| My Funny Valentine |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT MY FUNNY VALENTINE | |
| ella fitzgerald songs | |
| frank sinatra songs | |
| american songs | |
| jazz standards | |
| songs with music by richard rodgers | |
| songs with lyrics by lorenz hart | |
| 1937 songs | |
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THE CONCEPTION The song first appeared in the 1937 musical theater production of Babes In Arms . Babes in Arms tells the story of a boy who puts on a show to avoid being sent to a work farm. It contains some of the best work of Rodgers and Hart. The lyrics were written by very talented (and alcoholic) Lorenz Hart and the music was composed by Richard Rodgers (later of Rodgers And Hammerstein fame). Babes in Arms opened at the Shubert Theatre , in New York , on April 14, 1937 and ran for 289 performances (after transferring to the Majestic Theatre on October 25, 1937). "My Funny Valentine" was just one of the great songs that came from this show. The jazz standard, " The Lady Is A Tramp ", also made its debut at this time. The song was first sung by Mitzi Green who plays a character named Susie Ward. After Susie interrupts Val hugging another woman, she sings the song to Val "Valentine" White, played by Ray Heatherton , who she is smitten with. So the original funny valentine was actually named Valentine! For some reason, when the movie Babes in Arms, starring 19-year-old Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland , was released in 1939, the characters names were changed and most of the songs in the original musical were left out. In the movie, Judy's character Patsy sings the song to Mickey's character, Mickey. FUNNY AGAIN The song reemerges in the 1950's and is performed by most of the great jazz musicians of the time including: Gerry Mulligan , 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 , among many many others. The song made it to the top of the charts when the brooding Chet Baker made the song his own in 1953 (released on the album "My Funny Valentine" / Blue Note ). His soft, delicate, and serene voice on this song introduced the world to Chet Baker the singer/musician when previously he was only highly respected for his trumpeting skills. His James Dean -type good looks and amazing voice made the bobby sox and penny loafer wearing girls collectively sigh at his sold-out performances when he crooned, "you're my favorite work of art". Unfortunately for Chet, "My Funny Valentine" is almost the only song that people continue to associate with him. Chet's version of the song leaves out the first Stanza , instead beginning with the second stanza that starts with, "My funny Valentine, sweet comic valentine". As a result of this, nearly every version of this song also begins the same way. The most notable exception to this rule are songs recorded from the many performances of the musicals Babes in Arms and Pal Joey . Since the first stanza is clearly a female voice speaking about her dopey man, you won't find too many men singing that stanza (especially not in the fifties!). The third stanza seems quite odd at first. It begins with a series of accusatory and rude questions that one wouldn't necessarily expect in a romantic tune. However, on second glance, one might guess what Hart was trying to accomplish. His song resonates with all the normal folks - the unsmart, the weak, and those without the figures of gods/goddesses. It quickly apologizes for the odd posers with a couple of negations to settle the nerves and then ends with the romantic sentiments of the last two verses. Currently a new CD containing the song "My Funny Valentine" is released about every three days, so you'll be sure to hear new interpretations of it for quite a long time into the future. COVERS OF NOTE Since then it has entered the Great American Songbook , and has had many notable performances, including:
STRUCTURE The basic structure of the song is as follows:
This simple and classic structure makes it easy to adapt to other genres, and for jazz musicians to improvise over the established chords. Lyrics
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MOVIES FEATURING MY FUNNY VALENTINE
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