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The Great American Songbook

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I Loves You, Porgy

Written: 1935

Music by: George Gershwin

Words by: Ira Gershwin
and Dubose Heyward

Written for: Porgy and Bess
(show)
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Main Stage || Record/Video Cabinet || Reading Room || Posted Comments || Credits

On the Main Stage at Cafe Songbook

Nina Simone

performing

"I Loves You, Porgy"

live with Nina Simone, vocals & piano; Paul Palmieri, guitar; Lisle Atkinson, bass;
Warren Smith, percusion; Mantego Joe,
conga drum (1962)

For more recordings/performances of
"I Loves You, Porgy"
See Record/Video Cabinet (below).

Nina Simone recorded "I Loves You, Porgy"
for her classic album Little Girl Blue on Bethlehem Records, December, 1957
(first released 1958).

Amazon

(Please complete or pause one
video before starting another.)


album cover: Nina Simone "Little Girl Blue"
2013 remastered Ed. of Little Girl Blue

Cafe Songbook Reading Room

"I Loves You, Porgy"

Critics Corner || Lyrics Lounge
About the Show Porgy and Bess / Origins of the Song

Other songs written for Porgy and Bess currently included in the Cafe Songbook Catalog of The Great American Songbook:

1. Bess You Is My Woman, Now

2. I Got Plenty O' Nuthin'

3. It Ain't Necessarily So

4. My Man's Gone Now

5. Summertime

 

For a complete listing of songs used in the original Broadway production of Porgy and Bess, see IBDB song list.

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Critics Corner
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Lyrics Lounge

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Click here to read Cafe Songbook lyrics policy.
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Visitor Comments

Submit comments on songs, songwriters, performers, etc.
Feel free to suggest an addition or correction.
Please read our Comments Guidelines before making a submission.
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Posted Comments on "I Loves You, Porgy":

 

02/18/2019, Melody Madness comments: Nina Simone’s 1959 version of I Loves You Porgy captures the exquisiteness of this song. So far from my research just exactly who put the words on paper is impossible to say. Was it Debose Heyward, the author of the book Porgy? And/or his playwright wife? Did Ira Gershwin have a hand in it? What about George Gershwin? He’s credited with the music behind the words? But for sure between the lyrics, the music and the singer the combination created one of America’s greatest Jazz classics.


Cafe Songbook responds: Thank you for the thoughtful comment/questions: Beyond our basic entry on which we have given co-credit for the "I Loves You, Porgy" lyric to Ira Gershwin and Dubose Heyward, we have not gotten far enough in our research to present a definitive response significantly more helpful than what you say above. At some point we hope to have such a response -- but not yet. In the meantime, perhaps someone out there will add to our conversation. A live 1962 Nina Simone performance of "I Loves You, Porgy" can be viewed and listened to on the Cafe Songbook Main Stage (above). The performance you refer to is likely from her classic 1957/58 album Little Girl Blue of which a number of releases are available at Amazon.
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Credits

(this page)

 

Credits for Videomakers of custom videos used on this page:

Borrowed material (text): The sources of all quoted and paraphrased text are cited. Such content is used under the rules of fair use to further the educational objectives of CafeSongbook.com. CafeSongbook.com makes no claims to rights of any kind in this content or the sources from which it comes.

 

Borrowed material (images): Images of CD, DVD, book and similar product covers are used courtesy of either Amazon.com or iTunes/LinkShare with which CafeSongbook.com maintains an affiliate status. All such images are linked to the source from which they came (i.e. either iTunes/LinkShare or Amazon.com).

 

Any other images that appear on CafeSongbook.com pages are either in the public domain or appear through the specific permission of their owners. Such permission will be acknowledged in this space on the page where the image is used.

 

For further information on Cafe Songbook policies with regard to the above matters, see our "About Cafe Songbook" page (link at top and bottom of every page).

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The Cafe Songbook
Record/Video Cabinet:
Selected Recordings of

"I Loves You, Porgy"


(All Record/Video Cabinet entries below
include a music-video
of this page's featured song.
The year given is for when the studio
track was originally laid down
or when the live performance was given.)
Performer/Recording Index

  • Performer 1 (year)
  • Performer 2 (year)

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