Matt Dennis, music · Tom Adair, lyrics · First recorded by Tommy Dorsey's orchestra with Frank Sinatra, 1941
Everything Happens to Me
Everything Happens to Me is a 1940 ballad by Matt Dennis and Tom Adair. Tommy Dorsey's orchestra first recorded it, with Frank Sinatra singing and no trombone solo from Dorsey. Charlie Parker, Chet Baker, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans and Sonny Rollins all recorded it.
Listen in this order
The path starts with the 1941 record by Tommy Dorsey's orchestra with Frank Sinatra, then follows Bud Powell, Charlie Parker with strings and Stan Getz. It goes on to Chet Baker singing, Thelonious Monk alone at the piano, Bill Evans's trio and Sonny Rollins.
Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra (vocal by Frank Sinatra) · 1941 · Big band
Everything Happens to Me / Whatcha Know Joe?
Tommy Dorsey's orchestra made the first recording of the song, with Frank Sinatra singing, and Victor released it on a 78 on March 21, 1941. The record has no trombone solo from Dorsey, so Sinatra's voice stays in front.
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Listen for
Frank Sinatra's voice is in front the whole way, and the record has no trombone solo from Dorsey. It lasts 3:11.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the , , , Cm7 F7, , two beats per , and sing or hum the tune over them. Smaller version: play one chord per bar, Cm7, Dm7, Cm7, Dm7♭5.
Bud Powell recorded it with Curly Russell and Max Roach in New York on January 10, 1947. Roost put it out on a 78 paired with Indiana, and on the 1951 LP The Bud Powell Trio.
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Listen for
A piano trio plays the song with no singer, so the piano carries the tune with only bass and drums behind it. The record is short, 2:41.
Try it on your instrument
Play the : , , Cm7 F7, , Cm7 , Dm7 G7, Cm7 F7, Dm7 G7. Play the with your left hand and the tune with your right. Smaller version: chords only, two beats per chord, slowly.
Charlie Parker recorded it with a string group and a in New York on November 30, 1949. Jimmy Carroll wrote the arrangements, and Mercury issued the record on a 78 and then on the LP Charlie Parker with Strings.
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Listen for
Parker's alto saxophone is the lead voice, with violins, viola, cello, an oboe and a harp around it. The record lasts 3:17.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , the middle part of the tune: , , Fm7 , E♭maj7, , , , Cm7 . It leaves for a while, then comes back. Smaller version: play only the first four bars.
Stan Getz recorded it in Stockholm on December 16, 1955 with Bengt Hallberg, Gunnar Johnson and Anders Burman. Verve issued it on the album Stan Getz in Stockholm.
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Listen for
Getz's tenor saxophone leads a piano, bass and drums, and the record runs 7:07, a long time for one song. Count how many times the tune comes around.
Try it on your instrument
Play the 32 once and say each section aloud as it passes: A, A, B, A. Use the from the A and above if you have them. Smaller version: play only the twice, then stop.
Chet Baker recorded it in New York in August 1958 with Kenny Drew, George Morrow and Philly Joe Jones. It is on Chet Baker Sings: It Could Happen to You, his first session for Riverside.
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Listen for
Chet Baker's voice leads on this album, called Chet Baker Sings, with piano, bass and drums behind him. The record runs 5:04.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or hum the tune over the while you play them: , , Cm7 F7, , Cm7 , Dm7 G7, Cm7 F7, Dm7 G7. Smaller version: play just the first four and hum.
Thelonious Monk played it alone at the piano at Fugazi Hall in San Francisco on October 21 and 22, 1959. It is on his Riverside album Thelonious Alone in San Francisco.
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Listen for
Monk plays alone for 5:40, so the tune and the under it come from one instrument and there is no bass or drums.
Try it on your instrument
Play both parts yourself on one instrument. Chords in the left hand, tune in the right, for the first 8 : , , Cm7 F7, , Cm7 , Dm7 G7, Cm7 F7, Dm7 G7. Smaller version: play the first four bars.
Bill Evans recorded it with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian in New York on December 18, 1963. Verve released it on the album Trio '64 in 1964.
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Listen for
Evans, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Paul Motian play as a trio for 4:38, with no horn and no singer. Follow the bass for one time through the tune.
Try it on your instrument
Play the end of the tune, 29 to 32: , , Cm7 , . Check that the last lands on B♭6, where the tune comes home. Smaller version: play only Cm7 F7 and then B♭6.
Sonny Rollins recorded it with Ray Bryant, Walter Booker and Mickey Roker at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs on July 8, 1965. Impulse! released it on the album On Impulse!.
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Listen for
At 11:15 this is the longest record on the path, with Rollins's tenor saxophone in front of a piano, bass and drums.
Try it on your instrument
Improvising over these takes real practice, so treat this as a stretch goal: play the chords slowly and add a few notes of your own from the scale. Smaller version: play the chords while you hum the tune.
Matt Dennis and Tom Adair write the song in 1940, and Tommy Dorsey's orchestra records it with Frank Sinatra singing in 1941. Bud Powell's trio plays it in 1947, and Charlie Parker plays it with strings in 1949.
1950s
Stan Getz records it with a quartet in Stockholm in 1955. Chet Baker sings it for Riverside in 1958, and Thelonious Monk plays it alone at the piano in San Francisco in 1959.
1960s
Bill Evans's trio records it in December 1963, and Sonny Rollins's quartet records it for Impulse! in July 1965. Rollins's version runs over eleven minutes.
1980s
Oscar Peterson, trumpeter Harry Edison and alto saxophonist Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson play it in Los Angeles in November 1986.
2000s
Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden record it as a piano and bass duet in Jarrett's home studio in March 2007. That November, Haden plays it again live in Mannheim with Brad Mehldau.
2020s
Pat Metheny plays it on guitar, joined with Somewhere on one track, on his 2024 album MoonDial.
For players
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
B♭ majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
B♭ major → E♭ major → D major → B♭ majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars
A8 bars
B♭
E♭
D
B♭
The tune is 32 in . Each has 8 bars: , , Cm7 F7, , Cm7 , Dm7 G7, Cm7 F7, then Dm7 G7 at the end of the first A and at the end of the second and third A. The , bars 17 to 24, starts in with , Cm7, Fm7 and E♭maj7, then steps into with and , and and Cm7 F7 lead back toward B♭. The last A section, bars 25 to 32, repeats the first A and ends on B♭6. These follow the iReal Pro chart; other lead sheets may spell some differently.