Oh, Lady Be Good!

"Oh, Lady be Good!" is a 1924 (see 1924 in music) song by George and Ira Gershwin.

The song was introduced by Walter Catlett in the Broadway show, Lady, Be Good!, written by Guy Bolton, Fred Thompson, and the Gershwin brothers, starring Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire. It ran for 330 performances in its original Broadway run. The song is also performed in the 1941 film, Lady Be Good, though the film itself is unrelated to the musical play.

A 1947 recording of the song became a hit for Ella Fitzgerald, notable for her scat solo. The song became readily identified with Fitzgerald, and she sang it many times in live performance. For her album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (1959), Oh, Lady be Good! was sung as a ballad, arranged by Nelson Riddle.

Recorded versions

Fred Astaire - rec. December 1952 - from the LP "The Fred Astaire Story"
Buck and Bubbles - rec. December 26, 1933 - released as Columbia 2873-D, matrix W 152661-3
Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards - rec. January 2, 1925 - released as Pathe 025130, matrix 105767
Charlie Parker - rec. at the Philharmonic Auditorium (Los Angeles, California), January 28, 1946, as part of the Jazz At The Philharmonic series
Ella Fitzgerald - rec. March 18, 1947 - released as Decca 23956, matrix 73820
Ella Fitzgerald - rec. 1959 - from Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook
Buddy Lee with the Gilt-Edged Four - rec. May 17, 1926 - released as Columbia 3981, matrix WA 3256
Benny Goodman Trio - rec. 1935
The Gordons with Dizzy Gillespie and Stuff Smith - rec. April 17, 1957
Jack Hylton And His Orchestra - rec. March 29, 1926 - released as Bb 8191-2
Jones-Smith Incorporated (feat. Lester Young and Count Basie) - rec. October 9, 1936 - released as Vocalion 3459, matrix C-1660-1
Artie Shaw And His Orchestra - rec. 1938 - from the short "Artie Shaw's Symphony In Swing" (1939)