Origin:

Composed for the 1943 film The Sky's the Limit.

Style:

Swing, usually played at an up tempo.

Form:

A-B-C-D (32 Bars) [8-8-8-8]

Verse:

12 Bars

Seldom included in performances, Ella Fitzgerald included it in her recording from Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook, and Peggy Lee also delivers a concise vocal rendition with only guitar accompaniment on her album Love Held Lightly.

Key:

Most commonly played in Eb Major and also C Major.

Harmony/Overview:

The harmony of this composition is very functional. The A sections revolve  around a I - VI - II - V and finish with a minor II - V of VI which  leads into the following section. The B section begins on VImi before finishing with the common progression of a II - V of V followed by a II -  V back to the tonic. Instead of resolving back to the tonic however at  the top of the C section, it continues with a II - V of IVMaj7 which then leads to a II - V of bIII. The climax of the piece is reached in  the final D section when the harmony ascends diatonically through IMaj7 -  IImi7 - IIImi7, and finishes with a final II - V back to the tonic. The melody has a rather narrow range, and being made up predominantly of quarter notes and half notes it is common for the tune to be taken at  blistering tempos.

Recordings:

This song has been recorded over 260 times to date. It was first recorded by  Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra with vocal by Eugenie Baird in 1943. Freddie Slack and His Orchestra would record the theatrical  release with Joan Leslie for the film The Sky's the Limit the  same year also. It slowly began to enter the repertoire of some of the most prominent jazz artists of the day, and countless recordings have been made by both vocalists and instrumentalists alike.

JGC Top Picks:

John Coltrane, Coltrane Jazz, 1959

Roy Hargrove, Approaching Standards, 1994

Roy Haynes, Love Letters, 2002