Harold Arlen, music · Johnny Mercer, lyrics · From the 1943 RKO film The Sky's the Limit
My Shining Hour
Harold Arlen wrote the music and Johnny Mercer the words for the 1943 film The Sky's the Limit. Its tune comes in two long halves of 16 each, which leaves room for a singer or a soloist. This page runs from Sinatra's 1944 V-Disc to a live trio at the Village Vanguard in 2003.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Frank Sinatra's wartime V-Disc, then hears André Previn alone at the piano and Sammy Davis Jr. singing with the Count Basie Orchestra. It then turns to John Coltrane's saxophone quartet, a piano and bass duo, two piano trios (one live) and a quartet with two guitars.
Sinatra recorded it for a V-Disc, one of the records made for US troops during World War II. The YouTube listing gives 1944 as its original release, and it is collected on The Columbia Years (1943-1952): The V-Discs.
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Sinatra sings the tune from start to finish in 2 minutes 22 seconds, so you can hear its shape before any improvising begins.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the chart, one to a bar: . Hum the tune over them. If humming and playing together is too much, play the chords alone first.
André Previn recorded it alone at the piano on May 4 and 5, 1960, at Contemporary's studio in Los Angeles. It is on his album of Harold Arlen songs, produced by Lester Koenig.
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Previn plays alone, with no bass or drums, for 3 minutes 40 seconds. With nobody else playing, the tune and the underneath it are easy to follow.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 8 of the chart, one to a bar: , then Cmaj7 Am7 . Add the melody on top once the chords feel easy; chords alone are fine.
Sammy Davis Jr. with the Count Basie Orchestra · 1964 · Big band, Swing
Our Shining Hour
Sammy Davis Jr. recorded it with the Count Basie Orchestra in New York City between September 2 and 5, 1964, in arrangements by Quincy Jones. Verve released it on the album Our Shining Hour in 1965.
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Davis sings with the Count Basie Orchestra in a 2 minute 11 second track, the shortest on the path, so the voice and the band move quickly from start to finish.
Try it on your instrument
Count the 32 while the track plays, in groups of four. The first 16 bars are the A half and the last 16 are the B half. Counting the two halves is enough.
John Coltrane's quartet recorded it at Atlantic Studios in New York City on December 2, 1959, with Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb. It came out in 1961 on the Atlantic album Coltrane Jazz.
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Coltrane's tenor saxophone leads, with piano, bass and drums behind him. At 4 minutes 55 seconds the track runs more than twice as long as the two vocal versions before it.
Try it on your instrument
Loop the A half of the chart: , Cmaj7 Am7 , Am Bm7♭5 E7♭9, Am7 Dm7 G7. Soloing over these needs more practice; the smaller version is to play only the root of each chord, one note a bar.
Kenny Drew and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen · 1974 · Post-bop
Duo 2
Kenny Drew and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen recorded it in Copenhagen on February 12, 1974, for the album Duo 2 on SteepleChase. Discogs credits Drew with the arrangement.
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Only two players, Kenny Drew on piano and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass, with no drums. With so little going on, you can follow each part by itself.
Try it on your instrument
Play the bass part of 1 to 4 of the chart: one root note per bar, C, A, D, G. Then add the full , , on top.
Tommy Flanagan's trio recorded an album of Harold Arlen songs in New York City in September and October 1978, with Helen Merrill as producer. Merrill also sings on one track of the album, which is not this one.
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Tommy Flanagan's piano leads, with George Mraz on bass and Connie Kay on drums. The track runs 5 minutes 16 seconds, so the tune comes around more than once.
Try it on your instrument
Play 17 to 20 of the chart, one to a bar: Fmaj7. This is where the tune leaves for .
Jimmy Raney Quartet featuring Doug Raney · 1981 · Bebop
Raney '81
Jimmy Raney's quartet, with Doug Raney as the second guitarist, recorded it in the Netherlands on February 27, 1981. Criss Cross Jazz issued it on the album Raney '81.
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Two guitars, a bass and drums play for 4 minutes 53 seconds, with Jimmy Raney and Doug Raney both on guitar. With two guitar parts, try to pick out which one is playing the tune.
Try it on your instrument
Play 9 to 12 of the chart: Am . This is the stretch in .
The Bill Charlap Trio recorded it live at the Village Vanguard in New York City in September 2003. Blue Note released the set as Live at the Village Vanguard in 2007.
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Bill Charlap's trio plays live, with Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums. At 7 minutes 30 seconds it is the longest track on the path.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole chart once at a slow tempo. Chords alone are enough; add the melody if you can.
Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer write it for the 1943 film The Sky's the Limit, and it earns an Oscar nomination for best original song. Frank Sinatra records it in 1944 for a V-Disc, one of the records sent to US troops.
1950s
Chris Connor sings it on A Jazz Date with Chris Connor, issued in 1958, with Lucky Thompson and Al Cohn on tenor saxophone. John Coltrane's quartet records it in New York in December 1959.
1960s
André Previn plays it alone at the piano in May 1960. Ella Fitzgerald sings it with Billy May's orchestra, and Sammy Davis Jr. sings it with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1964, in an arrangement by Quincy Jones.
1970s
Kenny Drew and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen record it as a duo in Copenhagen in 1974. Tommy Flanagan's trio, with George Mraz and Connie Kay, plays it in New York in 1978 on an album of Arlen songs.
1980s
Jimmy Raney's quartet, with Doug Raney as second guitarist, records it at Fendal Sound Studio in the Netherlands in February 1981. Criss Cross Jazz issues it on Raney '81.
1990s
The Bud Shank Sextet plays it on an album of Arlen songs issued on Jimco in 1995. Bill Holman is credited as the track's arranger.
2000s
The Bill Charlap Trio plays it live at the Village Vanguard in New York in September 2003. Blue Note issues the album in 2007, and the track runs 7:30.
More great versions
3 more, from 1958 to 1966. Tap a cover to play it here.
1950sChris Connor1958 · Cool jazz
1960sElla Fitzgerald with Billy May's orchestra1960 · Big band
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 · B form
C major → A minor → C major → F major → C majorkey centers
A16 bars
B16 bars
C
A m
C
F
C
The chart runs 32 in , in two halves of 16 bars. A opens with (bars 1 to 4), then Cmaj7 Am7 (bars 5 to 8). Bars 9 to 12 stay in : , Am, Bm7♭5, E7♭9. Bars 13 to 16 are Am7 Dm7 G7, which lead into B. B starts in with and two bars of (bars 17 to 20). Bars 21 to 24 are , then with , then Dm7 G7. The last eight bars run Cmaj7, Cmaj7, Cmaj7 Dm7, E♭°7 (bars 25 to 28), then Dm7, G7, and a closing Dm7 G7 (bars 29 to 32).