Blue Skies Smilin' at Me...
A couple of times lately, I've had to sit up and pay attention to a TV commercial! A rare thing, believe me. Anyhow, the TV is on and I am reading, when all of a sudden I hear the strains of a familiar song. Just a few lines, of course; but enough to remind me of something to write about.
Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Bluebirds singin' a song
Nothin' but bluebirds all day long...
That was my brother, Freddie's, favorite song in the late 1940's. The only reason I even know that is because Blue Skies is the first record he brought home from his part time job at Thalhimer's or Miller & Rhoads. In fact, that part time job made it possible for my family to get our first and only radio-phonograph console. I think Freddie worked there to make some extra money around Christmas time in 1946 or 1947. Don't remember for sure anymore.
Anyway, Freddie was entitled to an employee's discount and so he bought that radio-phonograph and the record to play on it. That console replaced the old shortwave radio that had been standing in the corner of the living room next to the sofa in our old Arnold Avenue home for as long as I could remember. Blue Skies didn't get just an occasional play. No way! Freddie played it over and over again! By the time he finished, I knew the words by heart and I also got mighty tired of it!
I'm not sure which version it was; could have been by Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra; or maybe, even Benny Goodman. It was a 78 rpm recording and had been recorded by all three artists in 1946 or thereabouts. Who knows what was on the flipside. It probably never got played.
Anyway, it has been nice to hear that old sweet song again. By the way, don't ask me which TV commercial it was showcasing. I was too busy remembering the song lyrics to pay attention to that. :)
Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Bluebirds singin' a song
Nothin' but bluebirds all day long...
That was my brother, Freddie's, favorite song in the late 1940's. The only reason I even know that is because Blue Skies is the first record he brought home from his part time job at Thalhimer's or Miller & Rhoads. In fact, that part time job made it possible for my family to get our first and only radio-phonograph console. I think Freddie worked there to make some extra money around Christmas time in 1946 or 1947. Don't remember for sure anymore.
Anyway, Freddie was entitled to an employee's discount and so he bought that radio-phonograph and the record to play on it. That console replaced the old shortwave radio that had been standing in the corner of the living room next to the sofa in our old Arnold Avenue home for as long as I could remember. Blue Skies didn't get just an occasional play. No way! Freddie played it over and over again! By the time he finished, I knew the words by heart and I also got mighty tired of it!
I'm not sure which version it was; could have been by Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra; or maybe, even Benny Goodman. It was a 78 rpm recording and had been recorded by all three artists in 1946 or thereabouts. Who knows what was on the flipside. It probably never got played.
Anyway, it has been nice to hear that old sweet song again. By the way, don't ask me which TV commercial it was showcasing. I was too busy remembering the song lyrics to pay attention to that. :)
posted by mary ann at 9:09 PM
2 Comments:
"Blue Skies"
Year Artist Chart Position
1941 Johnny Long #22
1946 Count Basie #8
1946 Benny Goodman #9
Also 6 versions from 1927, including a #1 hit by Ben Selvin.
Yes, I knew it was originally from the 1920's, but the song became the hit song of a 1946 movie of the same name starring Bing Crosby. Sinatra, Goodman and Basie jumped on the bandwagon with their own versions. I still don't recall which version Freddie had.
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