It Ain't Necessarily So
| "It Ain't Necessarily So" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Cher & Larry Adler | ||||
| from the album The Glory of Gershwin | ||||
| B-side | "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" "The Gettysburgh Address" |
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| Released | 1994 | |||
| Format | CD single | |||
| Recorded | 1994 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 4:12 | |||
| Label | Mercury Records | |||
| Writer(s) | George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | |||
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |||
| Cher chronology | ||||
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"It Ain't Necessarily So" is a popular song with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song comes from the Gershwins' opera Porgy and Bess (1935) where it is sung by the character Sportin' Life, a drug dealer, who expresses his doubt about several statements in the Bible.
In the song, the melody for the words "It ain't necessarily so" resembles the melody for the words "Bar'chu et adonai ham'vorach", at the beginning of the aliyah blessing before reading from the Torah.
The role of Sportin' Life was created by John W. Bubbles. Other notable incarnations of the character include Cab Calloway on stage and Sammy Davis, Jr. in the 1959 film.
The song was notably sung by Aretha Franklin and Bobby Darin on his 1959 album That's All, and Aretha also recorded it for her album "Aretha (with the Ray Bryant Combo)".
It was covered a number of times during the Rock era. It was included as an album track by The Honeycombs on their debut-album, The Honeycombs in 1964. Released as a single, the song was a major Australian hit in 1965 for singer Normie Rowe, reaching number 5 on the Australian singles charts. Also in 1965 The Moody Blues covered the song for their album, The Magnificent Moodies. The Moody Blues' version is notable for the fact that it was their first recording with band member Ray Thomas singing the lead vocals.
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