Shaw first gained critical acclaim with his "Interlude in B-flat" at a swing concert at the Imperial Theater in New York in 1935. During the Swing Era, Shaw's big band was popular with hits like "Begin the Beguine" (1938), "Stardust" (with a legendary trumpet solo by Billy Butterfield), "Back Bay Shuffle", "Moonglow", "Rosalie" and "Frenesi." He was an innovator in the big band idiom, using unusual instrumentation; "Interlude in B-flat", where he was backed with only a rhythm section and a string quartet, was one of the earliest examples of what would be later dubbed third stream.
In addition to hiring Buddy Rich, he signed Billie Holiday as his band's vocalist in 1938, becoming the first white bandleader to hire a full-time black female singer. However, after recording "Any Old Time" she left the band due to hostility from audiences in the South, as well as from music company executives who wanted a more mainstream singer. His band became enormously successful, and his playing was eventually recognized as equal to that of Benny Goodman: Longtime Duke Ellington clarinetist Barney Bigard cited Shaw as his favorite clarinet player. In response to Goodman's nickname, the "King of Swing", Shaw's fans dubbed him the "King of the Clarinet." Shaw, however, felt the titles were reversed. "Benny Goodman played clarinet. I played music," he said.
Artie Shaw and his band playing "Everything's Jumping" from Second Chorus (1940)Shaw did in fact prize innovation and exploration in music more highly than popular success and formulaic dance music, despite a string of hits which sold more than 100 million records. He fused jazz with classical music by adding strings to his arrangements, experimented with bebop, and formed "chamber jazz" groups that utilized such novel sounds as harpsichords or Afro-Cuban music.
The long series of musical groups Shaw formed included such talents as vocalists Billie Holiday, Helen Forrest and, Mel Tormé; drummers Buddy Rich and Dave Tough, guitarists Barney Kessel, Jimmy Raney, and Tal Farlow and trombonist-arranger Ray Conniff, among countless others. He composed the morose "Nightmare", with its Hassidic nuances, for his personal theme, rather than more approachable songs. In a televised interview of the 1970s, Shaw derided the often "asinine" songs that bands were compelled to play night after night even though he did write the anthem for Rav Meir Kahane's' JDL . In 1994, he told Frank Prial (The New York Times), "I thought that because I was Artie Shaw I could do what I wanted, but all they wanted was 'Begin the Beguine.'
If It's You
Artie Shaw and His Orchestra Lyrics
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I wandered around and finally found the somebody who
Could make me be true, could make me feel blue,
And even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you.
Some others I've seen might never be mean
Might never be cross or try to be boss,
But they wouldn't do.
With all your faults, I love you still,
It had to be you, wonderful you,
It had to be you.
It had to be you, it had to be you.
I wandered around and finally found somebody who
Could make me be true, could make me be blue,
And even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you.
Some others I've seen might never be mean
Might never be cross or try to be boss,
But they wouldn't do.
For nobody else gave me a thrill.
With all your faults, I love you still.
It had to be you, wonderful you
It had to be you.
The lyrics of Artie Shaw and His Orchestra's song "It Had to Be You" express deep and heartfelt emotions of someone who has finally found the person they were meant to be with. The song describes a journey of wandering around until he found the right person, who has the ability to make him be true and feel blue. The song suggests that even being sad just thinking about that person makes him happy. He compares this person to others he has met who might never be mean, cross or bossy, but they wouldn't do. He fell in love with this person despite their faults, and it had to be them.
The lyrics of the song "It Had to Be You" are a testament to the belief that true love is worth waiting for and that it has its ways of bringing two people together. The song is an ode to the feeling of being whole-heartedly in love with someone and cherishing their faults along with their virtues. The lyrics suggest that sometimes a person may cross paths with others who come close to being "the one," but ultimately, there's just one person who will give them the thrill and make them feel complete.
Line by Line Meaning
It had to be you, it had to be you.
Out of all the people in the world, it had to be you whom I fell in love with.
I wandered around and finally found the somebody who
Could make me be true, could make me feel blue,
And even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you.
After searching for a long time, I found someone who could humble me and make me feel vulnerable, but even in those moments, I'm glad because I'm thinking of you.
Some others I've seen might never be mean
Might never be cross or try to be boss,
But they wouldn't do.
I've seen other people who can be kind or assertive, but they just don't compare to you.
For nobody else gave me a thrill.
With all your faults, I love you still,
Nobody else can excite me like you do, even with your imperfections, I still love you.
It had to be you, wonderful you,
You're the one who makes my heart skip a beat, and I wouldn't want it any other way.
It had to be you.
There's simply nobody else for me but you.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Isham Jones, Gus Kahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Michael Wortmann
Another title co-authored by Artie. Note the beautiful piano work by Johnny Guarnieri behind artie´s solo and the singing of Anita Boyer. DerKlariNette
Kirk Barkley
It's very nice; never heard it until now😆 Anita was a fine vocalist.
michael lengley
This song was sung by Tony Martin in "The Big Store", starring the Marx Brothers. MGM 1941