Last week at the Hyatt, a gentleman in the lounge, someone I did not know, asked for a certain Gershwin song. I loved the request, because I love the song. I played it, and sang it. And he tossed me $10!
It was “Someone To Watch Over Me”!
Since then I have told Howard that “Someone To Watch Over Me” is my number, and when someone asks for it, I get to do it. My number. That is a vaudeville term I love! Judy Garland used it and I will, too.
Note to out-of-towners: Howard, the guy I married, is the act at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Buffalo. He is the host of “Lounge Academy there at the new Johnny D’s Restaurant on Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m. I fill in for him when he is on break or needs me to step in for whatever reason.
There is something about “Someone to Watch Over Me” that makes it feel easy for me to play. I do not know what it is. It is in E flat, which helps. I do love my key of E flat. Also, I have just listened to this song forever. I know it by heart — to use a phrase I love. The words come easily to me because I have them memorized and have for a long time. When I was in my single club-going days, my girlfriends and I all loved it. In the ‘90s, music like this saw a big resurgence, thanks to Harry Connick Jr., Wynton Marsalis, all these cool New Orleans characters. And pop music singers like Linda Ronstadt and Rod Stewart, they all began singing the songs. We were all listening to all this music from our parents’ and grandparents’ generations. So much fun!
Ronstadt sang “Someone To Watch Over Me.”
Frank Sinatra had sung it as well. We did not listen to Sinatra much in those years, at least my friends and I did not, but everyone felt his influence.
I was listening a lot to Sarah Vaughan and here she is with this song.
“I’d like to add his initials to my monogram.” Does anyone know any more what a monogram is? This kind of stuff was antiquated even when I was a kid. It is funny, when I listen to Sarah singing “Someone To Watch Over Me,” it takes me back not to the 1920s but to the 1990s. Somewhere along the line, this singer and this song became part of my life.
“Although he may not be the man some girls think of as handsome…” Ira Gershwin and his lyrics!
Here is George Gershwin playing his song on Nov. 8, 1926.
Cabaret artist Michael Feinstein performs the song and gives us interesting trivia about “Someone To Watch Over Me” — so charming. I got to interview him a few times for The Buffalo News and he really loves this stuff, these songs.
These are all big shoes to fill. Fortunately that did not cross my mind last week when I sang the song. Honest, all I felt was the joy of it. To be singing “Someone to Watch Over Me,” playing the piano …
Talk about happiness!