Porgy and Bess - Songs

Songs

Porgy and Bess contains many songs that have become popular in their own right, becoming standards in jazz and blues in addition to their original operatic setting.

Some of the most popular songs are:

  • "Summertime", act 1, scene 1
  • "A Woman is a Sometime Thing", act 1, scene 1
  • "My Man's Gone Now", act 1, scene 2
  • "It Take a Long Pull to Get There", act 2, scene 1
  • "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'", act 2, scene 1
  • "Buzzard Keep on Flyin'", act 2, scene 1
  • "Bess, You Is My Woman Now", act 2, scene 1
  • "Oh, I Can't Sit Down," act 2, scene 1
  • "It Ain't Necessarily So", act 2, scene 2
  • "What you want wid Bess", act 2, scene 2
  • "Oh, Doctor Jesus", act 2, scene 3
  • "I Loves You, Porgy", act 2, scene 3
  • "A Red-Haired Woman", act 2, scene 4
  • "There's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New York", act 3, scene 2
  • "Bess, O Where's My Bess?", act 3, scene 3
  • "O Lawd, I'm On My Way", act 3, scene 3

Some of the more celebrated renditions of these songs include Sarah Vaughan's "It Ain't Necessarily So" and the versions of "Summertime" recorded by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Jascha Heifetz in his own transcriptions for violin and piano. Numerous other musicians have recorded "Summertime" in varying styles, including both instrumental and vocal recordings. Janis Joplin recorded a Blues rock version of "Summertime" with Big Brother and the Holding Company. Sublime recorded a (radically reworked) version, as well. Billy Stewart's version became a Top 10 Pop and R&B hit in 1966 for Chess Records.

Nina Simone recorded several Porgy and Bess songs. She made her debut in 1959 with a version of "I Loves You, Porgy", which became a Billboard top 20 hit. Other songs she recorded included "Porgy, I's Your Woman Now", "Summertime" and "My Man's Gone Now".

The violinist Isaac Stern and the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber both recorded instrumental versions of "Bess, You is My Woman Now".

Christina Aguilera performed "I Loves You, Porgy" in a tribute to the Nina Simone version at the 2008 Grammy Nominations Concert.

"Summertime" may be the most popular cover song in popular music. Even seemingly unlikely performers such as The Zombies have made recordings of it. An international group of collectors of recordings of "Summertime" by the name "The Summertime Connection" claims more than 30,000 recorded performances (many live) in their collection.

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