Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Lady around 1910
Lady around 1910

  Let Me Call You Sweetheart is a longtime favorite.  Every time I go to the nursing homes to perform, the residents LOVE this song.   One time we sang this song through about a dozen times in a row.  As we sing through the song, we would dance {usually with them sitting in their chair} with the residents.

The song was originally published in 1910.  Beth Slater Whitson {1879-1930} wrote the lyrics and the music was written by Leo Friedman {1869-1927}.

The song was first recorded by The Peerless Quartet A.   Since then this has long been popular with Barbershop quartets.  The song has also been a standard within the repertoire of bands for over a century now.

A 1924 recording identifies the Spanish title as, “Déjame llamarte mía”.

Numerous performers have of diverse musical genres have recorded this beautiful love song over the last century, including Bing Crosby, Fatts Domino, Bette Midler, Neil Young, Lawrence Welk, Barry White, and Pat Boone.

Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Let Me Call You Sweetheart

               Let Me Call You Sweetheart has been used in at least six movies:  Old LaceFollow Me Boys, Thousands Cheer, Diamond Horseshoe, For the Love of Mary, and The Rose.

           Let Me Call You Sweetheart was ranked in the top 365 songs of the last 100 years.   Voters from “all walks of life” chose this song.

Let Me Call You Sweetheart became a favorite for weddings and dances in the early part of the 20th Century.  The song is often requested at Anniversary Parties today.

“In 2001 the song received the “Towering Song Award” from the Songwriters Hall of Fame Ranked #125 of the Recording Industry of America Association (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) “Greatest Songs of the 20th century.”

Most recently the song was sung in an episode of Downton Abbey.

Who would you like to sing Let Me Call You Sweetheart to?

 

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 The Untold Story: Let Me Call You Sweetheart