In honor of the Fourth of July, I thought we’d look at a popular Patriotic song, This Land is Your Land. The American folk song was written in 1940 by Woody Guthrie. During this time he hitchhiked from Los Angeles to New York City and continuously heard God Bless America played on the radio and Read More
Song Story: Pennies from Heaven
Pennies from Heaven is one of my personal favorites and I recently heard Regis Philbin singing the song and thought this would be a great song to explore. Pennies from Heaven was written by Johnny Burke {lyrics} and Arthur Johnson {music}. The song was first introduced in the 1936 film Pennies from Heaven, which introduced Read More
Song Story: Swinging on a Star
Swinging on a Star was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film, Going My Way. The pop standard was composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song is said to be inspired by a conversation Bing Crosby had with his children one evening while Jimmy Van Heusen was a guest. Read More
Song Story: Dance by the Light of the Moon
Dance by the Light of the Moon was written and performed by the American doo-wop group, The Olympics. The group released the song in 1960 and it topped the charts at #47. This doesn’t seem to be as well a known song as Fly Me to the Moon, Moon River, Blue Moon, Moonlight Bay, By Read More
Song Story: Blue Moon
Blue Moon was written by the popular songwriting duo Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934. The duo was contracted in May 1933 by MGM to write songs for an upcoming movie called Hollywood Party. Richard Rodgers later recalled, “One of our ideas was to include a scene in which Jean Harlow is shown as Read More
Song Story: Moonlight Becomes You
Moonlight Becomes You was composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and the lyrics were written by Johnny Burke. The song was originally written for the Bing Crosby and Bob Hope movie Road to Morocco in 1942. In the film, Crosby serenades the princess underneath the palace balcony. The song is reprised throughout the film to provide Read More
Song Story: Fly Me to the Moon
Close your eyes and it’s not hard to hear Frank Sinatra singing, Fly Me to the Moon. Fly Me to the Moon was originally titled In Other Words. The song was written by Bart Howard in 1954. Later that year, Kaye Ballard made the first recording of the song. Howard, who had been pursuing music Read More
Song Story: Au Clair de Lune
The title means “By the Light of the Moon”. The song was written by French composer Claude Debussy. The songs originate from his Suite bergamasque piano suites written around 1890. They were not published until around 1905. Today, Claire de Lune is the most popular of these piano suites. Another title is Au Claire de Lune, Read More
Song Story: Mr. Moonlight
Mr. Moonlight is a song recorded by the Beatles. This is not one of their better received songs. The original version was released by a Blues group called Dr. Feelgood and The Interns in 1962. The song was written by Roy Lee Johnson, a guitarist with The Interns.
Song Story: Moonlight in Vermont
Moonlight in Vermont is a popular song about the state of Vermont. The song was published in 1944 by John Blackburn {wrote lyrics} and Karl Suessdorf {wrote music}. Margaret Whiting introduced the song in 1944. John Blackburn, the lyricist, has been quoted as saying, “After completing the first 12 bars of the lyric, I realized Read More