"He Was Too Good to Me" is a song with music by

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...

and lyrics by

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...

. It was introduced in the tryouts of their

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

Broadway musical '' Simple Simon'', but was dropped before the show's New York opening. Despite its inauspicious beginning, the song has become a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...

, and has been recorded by such artists as Eileen Farrell,

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

Barry Galbraith Joseph Barry Galbraith (December 18, 1919 – January 13, 1983) was an American jazz guitarist. Galbraith moved to New York City from McDonald, PA in the early 1940s and found work playing with Babe Russin, Art Tatum, Red Norvo, Hal McIntyre, an ...

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

Thad Jones Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 – August 20, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists". Biography Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, U ...

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...

Shirley Horn Shirley Valerie Horn (May 1, 1934 – October 20, 2005) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and othe ...

Chris Connor Mary Jean Loutsenhizer, known professionally as Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009) was an American jazz singer. Biography Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri, to Clyde Loutsenhizer and Mabel Shir ...

Jeri Southern Jeri Southern (born Genevieve Lillian Hering, August 5, 1926 – August 4, 1991) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Early years Born Genevieve Lillian Hering in Royal, Nebraska, United States, Southern was the granddaughter of a German pi ...

(''When Your Heart's on Fire'' (1957)) and

Carmen McRae Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpre ...

(''

Book of Ballads ''Book of Ballads'' is a 1959 album by jazz singer Carmen McRae, arranged by Frank Hunter. ''Billboard'' chose the cover of ''Book of Ballads'' as their 'Album Cover of the Week' in their January 19, 1959 issue. Reception Allmusic awarded the ...

'' (1958)). The song is occasionally sung as ''“She was too good to me”'', especially by male singers, including

The Vogues The Vogues are an American vocal rock and roll group from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The original lineup consisted of Bill Burkette (lead baritone), Don Miller (baritone), Hugh Geyer (first tenor), and Chuck Blasko (s ...

on their album ''

Till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

'' (1999) The song was covered by

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thin ...

on her album '' My Romance'' (1990) and by

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

on her album ''

Some People's Lives ''Some People's Lives'' is the seventh studio album by American singer Bette Midler. It was released by Atlantic Records on September 4, 1990 in the United States. It contains one of her biggest hits, "From a Distance," which won songwriter Julie ...

'' also in 1990, as a medley paired with ''Since You Stayed Here''. Australian singer

Renée Geyer Renée Rebecca Geyer (born 11 September 1953) is an Australian singer who has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R&B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's Worl ...

recorded the song on her album ''

Difficult Woman ''Difficult Woman'' is the ninth studio album by Australian soul and R&B singer Renée Geyer. The album was released in September 1994 and peaked at number 91 on the ARIA Charts. In a 2009 with ABC, Geyer said of Paul Kelly, "I think some of ...

'' in 1994. On Midler's version the second verse contains the revised line "I was a queen to him. Who's gonna light my way now?", while Geyer's version reprises the original "I was a queen to him. Who's gonna make me gay now?". This song, sung by

Bob Shane Robert Castle Schoen (February 1, 1934 – January 26, 2020), known professionally as Bob Shane, was an American singer and guitarist who was a founding member of The Kingston Trio. In that capacity, Shane became a seminal figure in the rev ...

, is featured in

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

album called '' Something Special'' released in 1962 with orchestral accompaniment which was unusual for the group. This song was also recently released by Bob Shane, of the Kingston Trio, on his new album "The World Needs a Melody".

References

{{authority control Songs with music by Richard Rodgers Songs with lyrics by Lorenz Hart 1930 songs Songs from Rodgers and Hart musicals Carmen McRae songs