“Everything I Have Is Yours.” Lyrics by Harold Adamson, music by Burton Lane. Composed for the 1933 film Dancing Lady. Recorded in January 1934 by Maurice Elwin. Imperial 2951 mx. 6546-2.
Harold Adamson and Burton Lane wrote many songs for films in the 1930s, beginning with Dancing Lady (1933). In it, Joan Crawford plays a performer torn between two men: a wealthy suitor (Franchot Tone) who offers marriage, money, and an escape from show business, and a dynamic stage director (Clark Gable) who represents an ambitious career. Early in the love triangle, Tone and Crawford are dancing at a party when the bandleader, actor and singer Art Jarrett, introduces the song “Everything I Have Is Yours.”
The song is a lavish declaration of devotion and self-sacrifice, and Maurice Elwin’s 1934 recording takes it at its word: he holds nothing back, singing with real passion and conviction. Among his solo records, this one stands out as every bit as exciting as his dance-band vocals. The studio band also deserves credit. Its members are anonymous, but they were probably musicians closely associated with Jay Wilbur, musical director at Crystalate, Imperial’s parent company.
The record was made early in 1934, the last of Elwin’s very busy recording years. He continued to record in 1935 and 1936, but his output was greatly diminished. Late in his career his voice also seems to have changed, suddenly sounding artificially mellifluous and a little throaty. Friends I have played these late records for have suspected he was imitating Bing Crosby. I suspect instead that the change reflects his struggle to compensate for the “pernicious catarrh” that eventually ended his singing career.
American artists who recorded “Everything I Have Is Yours” in 1933 include George Olsen and His Orchestra (v. Joe Morrison), Ruth Etting, Jerry Freeman and His Orchestra (v. Frank Sylvano), Ted Weems and His Orchestra (v. Elmo Tanner), Joe Venuti and His Orchestra (v. Howard Phillips), Rudy Vallee and His Connecticut Yankees (v. Rudy Vallee), The Freddy Martin Orchestra (v. Elmer Feldkamp), Irene Taylor, Dick Himber and His Essex House Orchestra (v. Joey Nash), Cliff Perrine and His Orchestra (v. Flo Jordan), and Gene Austin.
Besides Elwin, British artists who recorded the song in 1934 include Al Bowlly, Harry Roy and His Orchestra (v. Ivor Moreton), Scott Wood and His Orchestra (as The Silver Screen Orchestra; v. Sam Browne; in a Dancing Lady medley), Harry Leader and His Band (as Joe Taub and His Melodians; v. Sam Browne), The New Grosvenor House Band (dir. Syd Lipton; v. Les Allen), Billy Merrin and His Commanders (v. Billy Merrin), Roy Fox and His Band (v. Denny Dennis), and Eddie Wood and His Band.