Harry Warren, music · Al Dubin, lyrics · Introduced by Dick Powell in the film Dames, 1934
I Only Have Eyes for You
Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote this love song for the 1934 film Dames, where Dick Powell sings it. Players take it as a slow ballad or at a swinging pace, and many singers have recorded it. You can hear it from Ben Selvin's dance orchestra in 1934 to Archie Shepp and Mal Waldron in 2002.
Listen in this order
Eight versions, from Ben Selvin's dance orchestra in 1934 to Archie Shepp and Mal Waldron's saxophone and piano duo in 2002. Along the way you hear Coleman Hawkins on tenor saxophone, Erroll Garner's piano trio, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald singing, and the Flamingos as a vocal group. Billy Eckstine, Etta Jones and others sit with the extras.
1940sColeman Hawkins Quintet1944 · Contemporary jazz
Erroll Garner Trio1949
1950sStan Getz and the Swedish All Stars1951
Billie Holiday1952
The Flamingos1959
1960sElla Fitzgerald with Nelson Riddle1961 · Big band
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000sArchie Shepp and Mal Waldron2002 · Modal jazz
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Ben Selvin and His Orchestra (Howard Phillips, vocal) · 1934
I Only Have Eyes for You
Ben Selvin's orchestra recorded the song for Columbia in New York on June 28, 1934, with Howard Phillips singing. According to Classic Jazz Standards, the record reached number two on the charts that summer.
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Listen for
Howard Phillips sings the song straight through with the dance orchestra behind him. Use it to learn the melody before any jazz player changes it.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the as : , , Dm7, G7. Add the melody on top if you know it. Smaller version: play only Dm7 and G7 back and forth.
Coleman Hawkins recorded the song in New York on January 31, 1944, at his first session for the Keynote label. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge and pianist Teddy Wilson play with him.
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Listen for
Coleman Hawkins plays the tune on tenor saxophone. Roy Eldridge's trumpet and Teddy Wilson's piano also take their turns in front of the bass and drums.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole as , one chord per bar: , , Dm7, G7, , Cmaj7 , , . Smaller version: play only the first four bars.
Stan Getz and the Swedish All Stars (featuring Bengt Hallberg) · 1951
Single: I Only Have Eyes For You / I'm Getting Sentimental
Stan Getz recorded the song in Stockholm on March 23, 1951, with Bengt Hallberg on piano. It came out on the Swedish Metronome label and on Roost in the United States.
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Listen for
Stan Getz leads on tenor saxophone, with Swedish musicians on piano, bass and drums behind him. Compare how much of the original tune you can still follow.
Try it on your instrument
Play the as , one per bar: , , , , , G7, Em7, . Smaller version: play only the first four bars.
Single: These Foolish Things / I Only Have Eyes For You
Billie Holiday recorded the song at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles on March 26, 1952, with Oscar Peterson on piano and Ray Brown on bass. Mercury and Clef issued it that year.
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Listen for
Billie Holiday sings it with a small group around her. Listen for Charlie Shavers's trumpet and Flip Phillips's tenor saxophone near her voice.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last four of the tune as : , , , . Repeat them as a short loop. Smaller version: play only Dm7, G7 and C6.
The Flamingos recorded their doo-wop version at Bell Sound Studios in New York in 1959, and End released it as a single that May. It peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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Listen for
The Flamingos' voices float over a slow rocking beat with piano, guitar and soft brushed drums. Listen for the echo on the voices.
Try it on your instrument
Play and on a piano or guitar in a slow rocking pattern of three even pulses to each beat, and hum the tune over it. Smaller version: play one per .
Archie Shepp and Mal Waldron recorded the song at La Muse En Circuit in Paris on February 7 and 8, 2002, for the Enja album Left Alone Revisited.
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Listen for
Archie Shepp's saxophone and Mal Waldron's piano play as a duo for almost seven minutes, more than twice as long as the 1934 dance-band record.
Try it on your instrument
Play all 36 of the chart slowly, one per bar (two chords where the bar has two), and stop on the at the end. Smaller version: play only the last 12 bars.
Harry Warren and Al Dubin write the song for the film Dames in 1934, and Dick Powell sings it on screen. Ben Selvin's and Eddy Duchin's dance orchestras record it that June, each with a male singer.
1940s
Coleman Hawkins leads a quintet with Roy Eldridge and Teddy Wilson in 1944. Billy Eckstine's big band records it in 1946, and Erroll Garner plays it with a piano trio in Los Angeles in 1949.
1950s
Stan Getz plays it with Swedish musicians in Stockholm in 1951, and Billie Holiday sings it with a small group in Los Angeles in 1952. In 1959 the Flamingos record a vocal-group version in New York.
1960s
Ella Fitzgerald sings it with Nelson Riddle's orchestra on an album recorded in late 1961. Etta Jones records it with a piano, bass and drums trio in 1960.
2000s
Archie Shepp's saxophone and Mal Waldron's piano stretch it past six minutes on Left Alone Revisited, recorded in Paris in 2002. René Marie's 2001 version runs nearly as long.
More great versions
6 more, from 1934 to 2001. Tap a cover to play it here.
1930sEddy Duchin1934
1940sBilly Eckstine1946
1950sKenny Drew and Wilbur Ware1957
Sidney Bechet and Martial Solal1957 · Swing
1960sEtta Jones1960 · Swing
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000sRené Marie2001
Eddy Duchin and His Orchestra (Lew Sherwood, vocal)
1934
Nipper's Greatest Hits: The 30's, Vol. 2
Eddy Duchin's orchestra recorded the song in June 1934 with Lew Sherwood singing. According to Classic Jazz Standards, the record reached number four on the charts.
Etta Jones recorded the song with a piano, bass and drums trio at Van Gelder Studio on September 16, 1960. Prestige released it on Something Nice in 1961.
René Marie sang the song in February 2001 with a band that includes Chris Potter on tenor saxophone and Mulgrew Miller on piano. The track runs almost seven minutes.
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
36 barsA · A · B · A form
C majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A12 bars
C
The tune runs 36 : an eight-bar A, a second A, an eight-bar B, and a last A that runs 12 bars because of a four-bar tag. The first A goes , , Dm7, G7, , Cmaj7 , , . The second A repeats its first five bars, then goes Cmaj7 , , A7, which leads into the B. B goes Dm7, G7 , Em7, A7, , G7, Em7, E♭m7 A♭7. The last A starts with the same four bars, then goes Cmaj7, F7, , , and the tag is Dm7, G7, , Em7 A7♭9. All of it stays in , with a few borrowed from other . The chords follow the iReal Pro chart; JazzStandards.com gives the original key as C major.