I Cover the Waterfront (song)

1933 popular song and jazz standard

"I Cover the Waterfront"

Single by Sarah Vaughan

Johnny Green

Sarah Vaughan singles chronology

"If You Could See Me Now"
(1946)

"I Cover the Waterfront"
(1947)

"Tenderly"
(1947)

Billie Holiday singles chronology

"God Bless the Child"
(1942)

"I Cover the Waterfront"
(1946)

"Lady Sings the Blues"
(1956)

"I Cover the Waterfront" is a 1933 popular song and jazz standard composed by Johnny Green with lyrics by Edward Heyman. The song was inspired by Max Miller's 1932 best-selling novel, I Cover the Waterfront.

Recordings and interpretations

Lucky Thompson - The Complete Vogue Recordings Vol. 1 (1956)

The song became popular, and many artists have recorded it since 1933. Notable artists include:

Billie Holiday
Frank Sinatra
Sarah Vaughan
Annette Hanshaw
Abe Lyman's California Ambassador Hotel Orchestra
Connee Boswell
Harry James
The Lester Young Trio with Nat King Cole
Ray Conniff recorded the song in 1958, and was included on his "Awful Nice" LP.
Buddy Rich
Louis Armstrong
Years later, Ella Fitzgerald recorded this song in her 1979 live album Digital III at Montreux on Pablo Records.
Annie Lennox gave her interpretation of the song on her 2014 studio album Nostalgia.
John Lee Hooker recorded several versions of the song. One appears on the 1991 compilation The Ultimate Collection and another with Van Morrison on Hooker's 1991 album Mr. Lucky. Hooker's versions make such changes from the original melody and lyrics that his label credits him as the songwriter.
In 2017, the musicians Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau collaborated on an album recording of the track.

Film role

A 1933 motion picture, also inspired by Miller's book and also titled I Cover the Waterfront, was re-scored at the last minute to include the tune. Sheet music publishers later used the film's success by claiming that the song was "nspired by the United Artist Picture of the same name".

Radio program theme

I Cover the Waterfront was the theme for the Johnny Modero, Pier 23 radio program, which starred Jack Webb and was broadcast on the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1947.

Popular culture

R&B/soul singer/actress Miki Howard, portraying Billie Holiday, performed the song in the 1992 bio film Malcolm X.

References

^ "78 Record: Sarah Vaughan - Once In A While (1953)". 45worlds.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
^ "I Cover the Waterfront". Songbook1.wordpress.com. March 28, 2010. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
^ "Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (I Cover the Waterfront)". Jazzstandards.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
"CD Album: Billie Holiday - The Complete Billie Holiday On Verve - 1945-1959 (1992)". 45worlds.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
"Vinyl Album: Frank Sinatra - Sinatra's Greatest (1962)". 45worlds.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
"America Swings: The Great Harry James - Harry James | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
"Vinyl Album: Lester Young - Archives Of Jazz - Vol. 1 (1972)". 45worlds.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
"www.rayconniff.info". www.rayconniff.info. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
"CD Album: Buddy Rich - Rags To Riches (1989)". 45worlds.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
"Digital 3 at Montreux - Ella Fitzgerald | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
"Nostalgia - Annie Lennox | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
"The Ultimate Collection (1948-1990) - John Lee Hooker | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
"Mr. Lucky - John Lee Hooker | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
"Chris Thile & Brad Mehldau - Chris Thile, Brad Mehldau | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
Terrace, Vincent (2003). Radio Program Openings and Closings, 1931-1972. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-7864-4925-5.
"Malcolm X (1992) - IMDb". IMDb.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.

v t e Billie Holiday
Discography Awards and nominations
Albums	Billie Holiday Sings/Solitude An Evening with Billie Holiday Billie Holiday Billie Holiday at Jazz at the Philharmonic Stay with Me Music for Torching Velvet Mood Lady Sings the Blues Body and Soul Songs for Distingué Lovers Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday at Newport All or Nothing at All Lady in Satin Last Recording The Essential Billie Holiday: Carnegie Hall Concert Recorded Live Lady in Autumn: The Best of the Verve Years Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933–1944 Lady Day Swings Remixed and Reimagined The Complete Commodore & Decca Masters
Songs	"Ain't Nobody's Business" "As Time Goes By" "Billie's Blues" "Blue Moon" "Body and Soul" "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" "Don't Explain" "Easy Living" "Embraceable You" "Everything Happens for the Best" "Everything Happens to Me" "Fine and Mellow" "Gloomy Sunday" "God Bless the Child" "Good Morning Heartache" "I Cover the Waterfront" "I Loves You, Porgy" "If You Were Mine" "I Thought About You" "I'll Be Seeing You" "I'll Get By" "I'll Never Be the Same" "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" "Just One of Those Things" "Lady Sings the Blues" "Left Alone" "Love for Sale" "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" "Me, Myself, and I" "Miss Brown to You" "My Man" "Moonlight in Vermont" "Night and Day" "No More" "Now or Never" "Our Love Is Different" "P.S. I Love You" "Pennies from Heaven" "Please Don't Do It Here" "Preacher Boy" "Sophisticated Lady" "Stormy Blues" "Stormy Weather" "Strange Fruit" "Sugar" "Summertime" "That Ole Devil Called Love" "These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)" "Too Marvelous for Words" "Trav'lin' Light" "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" "What Is This Thing Called Love?" "Why Was I Born?" "Willow Weep for Me" "You Go to My Head" "Your Mother's Son-In-Law"
Related articles	"Angel of Harlem" Lady Sings the Blues book film soundtrack Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill Statue The United States vs. Billie Holiday soundtrack
Category

v t e John Lee Hooker
Studio albums	The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (1959) Travelin' (1960) That's My Story (1960) The Folk Lore of John Lee Hooker (1961) Burnin' (1962) The Big Soul of John Lee Hooker (1963) John Lee Hooker on Campus (1964) Burning Hell (1964) ...And Seven Nights (1965) It Serve You Right to Suffer (1966) The Real Folk Blues (1966) Urban Blues (1967) Simply the Truth (1969) If You Miss 'Im...I Got 'Im (1969) Get Back Home (1969) I Feel Good! (1971) Hooker 'n Heat (1971) Endless Boogie (1971) Never Get Out of These Blues Alive (1972) Born in Mississippi, Raised Up in Tennessee (1973) Free Beer and Chicken (1974) Sittin' Here Thinkin' (1980) Jealous (1987) The Healer (1989) More Real Folk Blues: The Missing Album (1991) Mr. Lucky (1991) Chill Out (1995) Don't Look Back (1997)
Live albums	Concert at Newport (1963) Live at Sugar Hill (1963) Live at Cafe Au Go Go (1967) Live at Soledad Prison (1972) Kabuki Wuki (1973) The Cream (1978)
Compilations	House of the Blues (1959) I'm John Lee Hooker (1959) John Lee Hooker Plays & Sings the Blues (1961) Folk Blues (1962) Don't Turn Me from Your Door (1963) Original Folk Blues (1964) That's Where It's At! (1969) Goin' Down Highway 51 (1971) The Ultimate Collection (1991)
Soundtracks	The Hot Spot: Original Soundtrack (1990)
Films	Come See About Me (2004)
Singles	"Boogie Chillen'" (1948) "Crawling King Snake" (1948) "Jack o' Diamonds" (1949) "Trouble in Mind" (1949) "Catfish" (1951) "I'm in the Mood" (1951) "Sugar Mama" (1952) "Worried Life Blues" (1952) "Baby, Please Don't Go" (1952) "Key to the Highway" (1952) "I'm Ready" (1956) "Dimples" (1956) "I Need Some Money" (1960) "Boom Boom" (1961) "Drifting Blues" (1961) "Don't Look Back" (1961)
Songs	"How Long Blues" (1960) "Good Mornin', Lil' School Girl" (1960) "Smokestack Lightnin'" (1960) "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" (1966) "Bottle Up & Go" (1966) "I Can't Quit You Baby" (1966) "Meet Me in the Bottom" (1971) "Roll and Tumble" (1971) "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" (1974) "Terraplane Blues" (1987) "I Cover the Waterfront" (1991) "The Healing Game" (1997) "Red House" (1997)
Related articles	Discography Detroit blues Eddie Kirkland Eddie "Guitar" Burns Canned Heat The Blues Brothers The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend John Lee Hooker Jr.

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Recordings and interpretations

Film role

Radio program theme

Popular culture

See also

References