At last
| At last | |
|---|---|
| George Montgomery and Ann Rutherford | |
| publication | 1941 |
| Genre (s) | Soul blues |
| Author (s) | Mack Gordon and Harry Warren |
| Award (s) | Grammy Hall of Fame 1999 |
| album | Orchestra Wives |
| Cover versions | |
| 1942 | Glenn Miller |
| 1961 | Etta James |
| 2002 | Celine Dion |
| 2008 | Beyoncé Knowles |
At Last is a pop song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren in 1941 for the musical film Orchestra Wives . The text is about the fact that everything will be fine towards the end: Then you discover your beloved, the lonely days are over and life becomes like a song. The best-known cover version comes from Etta James (1961). This version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 .
Impact history
George Montgomery and Ann Rutherford sang him in the film Orchestra Wives (1941) . The first recording took place on May 20, 1942 with Glenn Miller and his orchestra and the singers Ray Eberle and Pat Friday in Chicago ( RCA Victor Records 27934). It became a huge hit (# 9 on the Billboard Pop Charts).
The song soon became a standard: Ray Anthony recorded At Last in 1952. In 1957, Nat King Cole recorded him on his hit album Love Is the Thing . A version of the Four Freshmen followed in 1960. In 2009 it was the first dance at the inaugural balls for Barack Obama .
Etta James
Etta James' version was released by Argo in 1961 and is the third release of a single from their debut album for Chess Records At last! The recording became her second # 2 on the R&B charts and also hit the pop charts, where it climbed to number 47 on the Billboard Hot 100. The orchestra, which plays an integral part in the song, was arranged and conducted by Riley Hampton. The number became her signature song and can still be heard on the radio today.
More cover versions
This was followed by recordings by Ben E. King (1962), Brenda Lee (1963), Mary Wells (May 1964), Doris Day (1965), Baby Washington (1968), Stevie Wonder (1969), Randy Crawford (1977) , Lou Rawls and Dianne Reeves (1989), Phoebe Snow (1991), Diane Schuur and B. B. King (1994), Stevie Nicks (1999), Joni Mitchell (2000), Eva Cassidy (2000), Cyndi Lauper (2003), Jeff Lynne (2012) or Luke Evans (2019).
Celine Dion (2002) in particular was able to build on the success of earlier cover versions, reaching # 16 on the American Hot 100 . Other recordings are from Beyoncé (# 67) and Christina Aguilera . The version of Beyoncé comes from the film Cadillac Records , where it played Etta James.
The song was also interpreted more frequently in jazz: for example by Shirley Scott (1962), Ella Fitzgerald (1983), by Kenny G. featuring Arturo Sandoval (2005) and by Michael Feinstein and George Shearing (2005).
Individual evidence
- ^ "At last - my love has come along - my lonely days are over - and life is like a song." Text
- ↑ a b Song portrait (WICN) ( Memento of the original from May 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ tsort.info
- ↑ Billboard Charts
- ^ Billboard Hot 100
- ↑ Liner notes Etta James: Her Best
