Frank & Rick - It Had to Be You

Frank & Rick
IT HAD TO BE YOU
(Isham Jones, Gus Kahn)

Jones and Kahn wrote the tune in 1924, shortly after Jones' wife bought him a baby grand piano for his 30th birthday and he stayed up all night noodling around until he came up with a few melodies, one of them being "It Had To Be You." Kahn added the lyrics, and the song quickly became a hot number that year with covers from Marion Harris, Paul Whiteman, and Jones' own orchestra. In the coming decades, Ruth Etting, Dick Haymes & Helen Forrest, Betty Hutton, Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Barbra Streisand, among others, recorded memorable renditions.

Frank Sinatra performed this with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra in the early 1940s before embarking on a solo career, but didn't include it on any of his albums until Trilogy: Past Present Future in 1980. This version, arranged by Billy May, was used in a pivotal scene near the end of the romantic comedy "When Harry Met Sally…" when Harry is wandering New York City on New Year's Eve. Harry Connick Jr. covered the tune on the accompanying soundtrack, which earned him a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Male Vocal Performance.

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