What's New?" is a 1939

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

composed by

Bob Haggart Robert Sherwood Haggart (March 13, 1914 – December 2, 1998) was an American dixieland jazz double bass player, composer, and arranger. Although he is associated with dixieland, he was one of the finest rhythm bassists of the Swing Era. Music c ...

, with lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was originally an instrumental tune titled "I'm Free" by Haggart in 1938, when Haggart was a member of

Bob Crosby George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...

and His Orchestra. The tune was written with a trumpet solo, meant to showcase the talents of band-mate Billy Butterfield. Crosby's orchestra recorded "I'm Free" the same day it was written. The following year, the music publishers hired Johnny Burke to write lyrics for the tune. Burke's telling of the

torch song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affecte ...

is unique, using one side of a casual conversation between former lovers. Thus the song was retitled using the song's first line, "What's New?". The song was recorded with the new title in 1939 by Bob Crosby and His Orchestra with vocalist

Teddy Grace Teddy Grace (born Stella Gloria Crowson, June 26, 1905 – January 4, 1992)
- accessed July 2010 was an American femal ...

. The song reached a peak chart position of #10.

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

recorded the song on June 30, 1939 with

John Scott Trotter John Scott Trotter Jr. (June 14, 1908 – October 29, 1975), also known as "Uncle John", was an American arranger, composer and orchestra leader. Trotter was best known for conducting the John Scott Trotter Orchestra which backed singer and ...

and His Orchestra and this was the biggest hit recording of the song, peaking at #2 during a 10-week stay in the charts. Other popular 1939 recordings of "What's New" include

Hal Kemp James Hal Kemp (March 27, 1904 – December 21, 1940) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, composer, and arranger. Biography Hal Kemp was born in Marion, Alabama. He formed his first band in high school, and by the a ...

and His Orchestra with vocalist

Nan Wynn Nan Wynn, born Masha VatzNew York Times & Arno Press ''The New York Times biographical service, Volume 2'', p. 1013; 1971 (May 8, 1918 – March 21, 1971) was an American big-band singer, and Broadway and film actress. She sang and recorded thro ...

, which peaked at #11,

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

and His Orchestra with vocalist

Louise Tobin Mary Louise Tobin (November 11, 1918 – November 26, 2022) was an American jazz singer and musician. She appeared with Benny Goodman, Bobby Hackett, Will Bradley, and Jack Jenney. Tobin introduced " I Didn't Know What Time It Was" with Goodman ...

, which peaked at #7.

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...

regularly performed the song in the 1950s and 1960s. "I'm Free" was "lyricized" again in the 1990s, this time by Catherine O'Brien, who also provided lyrics to the Haggart tune "My Inspiration." O'Brien's version, published in 1996, retains the original title, "I'm Free."

Composition and structure

The song is in the form A1 – A1– A2 - A1. It was originally written in the key of C major and modulates to A flat major and then F major to D-flat major for the bridge section before modulating back to C major. It begins on the tonic major, C major 7 before moving to a flat VII (B flat minor 7) in a II-V-I cadence in the key of A-flat major. That is replicated in the bridge section, going from F major 7 to E-flat minor 7 as part of a II-V-I cadence in the key of D-flat major.

Linda Ronstadt recording

"What's New" was the title track of a Triple Platinum 1983 album by

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...

, one of three recordings she released backed by The

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...

Orchestra. Linda's earnest version of the song, released as the album's first single, reached the Top 40 of the

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

Top 100 chart and peaked at #53 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It achieved far greater success at

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

radio, where it spent several weeks in the Top Five.

Chart performance

Other notable recordings

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

– ''

Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson ''Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson'' is a 1959 studio album (recorded in 1957) by Louis Armstrong, accompanied by Oscar Peterson. The album was reissued in 1997 on CD with four bonus tracks, recorded at the sessions that produced ''Ella and ...

'' (1957) *

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

– '' Ballads'' (1963) *

Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist. Early life Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...

– ''Cedars of Avalon'' (2002) *

– "I'm Free" – 1938 *

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 ...

– '' Like Someone In Love'' (1957) *

– ''Our Man in Amsterdam'' (1969) *

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...

– ''

Velvet Mood ''Velvet Mood: Songs by Billie Holiday'' is an album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released in 1956 on Clef Records. The music was recorded over the course of two sessions in Los Angeles, two days apart, which had also resulted in all the materi ...

'' (1956) *

Helen Merrill Helen Merrill (born Jelena Ana Milcetic; July 21, 1930) is an American jazz vocalist. Her first album, the eponymous 1954 recording '' Helen Merrill'' (with Clifford Brown), was an immediate success and associated her with the first generation ...

– ''

'' (1954) *

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

– ''

Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely ''Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely'' ( 1958, also known as ''Sings for Only the Lonely'' or simply ''Only the Lonely'') is an album by Frank Sinatra. The album consists of a collection of torch songs, following a formula similar to Sinatra' ...

'' (1958) *

Golden Gate Quartet The Golden Gate Quartet (a.k.a. The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet) is an American vocal group. It was formed in 1934 and, with changes in membership, remains active. Origins and early career The group was founded as the Golden Gate Jubilee Singe ...

(1939) *

Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones, July 2, 1930) is an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and educator. For six decades, he has been one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. Biography Early life Jamal was born Fr ...

– '' At the Pershing: But Not for Me'' (1958)

References

External links

"What's New?" at Jazz Standards
{{DEFAULTSORT:What's New? 1938 songs 1939 songs 1939 singles 1930s jazz standards Songs with music by Bob Haggart Songs with lyrics by Johnny Burke (lyricist) Benny Goodman songs Al Hirt songs Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) Jazz compositions in C major