I Love You - Larry Adair Jazz Guitar Bill Coones Upright Bass

The Jazz Standard "I Love You" played by Larry and Bill. Larry Adair teaches guitar in Portland Oregon.

Camera by Larry Adair II

"In his book Cole Porter: A Biography, Charles Schwartz tells the story of how I Love You, introduced in the 1944 Broadway show Mexican Hayride, was written by Porter on a bet with actor Monty Woolley. While Mexican Hayride was still in its formative stage, Woolley had challenged Cole to write a hit number titled I Love You, in which that banal phrase would be repeated again and again. Woolley felt that even Coles gift with words and music would not be enough to surmount such a handicap and backed up that opinion with a small wager. Rising to the challenge (and at this point, Cole may have needed Woolleys goading to bring out the best in him), Cole came up with a languid refrain whose lyrics begin:

I love you,
Hums the April breeze.
I love you,
Echo the hills.
I love you,
The golden dawn agrees
As once more she sees daffodils.


As sung by big-voiced Wilbur Evans in the show, I Love You quickly caught on, enabling Cole to win the wager while adding still another number--the only one in Mexican Hayride to become popular--to his long list of hit songs.


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