“They Can’t Take That Away From Me” | Stories of Standards

“They Can’t Take That Away From Me” (1937) George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin was written for the 1937 musical “Shall We Dance”, which starred Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. This and other songs went on to become hits on the 1937 pop charts for Johnny Green and His Orchestra (featuring Fred Astaire), Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra, Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra and Billie Holliday and Her Orchestra. Astaire sang this to Ginger Rogers again in the 1949 musical “The Barkleys of Broadway”, a nostalgic touch which did not please Harry Warren, who had written the rest of the score for the movie. Paulette Goddard was thought by some to be the inspiration for the song.

 

George Gershwin (1898 – 1937) was not a studious child and his parents were delighted to find that he had secretly been learning to play the piano. He left high school to become a Tin Pan Alley plugger and had his first real success with Al Jolson’s 1919 recording of “Swanee” (lyrics by Irving Caesar). His aspirations for serious composition led to “Rhapsody in Blue”, “Concerto in F” and “An American in Paris”. His death was unexpected by most and John O’Hara summed up the feelings of thousands: “George Gershwin died July 11, 1937, but I don’t have to believe it if I don’t want to.”

 

Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) attended Townsend Harris High School, where one of his closest friends and co-writers was E. Y. “Yip” Harburg. Ira began working with his brother George in 1924, a partnership that continued until George’s death; Ira is said to have never again believed in God. Ira retired in 1958, though he did add lyrics to three of George’s uncompleted works in 1964. The 1945 film “Rhapsody in Blue” celebrates the lives of the brothers.