Level: 2/3
Tuning: Standard

The 1937 Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musical film, "Shall We Dance," featured five Gershwin brothers tunes, including "They Can't Take That Away From Me." It was the Gershwins' first foray into Hollywood and all the songs (sung by Astaire) became standards. "They Can't Take That Away From Me" was an immediate success, with 1937 hit recordings by Astaire, Ozzie Nelson and his orchestra, Tommy Dorsey and Billie Holiday! The song was reprised in the Astaire-Rogers reunion film of 1949, "The Barklays of Broadway." Like many Gershwin songs, this one has an AABA form, with a two-bar extension of the final A section (the same thing happens in "I Got Rhythm.") This key-of-C arrangement includes the introductory verse which most singers omit, and the solo has an interesting trick ending (starting with the Gbm7b5) not of Gershwin's composition, it's an adlib way to end the tune after playing several choruses. By the way, the verse/intro references and quotes Irving Berlin's "The Song Is Ended (But The Melody Lingers On)."