B-section, or bridge, is a good example of the quirky approach of lyricist Hart. It begins with a series of accusatory, even rude questions that one wouldn't necessarily expect in a romantic tune. It quickly apologizes for the odd questions with assurances, and then ends with the romantic sentiments of the last two verses.
[edit] Notable performances
The song is considered part of the Great American Songbook and has had many notable performances, including:
- (1952) Chet Baker had a hit with a recording he made of the song with Gerry Mulligan
- (1955) It was featured in the movie Gentlemen Marry Brunettes.
- (1955) Frank Sinatra included it on his album Songs for Young Lovers, and afterwards it became one of the songs most associated with his live performances.
- (1956) Ella Fitzgerald sang it on her album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook.
- (1958) The Miles Davis Sextet recorded it on their album '58 Miles, demonstrating the unique modal approach of Davis and pianist Bill Evans.
- (1960) Dinah Shore - recorded the song on her album with Andre Previn, Dinah Sings, Previn Plays. The track was included on the compilation CD Blue Valentines, From Blue Note with Love, which also includes the Chico Hamilton and Chet Baker versions of the song.
- (1962) Bill Evans and Jim Hall recorded the song on their album Undercurrent. Unusually, they take it at a lively tempo, around 190 bpm.
- (1965) Miles Davis released a live album titled My Funny Valentine.
- (1967) Barbra Streisand chose it as the opener track for Simply Streisand
- (1976) Lena Horne sang it on her album, Lena, A New Album
- (1976) Dolly Parton performed the song on her 1970s variety show, though she later stated that it was a bad choice, as the jazz standard was not suited to her voice or vocal stylings.
- (1979) Elvis Costello sang it on two singles and it was included in his compilation Taking Liberties the next year.
- (1985) Nico sang it on her final solo album, Camera Obscura.
- (1987) Linda Ronstadt sang it on her final album with Nelson Riddle For Sentimental Reasons. She included the first verse .
- (1990) Carly Simon sang it on her album My Romance.
- (1994) Van Morrison sang it on his album A Night in San Francisco.
- (1994) Julie Andrews sang it on her album Broadway: The Music of Richard Rodgers.
- (2001) Kristin Chenoweth sang it on her album Let Yourself Go.
- (2003) Jennifer Garner sang "My Funny Valentine" during the monologue of her Saturday Night Live performance on February 15.
- (2003) Tom Barman sang "My Funny Valentine" during his project with Guy van Nueten
- (2004) Johnny Dorelli sang "My Funny Valentine" in his solo album Swingin'.
- (2005) Constantine Maroulis sang "My Funny Valentine" during the Broadway Musicals round on the fourth season of American Idol. The song was chosen as Maroulis' cover song for the top twelve compilation record, The Showstoppers.
- (2005) Rufus Wainwright chose it for the compilation Sweetheart.
- (2005) Over the Rhine concluded their album Drunkard's Prayer with the song.
- (2005) Kanye West sampled Etta James' version on his second album Late Registration, song "Addiction".
- (2005) Justin Guarini from the album Stranger Things Have Happened .
- (2006) Paulson covered it on their album Variations.
- (2006) Bradley Joseph released an instrumental arrangement of "My Funny Valentine" on his album, Piano Love Songs.
- (2007) Melinda Doolittle, a season 6 American Idol contestant, sang "My Funny Valentine" during the top 10 girls round on February 28.
- (2007) Butterscotch, a season 2 America's Got Talent contestant, sang "My Funny Valentine" while simultaneously beatboxing.
- (2008) Melinda Doolittle, a season 6 American Idol contestant, went on to record "My Funny Valentine" and released it as her debut single.
[edit] Movie performances
- Babes in Arms (1939) - performed by Judy Garland
- Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955) - performed by Jeanne Crain
- Pal Joey (1957) - performed by Kim Novak
- Handicap (1968) - Duke Ellington
- Sharky's Machine (1981) - Chet Baker
- Let's Get Lost (1988) - Biography of Chet Baker
- The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) - performed by Michelle Pfeiffer
- Malice (1993) - performed by Gene Harris
- When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)
- Waiting to Exhale (1995) - performed by Chaka Khan
- The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) - performed by Matt Damon
- The Cooler (2003) - performed by Tierney Sutton
- The Company (2003) - 5 different versions performed by: Marvin Laird and Clay Ruede, Elvis Costello, Lee Wiley, Chet Baker, and Kronos Quartet.
- Ashura (2005) - performed by Sting
- The Band's Visit [2006]
- Perfect Stranger (2007)
[edit] Structure
The basic structure of the song is as follows:
- 8 bars of A
- 8 bars of A'
- 8 bars of B
- 12 bars of A
This simple and classic structure makes it easy to adapt to other genres, and for jazz musicians to improvise over the established chords.
[edit] Trivia
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- The 30 Rock episode "Black Tie" which aired February 2, 2007 features the song "My Funny Valentine" in a scene where Gerhardt Hapsburg commits suicide.
- Session 15 of the popular anime series Cowboy Bebop is named after the song, revealing that it also what gave the character Faye Valentine her name.
- A Full House episode, "Joey's Funny Valentine", is named after this song.
- A movie was released in 2005 named Funny Valentine
- The song is featured in the pilot of the television series John Doe, played on piano by the main character.
- "My Funny Valentine" is featured in an episode of Friends, on a mixtape.
- Late R&B singer Aaliyah sang the song in the television talent contest Star Search.
- Terrence 'T.C.' Carson performed his rendition of the song on an episode of Living Single.
- In a TAI TV episode, William Beckett was heard singing some of this song while in the shower.
- Bruce Springsteen inverts the chord progression of "My Funny Valentine" on the song "Valentine's Day" off his album Tunnel of Love.
[edit] References
- ^ Playbill from 1937 Babes in Arms theatrical performance
[edit] Recommended reading
- The chapter "My Funny Valentine" in the book Stardust Memories: The Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs by Will Friedwald (New York: Pantheon Books, 2002).
