"I Got Plenty o' Nuttin " is a song composed in 1934 by

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

for the 1935 "folk-opera" ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', it ...

'' (1934). The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel '' Porgy'' on which the opera was based, and Ira Gershwin. It is one of the most famous songs from the opera (along with " Summertime", "

It Ain't Necessarily So "It Ain't Necessarily So" is a popular song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother Ira Gershwin. The song comes from the Gershwins' opera ''Porgy and Bess'' ( 1935) where it is sung by the character Sportin' Life, a drug dealer, ...

", and " Bess, You Is My Woman Now") and it has been recorded by hundreds of singers and music groups. The song expresses a cheerful acceptance of poverty as freedom from worldly cares. The singer says he has the most important things in life, " 'Cause de things dat I prize, / Like de stars in de skies / All are free". Most of all, he's "got my gal, got my Lord, got my song".

''Porgy and Bess''

Porgy sings the song in Act 2 after he and Bess have been living together, expressing his new happiness.Patrick M. Liebergen, "I Got Plenty of Nuttin' ", ''Singer's Library of Arias'', Alfred Music, 2008, pp. 22ff. Like several other arias in the opera, it is implied that it is being ''performed'' by the singer to the other characters, in this case as a banjo song. As elsewhere in the opera, other characters join in to create communal engagement with song. In the view of Joseph Horowitz, Gershwin made "a banjo song with choral interjections, a community moment". Horowitz, Joseph, ''"On My Way": The Untold Story of Rouben Mamoulian, George Gershwin, and Porgy and Bess'', W. W. Norton & Company, 2013, pp. 6–7; 130. There is a short reprise of the song at the end of the act, as Porgy sings cheerfully to himself after Bess has left on her fateful trip to Kittiwah Island. The principal musical phrase also appears later in the score as a leitmotif signifying Porgy's joyful feelings, most extensively when Porgy returns after being released from prison. At the very end, a fragment of the principal phrase appears at the beginning of the final aria, "Oh Lawd, I'm on my way", to signal Porgy's renewed optimism and potential happiness as he sets out to find Bess.

Creation

The song originated from Gershwin's suggestion that a light moment was needed at that point in the second act. Unusually, he sketched the tune before the lyrics were written, playing a rough version on the piano at a meeting with the opera's lyricists, his brother Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. Ira came up with the title "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin' ". Heyward then asked Ira if he could draft out the song, as he had never written words to an existing tune before.James M. Hutchisson, ''Dubose Heyward'', University Press of Mississippi, 200, pp. 149–50 A 'dummy' lyric was created by Ira and Heywood's wife Dorothy—with nonsense words to help him remember the required rhythm for the tune. Furia, Philip, ''Ira Gershwin'', Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 110. Heywood sent his rough draft to Ira, which Ira thought "had many useable lines", but was "awkward when sung". Ira polished it into a more singable form, while George perfected the music. Ira considered the lyrics to be a "50–50 collaborative effort". The original orchestration introduced a banjo, which was used for "lightly sounding the

vamp The VaMP driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars Dynamic Vision for Perc ...

-like chords against the tuneful and exhuberant melody of the soloist". It has been noted that both the tune and the lyrics bear a significant resemblance to the Gershwin brothers' earlier hit "

I Got Rhythm "I Got Rhythm" is a piece composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and published in 1930, which became a jazz standard. Its chord progression, known as the " rhythm changes", is the foundation for many other popular jazz tunes suc ...

Versions

The song has been covered by many musicians, from its first performance by

Todd Duncan Robert Todd Duncan (February 12, 1903 – February 28, 1998) was an American baritone opera singer and actor. One of the first African-Americans to sing with a major opera company, Duncan is also noted for appearing as Porgy in the premier prod ...

. Some of the most notable performers included Bing Crosby (recorded March 29, 1936),

Aaron Bridgers Aaron Bridgers (January 10, 1918 – November 3, 2003) was an American jazz pianist who moved to Paris, in 1947. Bridgers was jazz composer Billy Strayhorn's lover from 1939 until Bridgers's move to France. Bridgers is featured in the Paul Newman ...

(1950),

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

and Louis Armstrong (1957), Frank Sinatra (1957), Pearl Bailey (1959),

Carol Kidd Carol Kidd MBE (born 19 October 1945) is a Scottish jazz singer. Kidd was born in Glasgow, Scotland. She came to prominence in the mid-1970s, as the vocalist in the band led by vibraphonist / saxophonist Jimmy Feighan. In 1990, she released h ...

(1994). In 1998 it was performed by Michael Franti and Spearhead. The official spelling of the title is not used in many of the cover versions. It is varied in numerous different ways, including "Oh, I Got Plenty o' Nuttin" (

Monica Zetterlund Monica Zetterlund (born Eva Monica Nilsson; 20 September 1937 – 12 May 2005) was a Swedish jazz singer and actress. Through her lifetime, she starred in over 10 Swedish film productions and recorded over 20 studio albums. She gained int ...

, 1959), "I Got Plenty of Nothin' " ( Diahann Carroll, 1959), and the fully standard English "I've Got Plenty of Nothing" (

Julia Migenes Julia Migenes (born March 13, 1943) is an American soprano working primarily in musical theatre repertoire. She was born on the Lower East Side of New York (Manhattan) to parents of Irish and Puerto Rican descent. (Her stepfather was of Greek ...

, 1989).

References

External links

Willard White Sir Willard Wentworth White, OM, CBE (born 10 October 1946) is a Jamaican-born British operatic bass baritone. Early life White was born into a Jamaican family in Kingston. His father was a dockworker, his mother a housewife. White first beg ...

, from ''Porgy and Bess'' (Glyndebourne album, 1989) {{authority control Songs from Porgy and Bess Songs with lyrics by DuBose Heyward Songs with lyrics by Ira Gershwin 1930s jazz standards 1935 songs Pop standards