GHOST OF A CHANCE

Music: Victor Young- Lyrics: Bing Crosby, Ned Washington

Year: 1932

Origin of the song

Bing Crosby recorded a disc on 14 October 1932 for Brunswick and both sides of the disc immediately became a hit. ‘Ghost of a Chance’ entered the top charts in January of 1933 and reached the fifth position. The label’s producers, obviously, couldn’t imagine that it would become one of the most popular jazz standards of all times and put it in the B side of ‘Just and Echo in the Valley’, a song from the film Going Hollywood (1933), which reached the second position in the top charts.

Some months later, Brunswick proved again his total lack of confidence in ‘Ghost of a Chance’ putting Ted Fio Rito and his orchestra’s version in the B side of ‘I’ll Take an Option with You’. Today, there are fifty versions of ‘Ghost of a Chance’ for each of ‘Just an Echo in the Valley’, and a hundred and fifty for each of ‘I’ll Take an Option with You’.

Other notable Victor Young’s compositions are ‘Sweet Sue, Just You’ (1928), ‘Beautiful Love’ (1931), ’Street of Dreams’ (1932), ’Love Letters’ (1945), ’Stella by Starlight’ (1946), ‘My Foolish Heart’ (1949), ’When I Fall in Love’ (1952), and ‘Johnny Guitar’ (1954).

Versions in the top charts

PERFORMERS	DATE OF RECORDING	DAY OF ENTRANCE	PERMANENCE WEEKS	HIGH POSITION REACHED
Bing Crosby	1932.10.14	1933.01.21	6	5	Bing Crosby (voc), Lennie Hayton (p), ARC Brunswick Studio Orchestra
Ted Fio Rito Orchestra	1932.11.??	1933.04.08	3	12	Muzzy Marcellino (voc)

Jazz. Outstanding performances

Instrumental

PERFORMERS	DATE OF RECORDING	MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
Bobby Hackett Orchestra	1938.11.04	Bobby Hackett (cnt, dir), Brad Gowans (vtb, as), Clyde Newcombe (bars), Pee Wee Russell (cl), Dave Bowman (p), Eddie Condon (g), Ernie Caceres (b), Andy Picard (d)
Cab Calloway Orchestra	1940.06.27	Cab Calloway (dir), Mario Bauza, Lammar Wright, Dizzy Gillespie (tp), Quentin Jackson, Tyree Glenn, Keg Johnson (tb), Hilton Jefferson, Andy Brown (as), Chu Berry, Walter Thomas (ts), Jerry Blake (bars), Bennie Payne (p), Danny Barker (g), Milt Hinton (b), Cozy Cole (d)
Lester Young Quintet	1944.05.01	Lester Young (ts), Count Basie (p), Freddie Green (g), Rodney Richardson (b), Shadow Wilson (d)
Oscar Peterson Trio	1947.04.17	Oscar Peterson (p), Albert King (b), Mark 'Wilkie' Wilkinson (d)
Lennie Tristano	1947.09.23	Lennie Tristano (p)
Clifford Brown- Max Roach Quintet	1954.08.06	Clifford Brown (tp), Harold Land (ts), Richie Powell (p), George Morrow (b), Max Roach (d)
Lennie Tristano Quartet	1955.06.11	Lennie Tristano (p), Lee Konitz (as), Gene Ramey (b), Art Taylor (d)
Thelonious Monk	1957.04.12	Thelonious Monk (p)
Benny Carter Quartet	1960.02.05	Benny Carter (ss, as, ts), Jimmy Rowles (p), LeRoy Vinnegar (b), Mel Lewis (d)
Wes Montgomery Quintet	1960.10.12	Wes Montgomery (g), James Clay (ts), Victor Feldman (p), Sam Jones (b), Louis Hayes (d)
Lennie Tristano	1965.10.31	Lennie Tristano (p)
Yusef Lateef Quartet	1966.06.15	Yusef Lateef (ts, fl, ob), Hugh Lawson (p), Herman Wright (b), Roy Brooks Jr. (d)
Illinois Jacquet Quartet	1968.03.26	Illinois Jacquet (ts), Barry Harris (p), Ben Tucker (b), Alan Dawson (d)

Vocal

PERFORMERS	DATE OF THE RECORDING	MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
Mildred Bailey	1939.06.01	Mildred Bailey (voc), John Kirby Sextet
The Hampton Rhythm Boys	1940.07.17	Lionel Hampton (vib), Nat Cole (p), Oscar Moore (g), Wesley Prince (b), Al Spieldock (d), Helen Forrest (voc)
Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra	1955.08.23	Billie Holiday (voc), Harry 'Sweets' Edison (tp), Benny Carter (as), Jimmy Rowles (p), Barney Kessel (g), John Simmons (b), Larry Bunker (d)
Frank Sinatra	1959.03.24	Frank Sinatra (voc), Gordon Jenkins Orchestra
Carmen McRae & George Shearing	1980.06.??	Carmen McRae (voc), George Shearing (p)
Diana Krall	1997.??.??	Diana Krall (p, voc), Russell Malone (g), Christian McBride (b)

On cinemas

The song 'Ghost of a Chance' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:

ORIGINAL TITLE	TITLE IN SPAIN	YEAR OF PRODUCTION	PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM
Folies Bergère	El caballero del Folies Bergère	1935	Maurice Chevalier
A Millionaire for Christy	Un millonario para Christy	1951
Ginger & Rosa	Ginger & Rosa	2012