Jimmy McHugh, music · Dorothy Fields, lyrics · Introduced on Broadway by Harry Richman and Gertrude Lawrence, 1930
Exactly Like You
Exactly Like You is a 1930 song by Jimmy McHugh, with words by Dorothy Fields. Harry Richman and Gertrude Lawrence first sang it, in the Broadway show International Revue. Louis Armstrong made the first jazz version in 1930, and Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz recorded it in 1953.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Ruth Etting's 1930 pop record and Louis Armstrong's first jazz version, then moves through Benny Goodman's small group, Count Basie's big band and Django Reinhardt's Paris group. It ends with Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz, Red Garland's trio with a conga player and Oscar Peterson with guitar.
1950sDizzy Gillespie / Stan Getz Sextet1953 · Bebop
The Red Garland Trio plus Ray Barretto on conga1958
1960sOscar Peterson Quartet1969 · Bebop
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Hear the song as a 1930 pop record
Ruth Etting · 1930
Exactly Like You / It Happened in Monterey
Ruth Etting recorded the song for Columbia in New York on April 30, 1930, about two months after the Broadway show opened. Harry Richman recorded it for Brunswick the same day.
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Listen for
One singer leads the whole way, with an orchestra behind her. The linked copy runs 3:08.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the , C6 D7, one bar each, and hum the tune over them. Smaller version: play C6 for two bars, then D7 for two bars.
Louis Armstrong recorded the song with his orchestra in New York on May 4, 1930, four days after Ruth Etting. Classic Jazz Standards names it the first jazz version.
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Listen for
Louis Armstrong plays trumpet and sings with his orchestra, which has two trumpets, a trombone, three reed players, piano, guitar, tuba and drums. According to JazzStandards.com, he sings the opening phrase on one note instead of the written melody.
Try it on your instrument
Play 5 to 8 of the : G7, , then G7 in the last bar. Play the with your left hand and the tune with your right. Smaller version: play G7 for two bars, then C6.
Benny Goodman Trio (vocal by Lionel Hampton) · 1936
Exactly Like You
Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa recorded it in Hollywood on August 26, 1936, and Victor issued it as 25406. According to JazzStandards.com, it was Lionel Hampton's first recorded vocal, and the record reached the charts.
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Listen for
Benny Goodman's clarinet, Teddy Wilson's piano and Gene Krupa's drums back Lionel Hampton, who sings. The record runs 3:18.
Try it on your instrument
Play the twice: C6, D7, G7, then C6. End the first pass with G7 and the second with , which leads into the . Smaller version: play only the last two of each pass.
Quintette du Hot Club de France (Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli) · 1937
Djangologie Vol. 2 / 1936-1937
Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli's Quintette du Hot Club de France recorded it in Paris on April 21, 1937. The Djangologie series on Parlophone later collected it with other 1936 and 1937 recordings.
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Listen for
Stéphane Grappelli's violin and Django Reinhardt's guitar carry the sound, with two more guitars behind them. The record runs 2:31.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last four of the : , , , Dm7 G7. They lead back to the final . Smaller version: play Dm7 for two bars, then G7 for two bars.
Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz recorded it with Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Max Roach in Los Angeles on December 9, 1953. Norgran issued it on the LP Diz and Getz in 1955.
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Listen for
Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet and Stan Getz's tenor saxophone are the lead voices, with Oscar Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass and Max Roach on drums. At 5:01 it runs far longer than the 1930s records.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole tune once from the chart, A, A, B, A, one per and both chords in the bars that have two. Soloing over takes more experience. Smaller version: play the tune through once, then play only the first chord of each bar on a second pass.
The Red Garland Trio plus Ray Barretto on conga · 1958
Manteca
Red Garland's trio recorded it at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack on April 11, 1958, with Ray Barretto added on conga drums. Prestige issued it on the LP Manteca.
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Listen for
Red Garland's piano leads, with Paul Chambers on bass, Arthur Taylor on drums and Ray Barretto on conga drums. At 7:09 the trio takes its time.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , C6, D7, G7, C6, G7, over a steady beat you set with a metronome, and repeat them for a second . Smaller version: play one chord per and drop the last bar's second chord.
Oscar Peterson Quartet (with Herb Ellis) · 1969 · Bebop, Hard bop
Hello Herbie
Oscar Peterson recorded it with Herb Ellis, Sam Jones and Bobby Durham in Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer's private studio in Villingen, West Germany, in November 1969. MPS issued it on the LP Hello Herbie.
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Listen for
Oscar Peterson plays piano and Herb Ellis guitar, with Sam Jones on bass and Bobby Durham on drums. The record runs 4:46.
Try it on your instrument
Play the with a bass note in your left hand on every beat and the tune in your right: C6, D7, G7, C6, G7. Smaller version: bass note on beats one and three only.
Ruth Etting records the Broadway song in April 1930, and Louis Armstrong makes the first jazz version in May. Count Basie's band and Django Reinhardt's quintet record it in 1937.
1940s
The Nat King Cole Trio records it in 1949, with Jack Costanzo adding bongos to Cole's piano, guitar and bass.
1950s
Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz record it in December 1953. Red Garland's trio adds a conga player in 1958, and Nina Simone sings it live at Town Hall in 1959.
1960s
Gene Ammons records it for Prestige in January 1961, and Yusef Lateef plays it on his Impulse! album The Golden Flute in 1966. Oscar Peterson and Herb Ellis record it in Germany in 1969.
1980s
Ray Brown's trio with pianist Gene Harris records it in August 1984, and Concord issues the album Soular Energy in 1985.
More great versions
6 more, from 1949 to 1984. Tap a cover to play it here.
Gene Ammons recorded it at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs on January 27, 1961, and Prestige issued it on the LP Jug and on a 45 with Ol' Man River.
Yusef Lateef led a quartet with Hugh Lawson, Herman Wright and Roy Brooks for this June 16, 1966 session at Van Gelder Studio, and Impulse! issued it on The Golden Flute.
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 → F major → C majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars
A8 bars
C
F
C
The tune is 32 in . Each has 8 bars: C6, D7, G7, then C6 and G7 at the end of the first A and the last A. The second A ends with C6 and instead, and the C7 leads into the . The B section, bars 17 to 24, starts in with and , returns to C major with C6 and , and then runs Dm7, G7, and Dm7 G7 back to the last A. These follow the iReal Pro chart; other lead sheets may spell some differently.