I Loves You, Porgy

"I Loves You, Porgy" is a duet from the opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was published in 1935.

Originally duetted by Anne Brown and Todd Duncan in the 1935 production and in the 1942 revival of the opera, "I Loves You, Porgy" has been recorded as a solo number by a number of popular vocalists and jazz musicians, most notably Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and Bill Evans. Nina Simone's recording of the song (from Little Girl Blue, 1958) was a Top 20 pop hit in the United States in the autumn of 1959. Simone's version went to number eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the R&B charts. A live version is featured in her 1964 album Nina Simone in Concert. Bill Evans's piano trio version recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1961, available on the CD re-issue of the album Waltz for Debby, is also acclaimed.

Barbra Streisand recorded "I Loves You, Porgy" as a medley with "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" (sung as "Porgy, I's Your Woman Now") on her The Broadway Album, Columbia Records, 1985. Whitney Houston sang "I Loves You, Porgy" at the beginning of a medley with "I Have Nothing" at the 1994 American Music Awards. This performance was included on the 2014 CD/DVD release, Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances. Houston also performed the tune during her HBO televised Classic Whitney concert in Washington, D.C. in 1997. Christina Aguilera performed a critically acclaimed rendition of the song at the Grammy Nomination Concert in December 2008.

Nina Simone

Nina Simone (/ˈniːnə sᵻˈmoʊn/; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist who worked in a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.

Born in North Carolina, the sixth child of a preacher, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of her supporters in Tryon, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York but was unable to continue because of the high fees. She was later denied a scholarship to study at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone became fully convinced her rejection had been entirely due to her race, a statement that has been a matter of controversy.

To make a living, Simone chose to play "cocktail piano" at a night club in Atlantic City, where she was told she had to sing to her own accompaniment, effectively launching her career as a jazz vocalist. She recorded more than forty albums, mostly between 1958, when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue, and 1974, and had a hit in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy".

Porgy

Porgy may refer to:

See also

Love You

Love You may refer to:

In music:

In television and film:

See also

I Love

"I Love" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Tom T. Hall. It was released in October 1973 as the only single from the album, For the People in the Last Hard Town. The song would be Hall's most successful single and was his fourth number one on the U.S. country singles chart. The single spent two weeks at the top and a total of 15 weeks on the chart. "I Love" was Hall's only entry on the Top 40 peaking at number 12.

References in popular culture

"I Love" was used, with altered lyrics, in a popular 2003 TV commercial for Coors Light.

The song was used in the film For No Good Reason.

"I Like", a parody version by Heathen Dan, was released on the 1983 compilation album The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records.