The score of Porgy and Bess is considered one of the greatest entries in the American musical canon. George Gershwin’s inventive arrangements, which Diedre Murray characterizes as a “hybrid” of jazz and classical music, have helped shape the landscape of contemporary American music—R&B, soul music, modern jazz, even Top 40 pop owe a debt to Porgy and Bess. The proof? “Summertime” is among the most recorded songs of all time, with thousands of versions rendered in a wide variety of styles: from Willie Nelson to Kenny G, from Sam Cooke to Sublime. Below are a few of the landmark recordings of Porgy and Bess tunes:
Billie Holiday (1936)
Billie Holiday’s recording of “Summertime” was the first song from Porgy and Bess to break into the U.S. pop charts, reaching #12.
Selections from George Gershwin’s Folk Opera Porgy and Bess (1940)
Members of the Broadway cast of Porgy and Bess, including Todd Duncan and Anne Brown, came together to record songs from the original production.
Masterworks Heritage Edition—Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (1951)
The standard performing version in 1951. While it is not the complete opera, it did restore some parts of the opera that had been initially cut.
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong sang a collection of songs from Porgy and Bess—the
recording marked the final pairing of these two iconic jazz vocalists.
Miles and Gil (1958)
Miles Davis and Gil Evans’ Porgy and Bess album was recorded in anticipation of the Hollywood film—in the late ‘50s, “jazz versions” of film scores were in vogue. Davis’s incredible trumpet work on this album (along with his pioneering use of modal improvisation) cemented its place in history as one of the finest jazz collaborations of all time.
Nina Simone (1958)
Always the iconoclast, Nina Simone performed a cover of a cover of “I Loves You Porgy”—her 1958 recording was a riff on Billie Holiday’s 1936 jazz rendition of the ballad.
The Film Soundtrack (1959)
Although Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge starred in the film as Porgy and Bess respectively, Robert McFerrin and Adele Addison sang the title roles for the film, as well as for the soundtrack. Clara, played on-screen by the great Diahann Carroll, was dubbed by Loulie Jean Norman, a white coloratura soprano. Sammy Davis, Jr., who played Sportin’ Life, sang in the film, but could not appear on the soundtrack as he was already committed
to record a Porgy and Bess album with another recording company. Cab Calloway sang the role instead.
Billy Stewart (1966)
This radical R&B reinterpretation of “Summertime” remains the most successful on the U.S. pop charts—it reached #10.
Janis Joplin (1968)
Janis Joplin’s psychedelic rock version of “Summertime” captured the zeitgeist of late ‘60s counterculture. It appears on Big Brother and the Holding Company’s 1968 album Cheap Thrills.
The Doors (1970)
At the spectacularly rowdy Live in Boston performance, frontman Jim Morrison sang a seven-minute rendition of “Summertime” as a coda to The Doors’ hit song “Light My Fire.”
Diana Ross (1974)
Diana Ross performed a lively, upbeat lounge version of “I Loves You Porgy” on her album Live at Caesar’s Palace.
Bronski Beat (1984)
The electronic pop group Bronski Beat’s New Wave cover of “It Ain’t Necessarily So” is featured on their 1984 album The Age of Consent. The song’s theme of doubting certain statements in the Bible supported the album’s anti-homophobic message.
Sublime (1997)
The alternative hip-hop/ska band Sublime wrote a loose cover of “Summertime” for their self-titled third album. “Doin’ Time” samples a bossa nova version of “Summertime” by jazz flautist Herbie Mann, which plays under a hip-hop beat and lyrics comparing a failed relationship to life in prison.
Cher (1994)
Cher lends her iconic vocal style to a rendition of “It Ain’t Necessarily So” on the star-studded compilation The Glory of Gershwin.
Fantasia Barrino (2004)
Fantasia’s standout performance of “Summertime” rocketed her into the finals of American Idol’s third season.
Brian Wilson (2010)
The former Beach Boy applied his knack for lush pop arrangements and vocal harmonies to a number of Gershwin songs on his album Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin.
