Cole Porter, music and lyrics · Introduced by Douglas McPhail in Broadway Melody of 1940
I Concentrate on You
Cole Porter wrote this song in 1939 for the film Broadway Melody of 1940. Its form runs 64 in four different sections, so the tune keeps moving to new ground. Fred Astaire, Ella Fitzgerald, Grant Green and Frank Sinatra with Antonio Carlos Jobim all recorded it.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Fred Astaire, the star of the film the song came from, then moves to Chris Connor and Ella Fitzgerald. After that come two trombones with Bill Evans, a Grant Green guitar quartet and Cannonball Adderley with strings. It ends with Sinatra and Jobim in style and a long alto saxophone and bass duet.
Fred Astaire starred in the film the song came from but did not sing it there. He recorded it in Los Angeles in December 1952 with a jazz group built around Oscar Peterson, with Norman Granz producing.
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Fred Astaire sings it with a small jazz group, and a muted trumpet plays alongside him. The track runs 2:43.
Try it on your instrument
Play the melody of the first eight , then add the : for two bars, for two, for two and for two. Smaller version: play just the E♭maj7 and A♭7♯11 bars, four bars in all.
Chris Connor recorded it in New York in April 1955 with a small group that included Ralph Sharon on piano. It came out that year on her Bethlehem album This Is Chris.
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Chris Connor sings it with a small group behind her. The track runs 3:30.
Try it on your instrument
Sing the melody along with the track, then play the same 16 of the on your instrument at her pace. Smaller version: play only the first eight bars, then pause and play them again.
Ella Fitzgerald recorded it in Hollywood in early 1956 for her first Verve album, the Cole Porter Song Book. Buddy Bregman conducted and arranged the studio orchestra, and Norman Granz produced.
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Ella Fitzgerald sings with a full studio orchestra behind her, so the sound is fuller than the small-group versions. The track runs about three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the , 17 to 32. It opens like the , then at bar 23 it moves to for two bars, followed by , , , , and on the way back to . Smaller version: play only bars 23 to 28 (C♭maj7, A♭m7, D♭7, G♭maj7, C7).
J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding recorded it at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs on November 2, 1960, with Bill Evans on piano. Creed Taylor produced the album, which came out on Impulse! in 1961.
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Two trombones lead, with Bill Evans's piano, Paul Chambers's bass and Roy Haynes's drums behind them. The track runs 4:01.
Try it on your instrument
Play the D section, 49 to 64, with the , , , , Gm7, , , , , and E♭6. Smaller version: play only bars 61 to 64 (B7, B♭7, E♭6, Fm7 B♭7), which bring the tune home. Soloing over all of it is a bigger task.
Grant Green recorded it with Sonny Clark, Sam Jones and Art Blakey at Van Gelder Studio on January 13, 1962. It first came out on the album Nigeria in 1980.
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Grant Green's guitar leads, with Sonny Clark's piano, Sam Jones's bass and Art Blakey's drums behind him. The track runs 5:49, one of the longer ones on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the , bars 33 to 36, with the , , , then E♭maj7 with in bar 36. Smaller version: play those four bars with the melody and hold each chord for its full bar. Soloing over the whole tune needs much more practice with .
Cannonball Adderley's quintet recorded it on April 7, 1966 for the album Great Love Themes, with Ray Ellis arranging and conducting strings, harp and woodwinds around the group.
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Strings and harp surround Cannonball Adderley's alto saxophone and Nat Adderley's trumpet. The track runs 3:38, one of the shortest instrumentals on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the second half of the , 9 to 16, with the , , , , , , and . Smaller version: play only the last four bars (B7, B♭7♭13, E♭6, Fm7 B♭7).
Frank Sinatra recorded it for his album with Antonio Carlos Jobim in Hollywood in early 1967. Claus Ogerman arranged and conducted the orchestra, and Sonny Burke produced.
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Frank Sinatra sings it in style, with an orchestra arranged by Claus Ogerman. At 2:38 it is the shortest track on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole , 1 to 16, with the from your lead sheet, and keep a gentle even beat on each chord. Smaller version: play the first four bars, for two and for two, then stop.
Lee Konitz and Red Mitchell recorded a whole album of Cole Porter songs in Copenhagen on July 30, 1974, and named it after this tune.
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Lee Konitz's alto saxophone and Red Mitchell's bass are the album's two players. The track runs 9:13, the longest on the record.
Try it on your instrument
Play the 's melody alone, with no , then again with only the bass notes of the chords underneath: E♭ for two , A♭ for two, E♭ for two and A♭ for two. Smaller version: play just the first four bars both ways.
Cole Porter writes it in 1939 for the film Broadway Melody of 1940, where Douglas McPhail sings it. Fred Astaire is the film's star but does not sing it on screen.
1950s
Fred Astaire records it in Los Angeles in December 1952 with a jazz group, Chris Connor sings it in April 1955, and Ella Fitzgerald records it for her Cole Porter Song Book in 1956.
1960s
Grant Green records it with a quartet in 1962, though it stays unreleased until 1980. In 1967 Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim record it in style.
1970s
Lee Konitz and Red Mitchell record a whole album of Cole Porter songs as a duo in Copenhagen in July 1974 and name it after this tune.
2000s
Jim Tomlinson and Stacey Kent record it in April 2001 for the album Brazilian Sketches, and Patricia Barber includes it on her 2008 album The Cole Porter Mix.
More great versions
4 more, from 1959 to 2008. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sMax Roach with Abbey Lincoln1959 · Bebop
Stan Kenton1959 · Big band
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000sJim Tomlinson and Stacey Kent2001 · Easy listening
“I Concentrate on You (Live)”, At the Las Vegas Tropicana
Stan Kenton's band played Johnny Richards's arrangement live at the Tropicana in Las Vegas, with Lennie Niehaus on alto saxophone and Jack Sheldon on trumpet.
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
E♭ majorusual key
64 barsA · B · C · D form
E♭ majorkey centers
A16 bars
B16 bars
C16 bars
D16 bars
E♭
The tune is built on and visits G♭ and C♭ along the way. The , 1 to 16, plays for two bars, for two, for two and for two, then , , E♭m7, , and , and closes on and . The , bars 17 to 32, matches the A section for five bars, then plays G♭7, for two bars, , , , , , B♭7, E♭6 and E♭6 . The , bars 33 to 48, runs , A♭m6, E♭maj7, E♭maj7 C7, Fm7, B♭7, E♭maj7, E♭maj7 E♭7, A♭maj7, D♭7, G♭maj7 for two bars, , F7 and B♭7 for two bars. The D section, bars 49 to 64, plays E♭6, , for two bars, A♭maj7, Gm7, for three bars, , Fm7 for two bars, B7, B♭7, E♭6 and Fm7 B♭7, which leads back to the top. These follow the iReal Pro chart; other lead sheets may spell some chords differently.