"I'll Never Smile Again" is a 1939[1] song which became a 1940 Billboard chart-topper by Tommy Dorsey written by Ruth Lowe.[2] It has been recorded by many other artists since, becoming a jazz and pop standard.
| "I'll Never Smile Again" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra with Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers | |
| Published | November 27, 1939 by Sun Music Co., Inc., New York[1] |
| Released | June 7, 1940 |
| Recorded | April 23, 1940 |
| Genre | Jazz |
| Length | 3:12 |
| Label | Victor 26628 |
| Songwriter(s) | Ruth Lowe |
| "I'll Never Smile Again" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Platters | ||||
| from the album Remember When? | ||||
| B-side | "You Don't Say" | |||
| Published | Sun Music, Inc. | |||
| Released | July 7, 1961 | |||
| Recorded | 1961 | |||
| Genre | R&B | |||
| Length | 2:53 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Ruth Lowe | |||
| The Platters singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The most successful and best-known million selling single version of the song was recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, with vocals provided by Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers.[3] Tommy Dorsey has a solo on trombone during the break and as a coda near the end of the song. This recording was released as a Victor 78, 26628A, in 1940. This version was number one on Billboard's first "National List of Best Selling Retail Records"—the first official national music chart—on July 27, 1940, staying at the top spot for 12 weeks until October 12, 1940.[4] The tune was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982.[5] Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra performed the song in the 1941 Paramount Pictures musical Las Vegas Nights. The Dorsey and Sinatra recording was also released as a V-disc in February, 1946 by the U.S. War Department for the armed forces.
Ruth Lowe personally presented the song to Tommy Dorsey.[6][7] Percy Faith performed it first live on radio broadcasts on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Glenn Miller made the first recording and was the first to release it. The composition had its copyright renewed in 1966, and it will enter the American public domain on January 1, 2035.[8]
Versions
editThis section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2020) |
- Glenn Miller was the first to record and release the song on RCA Bluebird Records with Ray Eberle on vocals. He recorded the song on February 19, 1940 and released it on April 12.[9]
- The Ink Spots recorded the song in August 1940,[10] which was just a few months after the first release of the song.
- In 1940, the song was also recorded by Tony Martin. Elton Britt, Ginny Simms, and Oscar Rabin
- The song appears on the 1954 Dave Brubeck Quartet live album Jazz at the College of the Pacific.
- Billie Holiday recorded the song in 1959, the last year of her life, on the posthumous album Last Recording.
- The Platters brought the song back to the top 40 in 1961, where their version went to #25 on the Hot 100 and #17 on the Hot R&B Sides chart.[11]
- Al Hirt released a version in 1962 on his Trumpet and Strings[12]
- Bill Evans on the 1963 Interplay[13]
- Frank Sinatra included it on his 1959 No One Cares album. He also re-recorded the song in 1965 for the double album A Man and His Music, complete with faithful reproduction of the celeste and choral accompaniment which characterized the 1940 recording that was arranged by Fred Stulce.[14]
- The song was also covered by popular Australian rock group Daddy Cool—they scored an Australian Top 20 hit with their version, which was released as a single in July 1972, shortly before the group broke up; they also performed it at their farewell concert in Melbourne, Australia in August 1972, which was recorded and subsequently released as a double-album in 1973.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1940). Catalog of Copyright Entries 1940 Musical Compositions New Series Vol 35 Pt 3 For the Year 1940. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
- ^ According to Peter Levinson in the Tommy Dorsey biography, Livin In A Great Big Way, "I'll Never Smile Again" was recorded May 23, 1940.
- ^ "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #2". 1972.
- ^ Hoffmann, Frank (May 23, 2016). Chronology of American Popular Music, 1900-2000. London; New York: Routledge. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-415-97715-9. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "GRAMMY Hall Of Fame". Grammy.org. The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ Jennings, Peter. Until I Smile At You: How one girl's heartbreak electrified Frank Sinatra's fame! Victoria, BC, Canada: Castle Carrington, 2020
- ^ Jennings, Peter. Ruth's Wonderful Song. Victoria, BC, Canada: Castle Carrington, 2021.
- ^ "Catalog of Copyright Entires Music 1966". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
- ^ "I'll Never Smile Again", Second Hand Songs. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ "Cover versions of I'll Never Smile Again by Ink Spots | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 463.
- ^ Al Hirt, Trumpet and Strings Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ Bill Evans, Interplay. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
- ^ Freedland, Michael (1998). All the Way: A Biography of Frank Sinatra. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-19108-5.
Sources
edit- Peter Jennings, Until I Smile At You: How one girl's heartbreak electrified Frank Sinatra's fame! (Victoria, BC, Canada: Castle Carrington, 2020).
- Peter J. Levinson, Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a Great Big Way: a Biography (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2005). ISBN 978-0-306-81111-1
- Robert L. Stockdale, Tommy Dorsey: On The Side (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, 1995). ISBN 978-0-8108-2951-0