My Funny Valentine

For the album by Miles Davis, see My Funny Valentine (album)

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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 a jazz standard, appearing on over 1300 albums performed by over 600 artists.

The song

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 Alfred Drake).^[1] In the song, Billie pokes fun at some of Valentine's characteristics, but ultimately affirms that he makes her smile and that she doesn't want him to change. The song first hit the charts in 1945, performed by Hal McIntyre with vocals by Ruth Gaylor. It only appeared for one week and hit #16.

Notable recordings

The song is considered part of the Great American Songbook and has had many notable performances, including:

• (1952) Chet Baker had a hit with Gerry Mulligan
• (1955) Frank Sinatra included it on his album Songs for Young Lovers, and it became a performance favorite.
• (1956) Ella Fitzgerald sang it on her album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook.
• (1956) Jimmy Giuffre included it on his album The Jimmy Giuffre Clarinet.
• (1957) Mary Kaye Trio recorded it on their Coral album Music On A Silver Platter.
• (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.
• (1960) Bobby Timmons on his first solo album This here is Bobby Timmons.
• (1962) Bill Evans and Jim Hall recorded the song on their album Undercurrent. Unusually, they take it at a lively tempo, around 190 beats per minute.
• (1965) Miles Davis released a live album titled My Funny Valentine.
• (1967) The Supremes recorded it on their album The Supremes Sing Rodgers & Hart and it featured Mary Wilson sharing lead vocals with Diana Ross.
• (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 style.
• (1979) Elvis Costello sang it on two singles and it was included in his compilation Taking Liberties the next year.
• (1983) Rickie Lee Jones sang it on her album Girl at Her Vulcano.
• (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.
• (1995) Anita Baker sang it on her album "Rhythm of Love".
• (1995) Chaka Khan sang it on the album Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album.
• (1997) Shirley Horn sang in on her album I Remember Miles.
• (1999) Herman Brood sang it on his (big band)album Back on the Corner.
• (1999) Damien Saez sang it on his album Jours étranges.
• (2001) Kristin Chenoweth sang it on her album Let Yourself Go.
• (2003) Tom Barman sang "My Funny Valentine" for his project with Guy van Nueten
• (2003) Kronos Quartet recorded the song for the The Company soundtrack.
• (2004) Johnny Dorelli sang "My Funny Valentine" in his solo album Swingin'.
• (2004) Angela McCluskey sang it on her album The Things We Do'.
• (2004) Johnny Mathis sang it on his album The Essential Johnny Mathis.
• (2004) Ronnie Milsap recorded the song on his album Just for a Thrill.
• (2005) Rufus Wainwright chose it for the Starbucks compilation album, Sweetheart 2005: Love Songs.
• (2005) Over the Rhine concluded their album Drunkard's Prayer with the song.
• (2005) Justin Guarini included it on the album Stranger Things Have Happened .
• (2006) Paulson covered it on their album Variations.
• (2006) Bradley Joseph released an instrumental arrangement on his album, Piano Love Songs.
• (2007) Thomas Quasthoff included this song in his album "The Jazz Album - Watch what happens".
• (2007) Joey McIntyre included this song in his album "Talk to Me".
• (2007) Tiger Lillies covered this song on their album Urine Palace .
• (2009) Roy Hargrove included this song on his album Emergence.

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) - includes versions by both Chet Baker and Julie London
• 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, with Jude Law playing the saxophone
• 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)

A movie was released in 2005 entitled Funny Valentine.

Television performances

• 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 gave the character Faye Valentine her name.
• A Full House episode, "Joey's Funny Valentine", is named after this song.
• 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 that Janice makes for Chandler as a Valentine gift.
• A Home Improvement episode, "A Funny Valentine", is named after this song. A character in this episode also sings this song.
• 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.
• On the 14th of February, 1976, Peter Boyle sang the song as part of his opening monologue on Saturday Night Live.
• The song has been sung on the hit television show American Idol by Season 4 contestant Constantine Maroulis, Season 6 contestant Melinda Doolittle, and Season 8 contestant Matt Giraud.
• The song was sung by Lucie Jones on the 6th series of X-Factor UK, during a big band themed show.
• In "Marco Polo (The Sopranos)," Little Carmine's rivals sink his boat, "My Funny Valentine," during a power struggle ignited by the death of Carmine Lupertazzi, Senior.
• Lucie Jones performed this song during Big Band week in the third week of the X Factor.

Structure

The basic structure of the song on a c-minor tonic is as follows if you want to play it fairly melodiously (measures separated by commas):

• C-, C-maj7, C-7, C-6, Abmaj7, F-7, D-7(b5), G7(b9)
• ditto thru to the F-7, then Db9, Bb7(b9)
• (bridge) Ebmaj7, F-7, G-7, F-7, Ebmaj7, F-7, G-7, F-7, Ebmaj7, G7(+5),C-,(Bb7,A7) Abmaj7, D-7(5b) G7,
• C-, C-maj7, C-7, C-6, Abmaj7, D-7(b5) G7(b9), C-, Bb-7 A7, Abmaj7, F-7, Bb7(b9), C-7 (preferred, or Ebmaj7)

This simple and classic structure makes it easy to adapt to other genres, and for jazz musicians to improvise over the established chords.

References

See also

• List of 1930s jazz standards

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).

External links

• Summary of Miles Davis album
• Application as a standard
• IMDb page for "Funny Valentine" (2005)