Berlin–Blue Skies, Ben Selvin

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In A Walkthrough Shows, Songs and More
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This is Thursday, and normally we would be working our way forward to the next big show after Hit the Deck. However, I messed up. I forgot to check my Irving Berlin file. Ok. Embarrassing as it is, I need to take a step back into 1926 before I can continue forward in 1927.

On December 27, 1926, the 50th show on Broadway was a successful Rodgers and Hart musical, called Peggy Ann; it ran for 333 performances and had one lovely tune, “Where’s That Rainbow?” The next night a less successful Rodgers and Hart show opened on Broadway that closed after only 39 performances. It was titled, Betsy, and had no memorable Rodgers and Hart tunes. In fact, it had a number of songs that were not written by Rodgers and Hart. One the songs added was written by Irving Berlin; the name of the song was “Blue Skies.”

Wikipedia explained the situation:

“The song was composed in 1926 as a last-minute addition to the Rodgers and Hart musical Betsy. Although the show ran for 39 performances only, “Blue Skies” was an instant success, with audiences on opening night demanding 24 encores of the piece from star Belle Baker. During the final repetition, Ms. Baker forgot her lyrics, prompting Berlin to sing them from his seat in the front row.”

Two recordings were made in 1927; one was by Ben Selvin and it charted number 1; the other was by George Olsen and it charted number 2. In addition, it was included by Al Jolson in the first major talking movie in 1927, The Jazz Singer.

In 1946, It was included in the movie, Blue Skies, with a slow, romantic rendition by Bing Crosby. However, in the same year Count Basie and Benny Goodman recorded it, reaching numbers 8 and 9 on the charts, respectively. It has been recorded by almost every major singer, including Willie Nelson in 1978.

We are going to provide four versions for you, although almost all of the version are good. We want you to hear the two 1927 recordings, then the Ella Fitzgerald interpretation and finally the Willie Nelson recording in 1978. Each one brings something that is slightly different and rewarding.

We will take them in order, so here is Ben Selvin’s recording.