ENDEIT

Standards · 1927

Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man chords & key

Jerome Kern · Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II

Key
E♭ major
Form
AABA
Bars
32
Groove
Slow swing
Time signature
4/4
Year
1927

“Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man” is a jazz standard by Jerome Kern from 1927. It is usually played in E♭ major as a slow swing, and the 32-bar AABA form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains 9 major ii–V–I cadences, uses 15 different chords and moves between the key centres E♭ major and A♭ major. In this atlas it appears on 24 album tracks.

Chord changes

Showing in: Concert (C) — E♭ major

A
E♭maj7Cm7
Fm7B♭7
E♭maj7B♭m7E♭7
A♭6D♭7
Gm7Cm7
B7B♭7
E♭6Edim7
1.
Fm7B♭7
2.
B♭m7E♭7
B
A♭6
Adim7
E♭maj7
F7
E♭maj7
G7
Fm7
B♭7
A
E♭maj7Cm7
Fm7B♭7
E♭maj7B♭m7E♭7
A♭6D♭7
Gm7Cm7
B7B♭7
E♭6
Fm7B♭7

Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.

Harmonic analysis

9Major ii–V–I
0Minor ii–V–i
10ii–V moves
0Tritone substitutions
0Dominant chains
15Different chords

Most used chords

  • B♭7×9
  • E♭maj7×8
  • Cm7×6
  • Fm7×6
  • B♭m7×4
  • E♭7×4

Key centres reached by ii–V

E♭ major and A♭ major

Characteristics

  • AABA song form

History

"Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, is one of the most famous songs from their classic 1927 musical play Show Boat, adapted from Edna Ferber's 1926 novel. Its music and lyrics entered the public domain on January 1, 2023.

Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Recorded on these albums

1949 Souvenir Album
Ella Fitzgerald · “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”
1952 Lena Sings Your Requests
Lena Horne Orchestra Conducted By Marty Paich
1953 Erroll Garner Plays for Dancing
Erroll Garner
1955 Julie Is Her Name
Julie London · “Can't Help Lovin' That Man”
1955 With Strings
Clifford Brown
1956 The Jazz Skyline
Milt Jackson · “Can't Help Lovin' That Man”
1957 Billy Tipton Plays Hi-Fi On Piano
Billy Tipton
1958 It’s All Over but the Swingin’
Sammy Davis Jr. · “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Gal”
1958 Sings the Blues
Morgana King
1959 Oscar Peterson Plays the Jerome Kern Songbook
Oscar Peterson
1959 The Night I Played 666 Fifth Avenue
Paul Whiteman
1961 Jerome Kern Showboat
Kenny Dorham · “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”
1963 Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook
Ella Fitzgerald · “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”
1974 Play It Again, Erroll!
Erroll Garner
1985 The Broadway Album
Barbra Streisand · “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man (from “Show Boat”)”
1985 Plays Gershwin & Kern
Erroll Garner
1987 Stéphane Grappelli Plays Jerome Kern
Stéphane Grappelli · “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man”
1993 Virtual Reality
Bob Berg
1994 The Concert
Barbra Streisand · “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man”
1995 André Previn and Friends Play Show Boat
André Previn
1995 Magician / Gershwin and Kern
Erroll Garner
1997 A Souvenir
Thelma Carpenter
1998 It’s All Over but the Swingin’ / I Gotta Right to Swing!
Sammy Davis Jr. · “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Gal”
2002 I Want To Be Happy
Ella Fitzgerald

Historic 78 rpm recordings

  • Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man Kern · Hammerstein 2nd · Bud Freeman and His Orchestra · John Mandel… · 1937 archive.org ↗
  • Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man Thelma Carpenter · Earl Sheldon · Kern · Hammerstein · 1945 archive.org ↗
  • Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man Thelma Carpenter with Orchestra · Earl Sheldon · Kern · Hammerstein… · 1945 archive.org ↗

Standards with similar changes

Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.

TitleComposerKeyFormGroove
Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home 32% Hughie Cannon G major ABAC · 32 Medium-up swing
Deed I Do 31% Hirsch-Rose C major AABA · 32 Medium swing
High Hopes 28% Jimmy Van-Heusen F major A · 28 Medium swing
Mimi 28% Richard Rogers G major AABA · 32 Medium swing
You Keep Coming Back Like A Song 28% Irving Berlin E♭ major AB · 32 Medium swing
Solitude 26% Duke Ellington E♭ major AABA · 32 Ballad
Bunko 25% Lennie Niehaus F major AABA · 32 Medium swing
I Like The Likes Of You 25% Vernon Duke E♭ major AABA · 32 Medium swing

Frequently asked questions

What key is Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man in?

Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man is usually played in E♭ major. For B♭ instruments that is F major, for E♭ instruments C major.

Who wrote Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man?

Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man was written by Jerome Kern (1927).

What is the form of Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man?

Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.

How fast is Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man played?

The usual groove is Slow swing.

What are the chord changes to Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man?

The opening bars are Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Bbm7 Eb7 | Ab6 Db7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.