I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby

"I Can't Give You Anything but Love"
Music by Jimmy McHugh
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
Published 1928
Language English
Original artist Adelaide Hall
Recorded by Many artists; see #Recorded Versions

"I Can't Give You Anything but Love" is an American popular song and jazz standard by Jimmy McHugh (music) and Dorothy Fields (lyrics).

The song was introduced by Adelaide Hall at Les Ambassadeurs Club in New York in January 1928 in Lew Leslie's Blackbird Revue, which opened on Broadway later that year as the highly successful Blackbirds of 1928 (518 performances), wherein it was performed by Adelaide Hall, Aida Ward, and Willard McLean.

Contents

Background

Some controversy surrounds the song's authorship. Andy Razaf biographer Harry Singer offers circumstantial evidence that suggests Fats Waller might have sold the melody to McHugh in 1926 and that the lyrics were by Andy Razaf.[1]

Alternatively, Philip Furia has pointed out that Fields' verse is almost identical to the end of the second verse of Lorenz Hart's and Richard Rodgers' song "Where's That Rainbow?" from Peggy-Ann, the 1926 musical comedy with book by Fields' brother Herbert and produced by their father Lew:[2]

My luck will vary surely,
That's purely a curse.
My luck has changed--it's gotten
From rotten to worse.

"I Can't Give You Anything but Love" was the hit of Blackbirds of 1928, was McHugh and Fields's first hit, and has been covered extensively by subsequent popular artists and jazz musicians.

Lyrics

Verse
Gee, but it's tough to be broke, kid.
It's not a joke, kid--it's a curse.
My luck is changing--it's gotten
from simply rotten to something worse.
Who knows someday I will win too
I'll begin to reach my prime.
Now that I see what our end is
All can spend is just my time.
Refrain
I can't give you anything but love, baby.
That's the only thing I've plenty of, baby.
Dream a while, scheme a while,
You're sure to find
Happiness and, I guess,
All those things you've always pined for.
Gee, it's great to see you looking swell, baby.
Diamond bracelets Woolworth doesn't sell, baby.
Till that lucky day you know darn well, baby,
I can't give you anything but love.

Use in the Media

Recorded Versions

The song has been covered by many artists, including:

More modern artists who have covered the song include James Darren on his 2001 album Because of You, and Mark Weber on his 2008 album, "When I Fall In Love."

Footnotes

  1. ^ "I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby" at Jazz Standards
  2. ^ Furia, Joseph. The Poets of Tin Pan Alley. 1990. pp. 216-17.
  3. ^ a b Columbia Records in the 38000 to 38499 series
  4. ^ a b c OKeh Records in the 8500 to 8966 series
  5. ^ a b c d e OKeh Records in the 41000 to 41499 series
  6. ^ a b c d Victor Records in the 21500 to 21999 series
  7. ^ a b Vocalion Records in the 15500 to 15999 series
  8. ^ Disc Records discography
  9. ^ Vocalion Records in the 1000 to 1499 series
  10. ^ Variety Records released in 1937
  11. ^ a b c Harmony Records in the 1001P to 2027P series
  12. ^ a b Supertone Records in the 1001P to 2027P series
  13. ^ Montgomery Ward Records in the 4500 to 5041 series
  14. ^ Victor Records in the 25500 to 25900 series
  15. ^ Columbia Records in the 36500 to 36999 series
  16. ^ a b Supertone Records in the 9000 to 9498 series
  17. ^ a b c d Brunswick Records in the 4000 to 4499 series
  18. ^ a b Challenge Records in the 500 to 999 series
  19. ^ a b Banner Records in the 7000 to 7265 series
  20. ^ a b Jewel Records in the 5000 to 5499 series
  21. ^ Prestige Records discography, 1933 to 1948
  22. ^ Swing Records discography
  23. ^ Decca Records in the 27500 to 27999 series
  24. ^ Capitol Records in the 500 to 999 series
  25. ^ Capitol Records in the 10000 to 10210 series
  26. ^ a b Dean Martin 78 rpm discography on the Dean Martin fan site
  27. ^ a b Dean Martin 45 rpm discography on the Dean Martin fan site
  28. ^ a b c Brunswick Records in the 6500 to 6999 series
  29. ^ RCA Victor Records in the 20-3500 to 20-3999 series
  30. ^ Mercury Records in the 8000 to 8310 series
  31. ^ a b Vocalion Records in the 3500 to 3999 series
  32. ^ Mercury Records in the 89000 to 89098 series
  33. ^ Clef Records catalog
  34. ^ Discovery Records discography
  35. ^ Commodore Records in the series
  36. ^ US Decca Records in the 18000 to 18499 series
  37. ^ Conqueror Records in the 9500 to 9960 series
  38. ^ a b Vocalion Records in the 500 to 5499 series
  39. ^ Bluebird Records in the 10500 to 10999 series
  40. ^ RCA Victor Records in the 20-1500 to 20-1999 series
  41. ^ a b Columbia Records in the 37500 to 37999 series
  42. ^ a b Vocalion Records in the 3000 to 3499 series

References