"But Beautiful" is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

with music written by

Jimmy Van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Life and care ...

, the lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was published in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

. One of five songs written by Burke and Van Heusen featured in the

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

movie ''

Road to Rio ''Road to Rio'' is a 1947 American semimusical comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. Written by Edmund Beloin and Jack Rose, the film is about two inept vaudevillians who stow away on ...

'' (1947), it was introduced by

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

and is also associated with his leading lady

Dorothy Lamour Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the '' Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing ...

. The song was a hit in 1948 for

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

(reaching the No.14 spot), Bing Crosby (#20),

Margaret Whiting Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American popular music and country music singer who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard' ...

(#21) and

Art Lund Arthur Lund (April 1, 1915 – May 31, 1990) was an American baritone singer, initially with bandleaders Benny Goodman and Harry James, and was also a television and stage actor. Biography Arthur Lund was a graduate of Eastern Kentucky Uni ...

(#25). The original key is G major and has the form A-B1-A-B2. Chick Corea recorded a piano solo version of it in the original key of G major, but it has been recorded in many different keys, including F major (later Sinatra), C major (Bill Evans and Stan Getz), D major (Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga), Billie Holiday (B-flat major) and Nat King Cole (E major). It is usually performed as a ballad.

Other versions

Tex Beneke Gordon Lee "Tex" Beneke ( ; February 12, 1914 – May 30, 2000) was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. H ...

released a version in 1947 with Garry Stevens on vocal. *

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

on his first album with the great jazz pianist

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

-- '' The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album'' (1975). *

Royce Campbell Royce Campbell (born June 7, 1952) is a jazz guitarist from Indiana who was a member of the Henry Mancini orchestra for twenty years. Musical career He was born in North Vernon, Indiana. When he was five, his mother married a career Navy man, ...

on his CD, ''Plays for Lovers'' *

The Coasters The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with " Searchin'" and " Young Blood" in 1957, their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producin ...

on their album ''One by One'' (1960). *

Alma Cogan Alma Angela Cohen Cogan (19 May 1932 – 26 October 1966) was an English singer of traditional pop in the 1950s and early 1960s. Dubbed the "Girl with the Giggle in Her Voice", she was the highest paid British female entertainer of her era. C ...

- '' With You in Mind'' (1962) *

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

on his album '' The Very Thought of You'' (1958). *

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. While Colvin has been a solo recording artist for decades, she is best known for her 1998 Grammy Award-winning song " Sunny Came Home". Early ...

sang the song for

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile ...

's concert for the benefit of the Walden Woods Project and The Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods, which was released on the album '' Stormy Weather'' (1998). *

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...

on his albums, ''Solo Piano - Standards'' (2000) and Trilogy 2. *

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

released a version in 1957 on her '' Day by Day'' album. (Columbia Records CL-942) Recorded Sept. 17-20, 1956, conducted by Paul Weston. *

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

- '' Triplicate'' (2017) *Jazz pianist

Eliane Elias Eliane Elias
BrowseBiography.com, 20 November 2011; retrieved 10 September 2014. is a Brazilian

Something for You: Eliane Elias Sings & Plays Bill Evans'' *In 1996, an album titled '' But Beautiful'' was released that featured live recordings by

and

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre ...

made in 1974. The album includes a version of the Burke/Van Heusen standard. *

has recorded also the song on the albums ''Homecoming'' (1979) and ''Getting Sentimental'' (1978). *

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

on her album ''

Soft and Beautiful ''Soft and Beautiful'' is the fifteenth studio album by the American singer Aretha Franklin, released in the spring of 1969, by Columbia Records. Background The album was recorded when Franklin was 22 years old between July 9 and 16, 1964,Take a ...

'' (1969). *

The Four Freshmen The Four Freshmen is an American male vocal quartet that blends open-harmonic jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires, The Pied Pipers, and The Mel-Tones, founded in the barbershop tradition. The singers accom ...

on their album ''Voices in Latin/The Freshman Year'' (2001). *

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

and

covered this song on their jazz album ''

Cheek to Cheek "Cheek to Cheek" is a song written by Irving Berlin in 1934–35, specifically for the star of his new musical, Fred Astaire. The movie was ''Top Hat'', co-starring Ginger Rogers.

'' (2014). *

and

Kenny Barron Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist, who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. Biography Born in Philade ...

performed a notable rendition at Umbria Jazz Festival in 1989 *

Johnny Hartman John Maurice Hartman (July 3, 1923 – September 15, 1983) was an American jazz singer who specialized in ballads. He sang and recorded with Earl Hines' and Dizzy Gillespie's big bands and with Erroll Garner. Hartman is best remembered for his ...

recorded the song for his 1959 album, '' And I Thought About You''. *

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

on her album '' Lady in Satin'' (1958). *

Shirley Horn Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and othe ...

recorded the song for her 1989 Verve album, '' Close Enough For Love''. *

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives ...

recorded the song for his album ''

Open Sesame "Open sesame" (french: Sésame, ouvre-toi; ar, افتح يا سمسم) is a magical phrase in the story of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" in Antoine Galland's version of ''One Thousand and One Nights''. It opens the mouth of a cave in which ...

'' (1960). * Engelbert Humperdinck included the song on his album ''A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening'' (1985). * Linda Lawson on her album ''Introducing Linda Lawson'' (1960) *

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series '' Family Guy'' (since 1999) and '' The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creat ...

- '' In Full Swing'' *

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpre ...

on her album '' Torchy!'' (1956). *

Mike Moreno Mike Moreno (born October 8, 1978) is a jazz guitarist and composer from Houston, Texas. According to an NPR interview in 2008,Jackson, Josh, (Feb. 5, 2008).Mike Moreno: Jazz Guitar 'Between the Lines'. NPR. Retrieved Jan. 28, 2013. Moreno's ma ...

recorded a version for his 2011 album ''First in Mind'' *

Gregory Porter Gregory Porter (born November 4, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for ''Liquid Spirit'' and then again in 2017 for '' Take Me to the Alley''. Early l ...

, jazz singer, recorded the song on his 2010 album ''Water''. *

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

recorded "But Beautiful" in the recording of her album ''Della Reese Live in Hollywood in 1966''. *German jazz and pop artist

Marc Secara Marc Secara (born 20 February 1976) is a German singer and recording artist known for jazz, American pop music, and German popular repertoire. He is also a member of the German singing group the Berlin Voices. Early life Marc Secara was born ...

recorded the song on the CD ''You're Everything'' (2008)''You're Everything'' CD, Marc Secara and Berlin Jazz Orchestra arranged by Steve Gray, track #15
/ref> *

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

on her album '' The Movie Album'' (2003). * Nancy Wilson on her album '' But Beautiful'' (1969). *

Lorez Alexandria Lorez Alexandria (born Dolorez Alexandria Turner; August 14, 1929 – May 22, 2001). was an American jazz singer, described as "one of the most gifted and underrated jazz singers of the twentieth century". She became established in the midwest b ...

led off her album ''

More of the Great Lorez Alexandria ''More of the Great Lorez Alexandria'' is an album by American jazz vocalist Lorez Alexandria featuring performances recorded in 1964 for the Impulse! label.

'' (1964) with her rendition of the song. * Samara Joy included the tune as the last track on her eponymously named 2021 album.

External links

"But Beautiful" at jazzstandards.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:But Beautiful 1940s jazz standards 1947 songs Songs with lyrics by Johnny Burke (lyricist) Songs with music by Jimmy Van Heusen Bing Crosby songs Doris Day songs Nat King Cole songs The Coasters songs Aretha Franklin songs Barbra Streisand songs Jazz compositions in G major