LOVER COME BACK TO ME
Music: Sigmund Romberg- Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Year: 1928
Origin of the song
Evelyn Herbert sang ‘Lover Come Back to Me’ on 19 September 1928, date of the premiere of the musical The New Moon in the Imperial Theatre of Broadway; Robert Halliday performed it again in the final scene of the show, which was performed five hundred nine times. The song was a big success and, shortly, four versions of it appeared among the top ten in the charts. Another popular theme from the musical was ‘Softly As in a Morning Sunrise’.
‘Lover Come Back to Me’ is one of the most loved songs for Romberg, even if it wasn’t the most original one, because, in its central part, it is clearly inspired by a piano piece of Tchaikovsky.
On 17 January 1931, a first film version of the musical, named New Moon, directed by Jack Conway in which first Lawrence Tibbett and later Grace Moore performed ‘Lover Come Back to Me’. Years later, on 28 June 1940, a second and more famous version was released, New Moon, in which Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy sang ‘Lover Come Back to Me’.
Other Romberg’s musicals are Maytime (1917), Blossom Time (1921), The Student Prince (1924), Princess Flavia (1925), The Desert Song (1926), and Rosalie (1928), this last one was a collaboration with George Gershwin.
Versions in the top charts
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
DAY OF
ENTRANCE |
PERMANENCE WEEKS |
HIGH POSITION REACHED |
|
|
1928.10.25 |
1929.01.26 |
6 |
6 |
The Revelers (voc) |
|
|
1929.02.07 |
1929.04.13 |
8 |
3 |
Jack Fulton (voc) |
|
|
1929.02.12 |
1929.04.27 |
5 |
9 |
Rudy Vallée (voc) |
|
|
Perry Askam |
1930.02.10 |
1930.03.22 |
1 |
20 |
Perry Askam (voc), chorus |
|
Al Hibbler |
1948.??.?? |
1949.02.19 |
1 |
9 |
Al Hibbler (voc), unidentified orchestra
Rhythm & Blues charts |
|
Nat King Cole |
1953.01.14 |
1953.11.07 |
5 |
16 |
Nat Cole (voc), Billy May Orchestra |
Jazz. Outstanding performances
Instrumental
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1939.01.17 |
Artie Shaw (cl, dir), Bernie Previn, John Best, Chuck Peterson (tp), George Arus, Les Jenkins (tb), George Auld, Les Robinson, Tony Pastor (ts), Bob Kitsis (p), Al Avola (g), Sid Weiss (b), Buddy Rich (d) |
|
|
1946.01.15 |
Lester Young (ts), Howard McGhee (tp), Vic Dickenson (tb), Willie Smith (as), Wesley Jones (p), Curtis Counce (b), Johnny Otis (d) |
|
|
Roy Eldridge Orchestra |
1946.09.24 |
Roy Eldridge (tp, dir), Thomas Grider, Marion Hazel, Sylvester Lewis, Dave Page (tp), Richard Dunlap, Charles Greenlea, Fred Robinson (tb), Joe Eldridge, Sahib Shihab (as), Walter Luckhart, Harold Webster (ts), Cecil Payne (bars), Duke Jordan (p), Carl Pruitt (b), Lee Abrams (d) |
|
1948.12.29 |
Dizzy Gillespie (tp, dir), Willie Cook, Dave Burns, Elmon Wright (tp), Andy Dureya, Sam Hurt, Jesse Tarrant (tb), John Brown, Ernie Henry (as), Joe Gayles, Budd Johnson (ts), Cacil Payne (bars), James Forman (p, cel), Al McKibbon (b), Teddy Stewart (d), Sabu Martínez (bon), Joe Harris (cng) |
|
|
1952.12.12 |
Stan Getz (ts), Jimmy Raney (g), Duke Jordan (p), Bill Crow (b), Frank Isola (d) |
|
|
Ralph Burns Quartet |
1955.??.?? |
Ralph Burns (p), Jimmy Raney (g), Clyde Lombardi (b), Osie Johnson (d) |
|
1956.01.25 |
Hampton Hawes (p), Red Mitchell (b), Chuck Thompson (d) |
|
|
1956.06.18 |
Jimmy Smith (org), Thornel Schwartz (g), Donald Bailey (d) |
|
|
1956.10.16 |
Dizzy Gillespie (tp), Sonny Stitt (as), Stan Getz (ts), John Lewis (p), Herb Ellis (g), Ray Brown (b), Stan Levey (d) |
|
|
1957.10.15 |
Ben Webster (ts), Oscar Peterson (p), Herb Ellis (g), Ray Brown (b), Stan Levey (d) |
|
|
1958.05.23 |
Donald Byrd (tp), John Coltrane (ts), Red Garland (p), Paul Chambers (b), Art Taylor (d) |
|
|
1958.12.21 |
Donald Byrd (tp), Jackie McLean (as), Pepper Adams (bars), Wynton Kelly (p), Sam Jones (b), Art Taylor (d) |
|
|
1959.02.06 |
Al Cohn, Zoot Sims (ts), Mose Allison (p), Nabil Totah (b), Paul Motian (d) |
|
|
Stan Getz Quartet |
1959.??.?? |
Stan Getz (ts), Bengt Hallberg (p), Daniel Jordan (b), Egil Johansen (d) |
|
Arnett Cobb Quintet |
1960.02.16 |
Arnett Cobb (ts), Tommy Flanagan (p), Sam Jones (b), Art Taylor (d), Danny Barrajanos (cng) |
Vocales
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1938.01.10 |
Mildred Bailey (voc), Jimmy Blake (tp), Hank D'Amico (cl), Chu Berry (ts), Teddy Wilson (p), Allan Reuss (g), Pete Peterson (b), Dave Tough (d) |
|
|
1944.04.08 |
Billie Holiday (voc), Eddie Heywood (p, dir), Freddie Webster (tp), Vic Dickenson (tb), Lem Davis (as), Teddy Walters (g), John Simmons (b), Sid Catlett (d) |
|
|
1946.10.18 |
Mildred Bailey (voc), Ellis Larkins (p, dir), Irving Randolph (tp), Henderson Chambers (tb), Hank D'Amico (cl), Barry Galbraith (g), Beverly Peer (b), Jimmy Crawford (d) |
|
|
1951.10.29 |
Billie Holiday (voc), Stan Getz (ts), Buster Harding (p), John Fields (b), Marquis Foster (d) |
|
|
1953.01.14 |
Nat Cole (voc), Billy May Orchestra |
|
|
1954.08.14 |
Dinah Washington (voc), Clifford Brown (tp), Harold Land (ts), Herb Geller (as), Richie Powell (p), Keter Betts (b), Max Roach (d) |
|
|
1959.09.13 |
Chris Connor (voc), Bill Rubenstein (p), Kenny Burrell (g), Eddie DeHaas (b), Lex Humphries (d) |
|
|
1961.05.12 |
Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Lou Levy (p), Herb Ellis (g), Wilfred Middlebrooks (b), Gus Johnson (d) |
|
|
2007.??.?? |
Cassandra Wilson (voc), Nicholas Payton (tp), Jason Moran (p), Marvin Sewell (g), Lonnie Plaxico (b), Herlin Riley (d), Lekan Babalola (per) |
On cinemas
The song 'Lover Come Back to Me' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:
|
ORIGINAL TITLE |
TITLE IN SPAIN |
YEAR OF PRODUCTION |
PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM |
|
New Moon |
Claro de luna |
1930 |
Lawrence Tibbett and Grace Moore |
|
New Moon |
Luna llena |
1940 |
Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy |
|
Deep in My Heart |
Profundamente en mi corazón |
1954 |
Tony Martin |
|
That’s Entertainment, Part II |
Hollywood, Hollywood |
1976 |
Secuence of 'New
Moon' |
|
U-571 |
U-571 |
2000 |
Background music |