All I Need Is You
Duke and his orchestra played for dancing at the Hotel Sherman in Chicago several times, the most well-known of these occasions being that of September-October 1940, but the band came back for a similar stint between 19 July and 18 August 1942.
The 1942 performances are not as richly documented on discs. as those of 1940, although a few commercial recordings exist. We have therefore chosen to make a short sound-clip available for downloading by the DESS members in the Goodies Room .
Above you can listen to a tune called All I Need Is You, performed by Rex Stewart backed up by the orchestra. This is the only known recording of this song by Duke and his men.
The material is from two dates: Bli-Blip, All I Need Is You and Perdido (nc) are from a broadcast on July 19 and Blue Again (Someone), The Sergeant Was Shy, I Don’t Mind and What Am I Here For? were broadcasted on July 26.
Ivie Anderson left the band on August 13, to be replaced (at least temporarily) by Joya Sherrill, so her singing on I Don’t Mind is one of her last performances with the band.
We hope that you will enjoy this music, despite the the somewhat inferior sound quality.
Author: Anders Asplund