Doris Day passed away last month and if you’ve read my blog for a while you know I love her music. So for the next few weeks we’ll take a long at the story to some of her hits.
Sentimental Journey was written by Les Brown and Ben Homer, with Bud Green providing the lyrics.
Les Brown and his band were performing the song, but due to a musicians strike during World War II, was unable to record the song. By the time the strike ended in 1944, Doris Day was the band’s vocalist.
The group recorded the song, which became Day’s first #1 hit. The release coincided with the end of World War II and became an unofficial homecoming for many soldiers returning home at the time.
The song later became a jazz standard and was recorded by a variety of artists, including Frank Sinatra, Conway Twitty, Ella Fitzgerald, Ringo Starr, the Muppets and Rosemary Clooney.