Vincent Youmans, music · Irving Caesar, lyrics · Written for A Night Out, 1925, then sung in the Broadway musical Hit the Deck, 1927
Sometimes I'm Happy
Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar wrote it in 1925, and it reached Broadway in Hit the Deck in 1927. Its tune is simple and leaves plenty of room, so bands and soloists have made it their own. Benny Goodman's 1935 record became one of his signature numbers, and Lester Young and Bud Powell recorded it later.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Benny Goodman's 1935 band arrangement, then Lester Young's quartet, Bud Powell's trio and a tenor saxophone with guitar. A live quartet, two trumpets, a singer and an organ trio follow.
Benny Goodman's band recorded Fletcher Henderson's arrangement for Victor in New York on July 1, 1935. Victor issued it as 25090, on the other side of King Porter Stomp.
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Listen for
A full band plays Fletcher Henderson's arrangement at an easy pace. Bunny Berigan's trumpet takes a solo, then the band settles back.
Try it on your instrument
Play the A part ( 1 to 8) with two beats on each : , , D7, Gm7 C7, then the same four bars again. Smaller version: F for bars 1 to 3, C7 for bar 4, and repeat.
Lester Young led this quartet in New York on December 28, 1943, with Johnny Guarnieri on piano, Slam Stewart on bass and Sid Catlett on drums. Verve reissued the Keynote recording on Verve Jazz Masters 30 in 1994.
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Listen for
Lester Young's tenor saxophone leads over a quiet . Slam Stewart bows his bass and hums with it, and Sid Catlett plays softly on brushes.
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Play the B part ( 9 to 16): , , , , , , , . A bar with two gets two beats each. Smaller version: F for bars 9 and 10, B♭ for 11 and 12, F for 13 and 14, C7 for 15 and 16.
Bud Powell recorded it in New York in February 1950 with Curly Russell on bass and Max Roach on drums. Mercury first issued it as 11061, and Norgran collected it on the album Jazz Giant in 1956.
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Listen for
The piano leads, with Curly Russell on bass and Max Roach on drums behind it. The whole record lasts under four minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the A part's ( 1 to 8) with a metronome at a slow swing. Move the tempo up 10 beats per minute each time you play it cleanly, and stop when start to slip. Each chord gets two beats.
Stan Getz recorded it in New York on November 9, 1952, with guitarist Johnny Smith's quintet. Roost issued it on RLP 413, and it is collected on The Complete Roost Recordings.
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Stan Getz's tenor saxophone and Johnny Smith's guitar are the lead voices, with Sanford Gold on piano, Bob Carter on bass and Morey Feld on drums. The record is short, about two and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the last four of the second B part (bars 29 to 32): , , , Gm7 C7. Bars with two get two beats each. Smaller version: F for bars 29 and 31, C7 for bars 30 and 32.
Dave Brubeck's quartet recorded it live at Basin Street East in New York on October 12, 1954. Columbia issued it in 1955 on the album Jazz: Red, Hot and Cool.
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Listen for
Paul Desmond's alto saxophone and Dave Brubeck's piano lead, with Bob Bates on bass and Joe Dodge on drums. It is a live recording, and the track runs 5:23.
Try it on your instrument
Sing or play the melody over the A part ( 1 to 8), then play the first four bars of the B part (, , , ) and listen for the two bars where the move away from F. Smaller version: F for bar 9, for bar 10, B♭ for bars 11 and 12.
Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie recorded it in New York on October 29, 1954, with Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Louis Bellson. Clef issued it on MGC-671 in 1955.
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Listen for
Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie both play trumpet, with Oscar Peterson on piano, Herb Ellis on guitar, Ray Brown on bass and Louis Bellson on drums. The track runs about five and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
The A part plays the same four twice (bars 1 to 4 and 5 to 8). Play them as written the first time ( , , D7, Gm7 C7), then change the rhythm of the melody the second time, as a soloist would. Smaller version: play only the first of each bar both times.
Carmen McRae recorded it in New York in June 1955 for By Special Request, her first album for Decca. Dick Katz plays piano, Mundell Lowe guitar and Wendell Marshall bass.
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Listen for
Carmen McRae sings with only a bass behind her at first. The piano and guitar join in as she goes round again, and the whole record lasts about two and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the two endings of the B part back to back. First ( 13 to 16): , , , . Last (bars 29 to 32): D7, Gm7 C7, , Gm7 C7. Bars with two get two beats each.
Jimmy Smith recorded it in New York in February 1958 with Kenny Burrell on guitar and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Blue Note kept the session on the shelf and released it in 1965 as Softly as a Summer Breeze.
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Listen for
Jimmy Smith's organ leads, with Kenny Burrell on guitar and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The record runs 8:23, so the song's 32 come round many times.
Try it on your instrument
Play the whole 32 once from the chart, then count how many times the form comes round while the record plays. Soloing over these changes takes more practice; the smaller version is to play the A part ( , , D7, Gm7 C7) four times in a row.
Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar write the song in 1925, and it reaches Broadway in Hit the Deck in 1927. Roger Wolfe Kahn's dance band, with Franklyn Baur singing, records it in New York in April 1927.
1930s
Benny Goodman's band records Fletcher Henderson's arrangement in New York in July 1935, and Victor issues it on the other side of King Porter Stomp.
1940s
Lester Young's quartet, with Johnny Guarnieri, Slam Stewart and Sid Catlett, records it in New York in December 1943.
1950s
Bud Powell records it with his trio in 1950, Dave Brubeck's quartet plays it live in New York in 1954, and Carmen McRae sings it on her first Decca album in 1955.
1960s
Shirley Scott plays it on organ with a big band conducted by Oliver Nelson in April 1966, on an album of big-band tunes.
1970s
Phineas Newborn records it in Los Angeles in December 1976 with Ray Brown on bass and Jimmie Smith on drums, and Pablo issues it in 1977.
1990s
Joni Mitchell records it in 1999 for Both Sides Now, an album of standards with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Vince Mendoza. Reprise releases the album in 2000.
More great versions
6 more, from 1927 to 1999. Tap a cover to play it here.
1920sRoger Wolfe Kahn1927
1930s
1940s
1950sSarah Vaughan1955 · Big band
Milt Jackson Quintet1956 · Bebop
1960sShirley Scott1966 · Hard bop
1970sThe Phineas Newborn Trio1976
1980s
1990sJoni Mitchell1999 · Contemporary jazz
Roger Wolfe Kahn and His Orchestra
1927
Collection: 1925 - 1932
Roger Wolfe Kahn's orchestra recorded it in New York on April 14, 1927, with Franklyn Baur singing. According to Wikipedia, it and Charles King and Louise Groody's record from the show were the best-selling versions.
Milt Jackson led this quintet at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, on January 23, 1956, with Lucky Thompson on tenor saxophone. Savoy issued the session on The Jazz Skyline.
Shirley Scott recorded it on organ with a big band conducted by Oliver Nelson at Van Gelder Studio on April 19, 1966. Impulse! issued it that year on Roll ': Shirley Scott Plays the Big Bands.
Phineas Newborn recorded it in Los Angeles in December 1976 with Ray Brown on bass and Jimmie Smith on drums. Pablo issued it in 1977 on Look Out! Phineas Is Back!
Joni Mitchell sings it on Both Sides Now, an album of standards recorded in 1999 with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Vince Mendoza. Reprise released the album in February 2000.
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
F majorusual key
32 barsA · B · A · B form
F → B♭ → F → B♭ → Fkey centers
A8 bars
B8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars
F
B♭
F
B♭
F
The chart in iReal Pro has four parts of 8 , 32 in all, in . Each A runs , , D7, Gm7 C7 in bars 1 to 4 and plays the same four bars again in bars 5 to 8, so every bar holds two . B opens on F6 and , leans toward B♭ with and in bars 11 and 12, then comes home through , Am7 D7, Gm7 and C7. The last B ends differently: D7, Gm7 C7, F6, Gm7 C7.