| Nice Work If You Can Get It | |
| Published: | by Gershwin Publishing Corp., New York[1] |
| Artist: | Fred Astaire |
| B-Side: | Things Are Looking Up[2] |
| Released: | November 1937 |
| Recorded: | October 17, 1937[3] [4] |
| Studio: | Los Angeles, California |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Label: | Brunswick 7983 |
| Composer: | George Gershwin |
| Lyricist: | Ira Gershwin |
| Prev Title: | A Foggy Day |
| Prev Year: | 1937 |
| Next Title: | Change Partners |
| Next Year: | 1938 |
"Nice Work If You Can Get It" is a popular song and jazz standard composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
It began life in 1930 as a nine-bar phrase with the working title "There's No Stopping Me Now". Its title phrase "Nice work if you can get it" came from an English magazine.[5] [6] It was one of nine songs the Gershwin brothers wrote for the movie A Damsel in Distress in which it was performed by Fred Astaire with backing vocals by The Stafford Sisters. The song was published in 1937.
The first jazz recording of the work was by Tommy Dorsey three weeks after the release of the film. Early chart versions were by Shep Fields, Teddy Wilson with Billie Holiday, Fred Astaire, Maxine Sullivan, and The Andrews Sisters.[7] The song was recorded by many jazz singers and adopted by bebop instrumentalists; Jerry Newman recorded pianist Thelonious Monk performing the tune in 1941 at Minton's Playhouse, a nightclub closely connected with early bebop, and he subsequently recorded it several times.