It is thought that Monk composed the song sometime in 1940 or 1941. However, Harry Colomby claims that Monk may have written an early version around 1936 (at the age of 19). The song was copyrighted September 24, 1943 in C minor under the title "I Need You So", and included lyrics by Monk himself. The first recording was made by Cootie Williams on August 22, 1944, after the pianist Bud Powell persuaded Williams to record the tune. Monk first recorded the song on November 21, 1947, and later appeared on the Blue Note album "", and recorded it several times after that. His first version was transcribed by Lionel Grigson in "A Thelonious Monk Study Album" (Novello, 1993).