Richard Rodgers, music · Lorenz Hart, lyrics · Introduced by Vivienne Segal in Pal Joey, 1940
Bewitched
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered is a show tune from the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey. Its 32 fall into four sections, and the opening section returns after a contrasting middle part. You can hear it from Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Art Pepper, Frank Sinatra and Brad Mehldau.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Vivienne Segal, who sang the song in the show, and Doris Day's 1949 record. It moves to Ella Fitzgerald, Art Pepper's saxophone, André Previn's trio and Frank Sinatra, and ends with Paul Desmond and Jim Hall in 1965 and Brad Mehldau's trio in 1998.
Columbia recorded a studio cast album of Pal Joey in September 1950 and released it in March 1951. Vivienne Segal, who introduced the song on Broadway on December 25, 1940, sings it with Lehman Engel conducting.
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Vivienne Segal, the singer who first performed the song on Broadway, sings it here with an orchestra. The whole track runs just over three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first eight (the ) at a slow tempo: , , Cmaj7 , and Am7, then Dm7 G7 , Dm7 and G7 in the last three bars. Hum the tune over them. Smaller version: play only the first of each bar.
“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”, You're My Thrill
Doris Day recorded it with The Mellomen and John Rarig's orchestra on May 13, 1949, for her album You're My Thrill. Columbia issued it as a single in February 1950, and it reached number 9 on the Billboard chart.
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Doris Day sings the tune with The Mellomen, a vocal group credited on this record, and an orchestra. At about two and a half minutes, it is the shortest version on this path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the second ending that leads into the : in one , in the next, then . Play it slowly and listen to how it pulls toward , where the bridge begins. Smaller version: play only the roots D, G, C, F, E and A.
“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book
Ella Fitzgerald recorded it in Hollywood in August 1956 for her Rodgers and Hart Song Book, with Buddy Bregman arranging and conducting the orchestra and Norman Granz producing. Verve issued the set as two LPs.
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At about seven minutes, the track is more than twice as long as Doris Day's record. Listen to how Ella Fitzgerald and Buddy Bregman's orchestra hold a slow song for that whole time.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , 17 to 24: , Dm6, , Am7, , Dm7 G7, and Dm7 G7. Then play the last back to the start. Smaller version: play only the root of each .
Art Pepper recorded it on December 28, 1956, at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles, with Russ Freeman on piano, Ben Tucker on bass and Chuck Flores on drums. It was issued in 1957 on the Intro album Modern Art.
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Art Pepper's alto saxophone leads, with Russ Freeman's piano, Ben Tucker's bass and Chuck Flores's drums behind him. Compare this saxophone version of the tune with Ella Fitzgerald's.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the on your instrument, with these under it: , , Cmaj7 , . Smaller version: play only the first two bars.
André Previn recorded an album of Pal Joey songs for Contemporary in Los Angeles on October 28 and 29, 1957, with Red Mitchell on bass and Shelly Manne on drums. The album's full title is Modern Jazz Performances of Songs from Pal Joey.
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This is an instrumental record: André Previn's piano carries the tune, with Red Mitchell's bass and Shelly Manne's drums keeping time. The track runs 5:39.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last four of the , bars 21 to 24: , Dm7 G7, and Dm7 G7, then land on at the start of the last . Smaller version: play only the bass notes D, G, D, G, E, E♭, D, G, C.
Frank Sinatra recorded it for The Concert Sinatra at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio in Hollywood in February 1963, with a large orchestra under Nelson Riddle. Reprise released the album the same year.
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Frank Sinatra sings with a large orchestra, fourteen years after Doris Day's hit. The track runs 2:58, much shorter than Ella Fitzgerald's version.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or play the whole tune once through, 32 . Use the first ending ( , Dm7, G7) the first time through the and the second ending (Dm7 , , ) the second time. Smaller version: play just the two endings back to back.
Paul Desmond recorded it with guitarist Jim Hall in New York on June 1, 1965, for the RCA Victor album Easy Living. Percy Heath played bass and Connie Kay drums.
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The two lead voices here are Paul Desmond's alto saxophone and Jim Hall's guitar, with Percy Heath's bass and Connie Kay's drums behind them. At 6:28, only Ella Fitzgerald's record is longer on this path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last , 25 to 32: , , Cmaj7 , , Am7, Dm7 G7, Am7 and Dm7 G7. Notice that the last two bars lead back to the start. Smaller version: play only the last two bars, C6 Am7 and Dm7 G7, and repeat them.
“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”, Songs: The Art of the Trio, Vol. 3
Brad Mehldau's trio recorded it at Right Track in New York City in sessions on May 27 and 28, 1998, with Larry Grenadier on bass and Jorge Rossy on drums. It is on Songs: The Art of the Trio, Vol. 3, released by Warner Bros. in September 1998.
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A piano trio plays the song on its own, as in André Previn's record, forty-one years later. Listen to how Brad Mehldau's piano, Larry Grenadier's bass and Jorge Rossy's drums share the song.
Try it on your instrument
Take the and play it with your own feel, slower or with the spread out one note at a time. If you can improvise over , try one ; the smaller version is to play the tune once and then the chords once, without a solo.
The song comes from Rodgers and Hart's musical Pal Joey, and Vivienne Segal introduces it on Broadway on December 25, 1940. Doris Day records it with The Mellomen in May 1949.
1950s
Segal sings it again on the 1950 Pal Joey studio cast album. Ella Fitzgerald records it in August 1956, and André Previn's trio records an album of Pal Joey songs in October 1957.
1960s
Frank Sinatra records it with Nelson Riddle's orchestra in February 1963. Paul Desmond and guitarist Jim Hall record it in New York in June 1965.
1980s
Linda Ronstadt records it with Nelson Riddle and his orchestra for her 1986 album For Sentimental Reasons.
1990s
Brad Mehldau's trio records it at Right Track in New York City in May 1998 for Songs: The Art of the Trio, Vol. 3.
2020s
On their 2024 Mack Avenue album But Who's Gonna Play the Melody?, Christian McBride and Edgar Meyer play it as a duet for two basses.
More great versions
5 more, from 1952 to 2024. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sBenny Carter and His Strings with the Oscar Peterson Quartet1952 · Swing
Oscar Peterson Trio1953
1960sBobby Timmons Trio1964 · Soul jazz
1970s
1980sLinda Ronstadt with Nelson Riddle1986 · Smooth jazz
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020sChristian McBride & Edgar Meyer2024 · Contemporary jazz
Benny Carter and His Strings with the Oscar Peterson Quartet
“Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered”, The Formidable Benny Carter
Benny Carter recorded it with strings and the Oscar Peterson quartet at Reeves Sound Studios in New York on September 19, 1952. It was issued on a 1954 Norgran single paired with Cocktails for Two.
Oscar Peterson recorded it with Barney Kessel on guitar and Ray Brown on bass in Los Angeles on December 7, 1953. It was issued on the 1954 Clef album Oscar Peterson Plays Richard Rodgers.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
C majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
C major → D minor → C majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
C
D m
C
The tune is 32 in four 8-bar sections: A, A, B, A. In iReal Pro's chart the runs , , Cmaj7 , and Am7 in bars 1 to 5. The first time, bars 6 to 8 play Dm7 G7 , Dm7 and G7. The second time they play Dm7 , Fmaj7 and , which leads into the . The , bars 17 to 24, plays for two bars, Am7 for two bars, then Dm7 G7, Dm7 G7, and Dm7 G7. The last A section, bars 25 to 32, repeats bars 1 to 5, then plays Dm7 G7, Am7 and Dm7 G7. Bars 17 to 20 sit in and the rest is in . The areas above are a reading of iReal Pro's chart, and other lead sheets may spell some differently.