My Blue Heaven (song)
My Blue Heaven is the title of a pop song written by George A. Whiting (lyrics) and Walter Donaldson (music) in 1924 . Paul Whiteman had a number one hit with the piece. The version by Gene Austin also became a pop hit and became a multi-million seller. The song is one of the few pieces that were made number one on the charts by two different interpreters.
History of origin
My Blue Heaven was composed by George Whithing (text) and Walter Donaldson (music) as the only collaboration between the two professional authors as early as 1924, three years before its publication. Walter Donaldson wrote it one afternoon at the Friars Club in New York while he was waiting to be played billiards. Whiting interpreted the song in his vaudeville acts. In 1927 radio singer Tommy Lyman became interested in the piece and adopted it as his signature tune.
Features of the song
In Alec Wilder's opinion, there is nothing musically remarkable about the song. The song is in the standard AABA song form . The text deals with the theme of home and family and ends in each stanza on My Blue Heaven.
First recordings
Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra recorded My Blue Heaven on July 6, 1927 in New York as the first interpreter. The piece, published in October 1927 on Victor Records (# 20828), reached number one on the US pop hit parade for a week. This was nothing special for Whiteman's star orchestra, as the band had already recorded 19 top hits. The next version was already recorded on September 9, 1927 by Don Voorhees & Orchestra, which after its release in December 1927 only managed a ninth place.
Million seller
Only a few days later, on September 14, 1927, Gene Austin entered a recording studio in New York to record the pop song in a new version. By today's standards, it still belongs to the “ crooning ” genre . With the B-side Are You Thinking of Me Tonight recorded two days later , the piece was again released by Victor (catalog # 20964) on December 17, 1927 and stayed at number one on the charts for 13 weeks. Austin already had 5 top hits in his repertoire, and Variety magazine was optimistic: “The biggest record seller right now is Gene Austin, whose Forgive Me has already sold over 500,000 records. My Blue Heaven will exceed that ”. In fact, this hit sold 5 million copies, the best of all hits in his repertoire and for a long time in the music industry in general. According to Austin, the song has sold 8 million over the counter. Gene Austin's version remained the top-selling song for 15 years until it was replaced by Chattanooga Choo Choo in 1942 . RCA Victor has sold more than 86 million records of Austin's songs.
Cover versions
Numerous cover versions made My Blue Heaven a jazz standard ; ASCAP registered over 60 versions of My Blue Heaven , Walter Donaldson had a total of 271 and George Whiting 61 compositions protected by copyright. The jazz version of the Jimmy Lunceford Orchestra, recorded on December 23, 1935 and arranged by Sy Oliver, should be selected from the wide range of cover versions . The single with the B-side Stomp It Off , which appeared on Decca # 712 in April 1936, did not appear in the hit parade, but it can be classified as a remarkable swing version of the Millionseller. With the vocal trio of Oliver, Willie Smith and guitarist Al Norris (who plays the violin here) and Willie Smith's counter melody on the baritone saxophone, Lunceford delivers a classic big band performance. Also worth mentioning is Fats Domino's version, which recorded My Blue Heaven on December 23, 1955 in Cosimo Matassa's J&M studio in New Orleans as the B-side of I'm in Love Again . After its release in March 1956 (Imperial # 5386), the B-side reached fifth place on the R&B charts and 19th place on the pop charts. Produced by Dave Bartholomew , the song was recorded in the typical boogie piano style of Fats Dominos.
Other jazz versions have been recorded by Benny Carter , Cozy Cole's Big Seven , Coleman Hawkins , Ernst Höllerhagen , Helen Humes , the Glenn Miller Orchestra , Lena Horne , Joe Newman , Red Norvo , Oscar Peterson , Artie Shaw , Stuff Smith and Art Tatum .
Individual evidence
- ↑ David A. Jasen, Tin Pan Alley , 2003, p. 115
- ^ Arnold Shaw, The Jazz Age , 1989, p. 196 f.
- ^ H. Allen Smith, A Short History of Fingers and Other State Papers , 1963, p. 114
- ^ Allen Forte, The American Popular Ballad of the Golden Era, 1924-1950 , p. 238
- ↑ The Golden Age of Tin Pan Alley Song (PDF; 78 kB)
- ↑ Variety Magazine , February 22, 1928
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 22.
- ↑ Los Angeles Times , March 8, 1959, Part V; however, most sources have fixed themselves at 5 million.
- ^ Peter Townsend Pearl Harbor Jazz: Changes in Popular Music in the Early 1940s 2006, p. 47
- ↑ ASCAP entry for My Blue Heaven
- ↑ Eddy Determeier, Rhythm Is Our Business , 2006, p. 95