Enter the Gershwins
As a teenager, George Gershwin had attended an aunt’s wedding and was thrilled by the music of Jerome Kern (1885–1945) that the dance orchestra had played. He wanted to learn to write music like Kern’s, so his first step was to work for a Tin Pan Alley publisher, allowing Gershwin to become very familiar with the latest tunes. Gradually, he was given more and more opportunities to write for Broadway, collaborating with various lyricists along the way. The popularity of Al Jolson’s 1920 recording of “Swanee” was a huge boost to Gershwin’s reputation, as was the triumphant debut of Rhapsody in Blue (1924; Listening Example 6).
One of the most successful of 1930 productions was the Gershwin collaboration Girl Crazy. The show’s premise was about as thin as a plot could be: Danny, a New Yorker, is exiled by his wealthy family to the all-male town of Custerville, Arizona, in order to cure him of his “girl craziness.” He foils his family’s plans by taking an entire Broadway chorus line of dancers to join him, and he establishes a casino—complete with jazzy entertainment—on the family ranch (but, eventually, he falls for the local postmistress and straightens up his act). Despite the silly storyline, the show was packed with great tunes and strong performers.
As a teenager, George Gershwin had attended an aunt’s wedding and was thrilled by the music of Jerome Kern (1885–1945) that the dance orchestra had played. He wanted to learn to write music like Kern’s, so his first step was to work for a Tin Pan Alley publisher, allowing Gershwin to become very familiar with the latest tunes. Gradually, he was given more and more opportunities to write for Broadway, collaborating with various lyricists along the way. The popularity of Al Jolson’s 1920 recording of “Swanee” was a huge boost to Gershwin’s reputation, as was the triumphant debut of Rhapsody in Blue (1924; Listening Example 6).
One of the most successful of 1930 productions was the Gershwin collaboration Girl Crazy. The show’s premise was about as thin as a plot could be: Danny, a New Yorker, is exiled by his wealthy family to the all-male town of Custerville, Arizona, in order to cure him of his “girl craziness.” He foils his family’s plans by taking an entire Broadway chorus line of dancers to join him, and he establishes a casino—complete with jazzy entertainment—on the family ranch (but, eventually, he falls for the local postmistress and straightens up his act). Despite the silly storyline, the show was packed with great tunes and strong performers.
The pit ensemble for Girl Crazy—the Red Nichols jazz orchestra—also featured a phenomenal assortment of players, including Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, Jack Teagarden, and Jimmy Dorsey. Their talents were evident throughout the musical comedy, but especially so in “I Got Rhythm” (Listening Example 1), in which Gershwin blended both jazz and Broadway’s Tin Pan Alley elements. However, the singer of that song, Ethel Merman (1908–84), was a Broadway novice. She skyrocketed to fame thanks to Girl Crazy, where she first demonstrated her ability to project her voice without amplification to the very back row of the theater.
“I Got Rhythm” quickly attained its lasting place as one of George Gershwin’s greatest standards. Not only did its energy demonstrate how effectively jazz could enliven the popular-song style of musical comedies (thereby making operetta seem increasingly old-fashioned), but it became a favorite piece among jazz musicians as well (who sometimes borrowed only its harmonies, which they call the “rhythm changes”). In fact, Gershwin emulated jazz characteristics so convincingly that many modern listeners are surprised to hear that “I Got Rhythm” was not written as an authentic jazz number, but that it originated in a Broadway show.