Everything Happens to Me (song)

"Everything Happens to Me" (1940) is a pop standard written by Tom Adair (lyrics) and Matt Dennis (music). It was first recorded by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra. Unusually, the song focused on Sinatra's vocal, with no trombone solo by Dorsey. Years later, Sinatra rerecorded the song with the Hollywood String Quartet; this version was featured on his 1957 album Close to You.^[1]

Notable versions

• Chet Baker – (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You (1958)^[2]
• June Christy – A Friendly Session, Vol. 1 (2000) with the Johnny Guarnieri Quintet, Cool Christy (2002)
• Rosemary Clooney
• Nat King Cole
• Bill Evans
• Clare Fischer – Alone Together (recorded 1975, released 1977 in Germany by MPS Records, and in the US by Discovery Records in 1980). Speaking with the Los Angeles Times in 1986, the composer - himself a popular singer-pianist who counted Fischer as one of his major influences - called this solo piano rendition "fantastic".^[3]
• Ella Fitzgerald with the Frank De Vol orchestra – Hello, Love (1959)
• Erroll Garner
• Stan Getz
• Tom Harrell – Live at the Village Vanguard (2002)
• Billie Holiday recorded the song with Her Orchestra in New York City on February 14, 1955. Her orchestra consisted of Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Tony Scott on clarinet, Budd Johnson on tenor saxophone, Carl Drinkard on piano, Billy Bauer on guitar, Leonard Gaskin on bass, and Cozy Cole on drums.^[4]
• Stan Kenton – Stompin' At Newport (1957), At the Rendezvous Vol.2 (2000)
• Branford Marsalis – Bloomington (1991)
• Mina – 12 (American Songbook) (2012)
• Thelonious Monk – Solo Monk (1965)
• Charlie Parker – Charlie Parker with Strings (1949)
• Art Pepper
• Sonny Rollins (1965)
• Massimo Urbani - The Blessing (1993)
• Neil Sedaka
• Frank Sinatra – Close to You (1957)
• Matt Dennis recorded the song on Plays and Sings Matt Dennis, a live performance featuring Dennis on vocals and piano. Dennis added a comedy second verse that began with the line: "I tried to sing a song but the conversation flowed". The trio paused abruptly, revealing the usual din of nightclub conversation, followed by appreciative laughter. (1958)^[5]

References