George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess

Album by George Gershwin & Mel Tormé & Frances Faye & The Bethlehem Orchestra & Russell Garcia & The Stan Levey Group & The Australian Jazz Quartet & Duke Ellington and His Orchestra

George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" is an opera that blends classical music with jazz and blues influences, depicting the lives of African Americans in the fictional neighbourhood of Catfish Row. The work, with a libretto by DuBose Heyward and lyrics by Heyward and Ira Gershwin, explores themes of love, poverty, and resilience.
First released: 1956

Tracklist

  1. 1.
    Introduction / Summertime
    1:25
  2. 2.
    Narration 1
    0:38
  3. 3.
    I Loves You, Porgy
    3:17
  4. 4.
    Narration 1
    1:24
  5. 5.
    Narration 2 (Scene: Storm)
    3:04
  6. 6.
    Summertime
    3:48
  7. 7.
    Narration 2
    0:12
  8. 8.
    Summertime (reprise)
    1:22
  9. 9.
    A Woman Is a Sometime Thing / Narration 3
    2:39
  10. 10.
    Narration 3
    0:11
  11. 11.
    Oh, Dere’s Somebody Knockin’ at de Do’…
    1:03
  12. 12.
    Here Come de Honey Man…
    1:20
  13. 13.
    Narration 4
    1:20
  14. 14.
    Narration 4
    0:24
  15. 15.
    Evenin’ Ladies, Hello Boys…
    0:43
  16. 16.
    If God Want to Kill Me…
    2:05
  17. 17.
    Narration 5
    0:06
  18. 18.
    Narration 5
    0:15
  19. 19.
    A Red‐Headed Woman…
    1:48
  20. 20.
    No, No, Brother, Porgy Ain’t Soft on No Woman…
    1:33
  21. 21.
    Narration (Scene: Crap Game and Murder)
    4:31
  22. 22.
    Narration 6
    0:59
  23. 23.
    Oh, Doctor Jesus (reprise)
    0:38
  24. 24.
    Narration 7
    0:51
  25. 25.
    Gone, Gone, Gone
    2:20
  26. 26.
    Narration 7
    0:55
  27. 27.
    Overflow, Overflow
    2:08
  28. 28.
    Clara, Clara, Don’t You Be Downhearted…
    1:36
  29. 29.
    Narration 8
    0:28
  30. 30.
    Narration 8
    0:10
  31. 31.
    I Can’t Puzzle This Thing Out…
    1:18
  32. 32.
    Summertime (reprise)
    1:12
  33. 33.
    Narration 9
    1:50
  34. 34.
    Narration 9
    0:11
  35. 35.
    My Man’s Gone Now
    3:49
  36. 36.
    Oh, Lawd, What I Goin’ Do?…
    1:21
  37. 37.
    Narration 10
    0:09
  38. 38.
    Narration 10
    0:35
  39. 39.
    Oh the Train Is at the Station…
    2:43
  40. 40.
    There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York
    1:28
  41. 41.
    Narration 11
    1:18
  42. 42.
    Narration 11
    0:37
  43. 43.
    Narration 12
    0:24
  44. 44.
    Oh I’m Agoin’ Out to the Blackfish Banks…
    2:17
  45. 45.
    How Are You Dis Mornin’?…
    1:41
  46. 46.
    Narration 12
    0:34
  47. 47.
    Narration 13
    0:39
  48. 48.
    I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’
    3:13
  49. 49.
    Mornin’, Lawyer. Looking for Somebody?…
    4:23
  50. 50.
    Oh, Bess, Oh, Where’s My Bess
    2:19
  51. 51.
    Buzzard Song
    2:43
  52. 52.
    Oh Lawd, I’m on My Way
    1:57
  53. 53.
    Porgy and Bess Suite
    29:12
  54. 54.
    Narration 13
    0:28
  55. 55.
    Bess, You Is My Woman Now
    4:57
  56. 56.
    Oh, I Can’t Sit Down (Picnic Music)
    1:55
  57. 57.
    Porgy, I Hates to Go…
    1:00
  58. 58.
    I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’ (reprise)
    0:37
  59. 59.
    It Ain’t Necessarily So (instrumental)
    1:52
  60. 60.
    Narration 14
    0:34
  61. 61.
    It Ain’t Necessarily So
    4:28
  62. 62.
    Narration 15
    0:53
  63. 63.
    What You Want Wid Bess?
    2:12
  64. 64.
    Narration 16
    0:33
  65. 65.
    Oh I’m Agoin’ Out to the Blackfish Banks… (reprise)
    1:27
  66. 66.
    Narration 17
    0:30
  67. 67.
    Oh, Doctor Jesus
    2:02
  68. 68.
    Here Come de Honey Man… / Oh Dey’s So Fresh and Fine… / I’m Talkin’ About Devil Crabs…
    3:31

Credits