- I Won't Dance
"I Won't Dance" is a song composed by
Jerome Kern , with lyrics originally written byOscar Hammerstein II andOtto Harbach , for the 1934 musical "Three Sisters". However, "Three Sisters" flopped and was quickly forgotten, so when the time came to film the Kern-Harbach musical "Roberta ", the song was interpolated into the film. It became such a hit that it is now included in all stage revivals and recordings of "Roberta".For the RKO film "Roberta" (1935),
Dorothy Fields andJimmy McHugh changed the lyrics of the song, only keeping the title, which Hammerstein originated. It is the Fields and McHugh lyrics which are best known today.The song is anachronistically used as a musical number in the
made-for-television biography of PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt , "Warm Springs", which largely takes place in the year 1924.Notable recordings
*
Anita O'Day - "Pick Yourself Up with Anita O'Day " (1956)
*Ella Fitzgerald andLouis Armstrong - "Ella and Louis Again " (1957)
*Ella Fitzgerald - "Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson " (1961)
*Peggy Lee - "Mink Jazz " (1963)
*Jane Monheit andMichael Bublé - "Taking a Chance on Love" (2004)
*Frank Sinatra - "A Swingin' Affair! " (1957), "" (1962)
*Jula de Palma - "Jula al Sistina" (1970)
*Will Young - "" (2002)
*Sylvia McNair withAndre Previn andDavid Finck - "Sure Thing: The Jerome Kern Songbook" (1994)
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