Max's Musings

Soundtrack, Feb 27, Someone To Watch Over Me

Without going into too much detail, this 1926 song by George and Ira Gershwin fit perfectly with the mood and thematic material of "Alby's Tale" .

The song itself was written for the musical Oh Kay!, which ran for 200 performance on Broadway and also had a successful run on the London stage. The original score called for an up-tempo beat, marked scherzando (playiful) on the sheet music. However, starting in the 30s, recordings appeared wth a slower, more balladic tempo, which has since become the standard. The song has been recorded by many artists, including such luminaries at Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, Sinéad O'Connor, Elton John, Nelson Riddle, and Linda Ronstadt. My personal favorite recording is by Michael Feinstein.



The story "Alby's Tale" .references the song playing in a piano bar, so the version that's appropriate for this particular blog is this interpretation for jazz piano.