My dad used to sing this song to me and my siblings at bedtime.
It’s another one co-written by Dorothy Fields with composer Jimmy McHugh.
This song recently entered the public domain, which means that we — Molly Ruggles, Carole Bundy and I — can now release our own version of this beloved standard.
Molly is a pianist, singer, songwriter and arranger who worked at Harvard and MIT for many years.
She kept her love for music alive during that period of her life by writing songs (including a complete musical) and working as the music director at a UU church.
During the past few years, I have discovered that Molly has a fascinating musical gift.
She likes to write entirely new sections for pre-existing songs!
Some people write new lyrics for songs, and she has been known to do that as well.
But I have never met anyone who can write an entirely new section which matches the musical style (melody, chords AND lyrics) of the original song in such a seamless way.
If you listen to our recording (in the player above and or via a music streaming service), the entirely new part written by Molly begins “I gotta tell you, I wish that I had a big bank account” and ends with “and I have one simple goal — giving my love to you!”
It is brilliantly done.
She also wrote a new section for Cole Porter’s song “Let’s Do It” (which recently entered the public domain) and for a few others which are not yet in the public domain.
We perform those songs live but cannot release a recording of them (which would include Molly’s new section) without getting permission from the people who wrote them and/or their descendants and/or the music publishing companies which own them.
Going forward, I am hoping that Molly focuses her creativity on songs which are already in the public domain — of which there are MANY from the early years of what is now called “the Great American Songbook.”
For example, a bunch of Irving Berlin’s earliest hits are now in the public domain including “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.”
And one of my favorite songs of all time, “Makin’ Whoopee“ is also in the public domain, I think.
Thank you to Molly for creating this great arrangement of “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby” as well as playing piano and singing on it.
Thank you to Carole for singing on it.
Thank you to Doug Hammer for engineering our recording session and then mixing our version with me via Zoom.
Thank you to the generous and talented photographers at Pixabay — who let me use their beautiful photos in my blog posts.
And thank YOU for reading and listening to yet another blog post.
Deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
ps: If you are inspired to stream our version of this song, you can click here for links to various companies including Pandora, Apple Music and Spotify.
amusicalifeonplanetearth 
Molly sounds like a good creative partner to work with. This rendition is very nice, I especially like how your voices blend.
Thank you, Brad. Molly IS a great creative partner. I do most of my retirement community gigs with her now.And Doug and I worked a long time fine-tuning the blend of our voices; so I am glad you like the final result!
A great collaboration between you and Molly – the memories of the song and honoring classical songs with a fresh and personal perspective are remarkable. There is a special creativity for adding new sections that produce such harmony. Your passion for music shines through with this rendition, which is simply wonderful.
Thank you for listening, Dalo, and leaving such a lovely comment! I agree that Molly has a special gift to be able to add a new section so seamlessly to a pre-existing song.
This is Molly! I’m renewed in my gratitude for this song that Will and Carole helped bring to light. Will has an unusual generosity of always seeing and voicing his appreciation for the work we do together. I have to say these additional music passages came to mind for me in the company of Will and Carole. Their kindness, talent, warmth, and encouragement were all critical ingredients to whatever comes through in the music for me.
I agree, Molly, that your work often happens within the context of happy collaboration. ps: I forgot to mention in my blog post that Molly is deliciously humble.
I love how you sing this classic song! Beautifully done. I seems that if Molly keeps working on songs that are in the public domain, the world is your oyster. Best to you, Will.
Thank you, Jennie! She is in the middle of selling her home and buying a smaller one… but I remain hopeful that eventually more fun arrangements of songs which are now in the public domain will emerge from her soul. I was recently reminded that “I Want To Be Happy” by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar is now in the public domain, for example. Turns out it has a lovely intro/verse, too…
I bet Molly will be arranging many more. The public domain has really opened doors, like “I Want To Be Happy.” Best to you, Will.
I am quietly and patiently hoping that she does create more wonderful arrangements for us to sing…
She’s such a good artist; when the inspiration hits, she will create.
Molly is amazing.
I agree. We did a gig yesterday at Neville Place in Cambridge, and she was on fire…
What a pleasure that was, to listen to!
Thank you, Gretchen Joanna, for making time to listen!
Beautiful butterfly 😍
The website Pixabay has beautiful photos of many different things…
Engaging
Thank you for making time to read and listen!
great song….
Thank you for listening to our version of it!