BLUE SKIES
Music and lyrics: Irving Berlin
Year: 1927
Origin of the song
The actress and singer Belle Baker was the star of the musical Betsy, which premiered on 28 December 1926 at the New Amsterdam Theatre of New York. Baker wasn’t happy with ‘This World Funny’, the piece Rodgers and Hart had written for her in the play, and she contacted her friend Irving Berlin hoping he had a song that adjusted to her tastes. He only had to add the final touch to a show that, as a Christmas gift, he was going to give to his newborn daughter, and the title was ‘Blue Skies’. Baker got very excited with the song and managed to include it in the musical, upsetting Rodgers and Hart, who weren’t asked and would not have allowed that change. The night of the release, Baker had to repeat the song twenty four times! Despite that, the play was a failure and it had to be withdrawn from the hoarding one month later.
In January 1927, six versions of this song entered the top charts and Ben Selvin & The Knickerbockers’ version, with the voice of Charles Kaley, reached the top of the charts. Besides, on 6 October of that same year, the film The Jazz Singer was released in New York, starring Al Jolson. It was a silent movie with alternate titles but it had talking dialogues and some songs. ‘Blues Skies’ was one of them.
Versions in the top charts
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
DAY OF
ENTRANCE |
PERMANENCE WEEKS |
HIGH POSITION REACHED |
|
|
Vaughn Deleath |
1927.01.11 |
1927.04.30 |
2 |
15 |
Vaughn Deleath (voc) |
|
Vincent Lopez Orchestra |
1927.01.14 |
1927.04.23 |
5 |
9 |
Frank Munn (voc) |
|
1927.01.15 |
1927.04.09 |
9 |
1 (two weeks) |
Charles Kaley (voc) |
|
|
1927.01.17 |
1927.04.30 |
5 |
9 |
Johnny Marvin, Ed Smalle (voc) |
|
|
1927.01.19 |
1927.04.16 |
10 |
2 (two weeks) |
Bob Borger, Fran Frey, Bob Rice (voc) |
|
|
Harry Richman |
1927.01.22 |
1927.05.14 |
2 |
13 |
Harry Richman (voc) |
|
Johnny Long Orchestra |
1941.05.15 |
1941.08.16 |
1 |
22 |
Bob Houston (voc) |
|
Count Basie Orchestra |
1945.10.09 |
1946.09.14 |
4 |
8 |
Jimmy Rushing (voc) |
|
Benny Goodman Orchestra |
1946.05.14 |
1946.08.17 |
4 |
9 |
Art Lund (voc) |
Jazz. Outstanding performances
Instrumental
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1935.05.25 |
Bonny Goodman (cl, dir), Bunny Berigan, Note Kazebier, Jerry Neary (tp), Red Ballard, Jack Lacey (tb), Toots Mondello, Hymie Schertzer (as), Dick Clark, Arthur Rollini (ts), Frank Froeba (p), George Van Eps (g), Harry Goodman (b), Gene Krupa (d) |
|
|
|
1938.01.16 |
Benny Goodman (cl, dir), Harry James, Ziggy Elman, Chris Griffin (tp), Red Ballard, Will Bradley (tb), Hymie Schertzer, George Koenig (as), Art Rollini, Vido Musso (ts), Jess Stacy (p), Allan Reuss (g), Harry Goodman (b), Gene Krupa (d)
In
Carnegie Hall, Nueva York |
|
1939.08.10 |
Charlie Shavers (tp), Buster Bailey (cl), Russell Procope (as), Billy Kyle (p), John Kirby (b), O'Neill Spencer (d) |
|
|
1944.04.15 |
Ben Webster (ts), Johnny Guarneri (p), Oscar Pettiford (b), Chick Booth (d) |
|
|
1949.09.29 |
Art Tatum (p) |
|
|
Hampton Hawes Trio |
1964.02.17 |
Hampton Hawes (p), Monk Montgomery (b), Steve Ellington (d) |
|
1977.11.07 |
Earl Hines (p) |
|
|
Stan Getz Quartet |
1982.01.?? |
Stan Getz (ts), Jim McNeely (p), Marc Johnson (b), Billy Hart (d) |
|
Junko Onishi Trio |
1994.05.06 |
Junko Onishi (p), Reginald Veal (b), Herlin Riley (d) |
|
Bill Charlap Trio |
2000.03.?? |
Bill Charlap (p), Peter Washington (b), Kenny Washington (d) |
Vocal
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1937.08.06 |
Maxine Sullivan (voc), Claude Thornhill (p, dir), Frankie Newton (tp), Buster Bailey (cl), Pata Brown (as), Babe Russin (ts), John Kirby (b), O'Neil Spencer (d) |
|
|
1941.07.15 |
Tommy Dorsey (tb, dir), Charlie Peterson, Al Steams, Ziggy Elman, Jimmy Blake (tp), George Arus, Dave Jacobs, Martin Lowell (tb), Fred Stulce, Manny Gershman (as, bars), Heinie Beau, Don Lodice, Bruce Snyder (ts), Joe Bushkin (p), Clark Yocum (g), Sidd Weiss (b), Buddy Rich (d), Frank Sinatra, chorus (voc) |
|
|
1945.10.09 |
Count Basie (p, dir), Snooky Young, Emmett Berry, Ed Lewis, Harry 'Sweets' Edison (tp), George Matthews, Ted Donnelly, Eli Robinson (tb), Buddy Tate, Illinois Jacquet (ts), Preston Love, Jimmy Powell (as), Rudy Rutherford (bars), Freddie Green (g), Rodney Richardson (b), Shadow Wilson (d), Jimmy Rushing (voc) |
|
|
1946.07.30 |
Frank Sinatra (voc), Clyde Hurley, Manny Klein, Zeke Zarchy (tp), Hoyt Bohannon, George Jenkins, Edward Kuczborski (tb), Richard Perissi (tpa), Fred Dornbach, Herbert Haymer, Jules Kinsler, Harry Klee (sax), Mark McIntyre (p), Dave Barbour (g), Philip Stephens (b), Ray Hagan (d), string section, Axel Stordahl (dir) |
|
|
Louis Armstrong All Stars |
1948.06.02 |
Louis Armstrong (tp, voc), Jack Teagarden (tb, voc), Barney Bigard (cl), Earl Hines (p), Arvell Shaw (b), Sid Catlett (d) |
|
1954.06.15 |
Dinah Washington (voc), Clark Terry (tp), Gus Chappell (tb), Ricky Henderson (as), Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (ts), Junior Mance (p), Keter Betts (b), Ed Thighpen (d) |
|
|
Johnny Hartman |
1956.11.?? |
Johnny Hartman (voc), Howard McGhee, Ernie Royal (tp), Frank Rehak (tb), Anthony Ortega (as), Jerome Richardson (ts, fl), Lucky Thompson (ts), Danny Bank (bars), Hank Jones (p), Milt Hinton (b), Osie Johnson (d), Ernie Wilkins (dir) |
|
1958.03.18 |
Ella Fitzgerald (voc), John Best, Pete Candoli, Harry 'Sweets' Edison, Don Fagerquist, Mannie Klein (tp), Ed Kusby, Dick Noel, Bill Schaefer, Juan Tizol (vtb), Matty Matlock, Fred Stulce (as), Ted Nash, Babe Russin (ts), Chuck Gentry (bars), Paul Smith (p), Barney Kessel (g), Joe Mondragon (b), Al Stoller (d), Paul Weston (dir) |
|
|
1960.12.23 |
Teri Thornton (voc), Clark Terry (fis, tp), Britt Woodman (tb), Earl Warren (as), Seldon Powell (ts), Wynton Kelly (p), Freddie Green (g), Sam Jones (b), Jimmy Cobb (d) |
|
|
Cassandra Wilson |
1988.02.05 |
Cassandra Wilson (voc), Mulgrew Miller (p), Lonnie Plaxico (b), Terri Lyne Carrington (d) |
|
1996.01.02 |
Eva Cassidy (voc, g), Lenny Williams (p), Hilton Felton (org), Keith Grimes (g), Chris Biondo (b), Raice McLeod (d) |
|
|
Susannah McCorkle |
1998.10.29 |
Susannah McCorkle (voc), Allen Farnham (p, dir), Greg Gisbert (tp), John Fedchock (tb), Dick Oatts (ts), Al Gafa (g), Steve Gilmore (b), Rich DeRosa (d) |
|
Anita O’Day |
2004.??.?? |
Anita O'Day (voc), Joe Wilder (tp), Tommy Morimoto (ts), Lafayette Harris, Jr. (p), Chip Jackson (b), Eddie Locke (d) |
On cinemas
The song 'Blue Skies' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:
|
ORIGINAL TITLE |
TITLE IN SPAIN |
YEAR OF PRODUCTION |
PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM |
|
The Jazz Singer |
El cantor de Jazz / El ídolo de Broadway |
1927 |
Al Jolson |
|
Glorifying the American Girl |
Su Majestad la girl |
1929 |
A band |
|
Alexander's Ragtime Band |
La banda de Alexander |
1938 |
Ethel Merman and Alice Faye |
|
Blue Skies |
Cielo azul |
1946 |
Bing Crosby |
|
White Christmas |
Navidades blancas |
1954 |
Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye |
|
Glengarry Glen Ross |
Éxito a cualquier precio |
1992 |
Al Jarreau |
|
With Honors |
Con honores / Un intruso en Harvard |
1994 |
Lyle Lovett |
|
Patch Adams |
Patch Adams |
1998 |
|
|
Star Trek: Nemesis |
Star Trek: Némesis |
2002 |
Brent Spiner |
|
Plots with a View |
Funerarias, S. A. |
2002 |
Maxine Sullivan |
|
The Aviator |
El aviador |
2004 |
Al Jolson |
|
The Good Shepherd |
El buen pastor |
2006 |
|
|
Hollywoodland |
Hollywoodland |
2006 |
Peter Eldridge & The Arturo O'Farrill Orchestra |
|
My Life in Ruins |
Mi vida en ruinas |
2009 |
Guy Moon |
|
Red Tails |
Red Tails |
2012 |
Maxine Sullivan |