Composed by Irving Berlin for Florenz Ziegfeld’s brief 1926 musical Betsy“Blue Skies” was a last-minute addition to the program after its star, Belle Baker, contacted Berlin grumbling the Rodgers and Hart rating didn’t have a “Belle Baker” tune. At that point, Berlin was a recognized huge pet dog on the scene and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart were the brand-new whiz kids in the area, currently being compared to Gilbert and Sullivan– a fragile scenario with a lot of big and delicate egos on the line.
Ziegfeld purchased the tune from Berlin and placed it into the program without a word to Rodgers and Hart, who heard it for the very first time on opening night. And Ziegfeld just twisted the knife even more by having the spotlight switched on Berlin in the front row as Baker repeated the tune for numerous repetitions. It was a harsh night for the young group, however the attention that the tune got could not be rejected.
For all its behind-the-scenes machination, Betsy was something of a flop, closing after simply a month. “Blue Skies” beat and outlasted the program. Al Jolson’s efficiency in Allure Singer (1927) made it among the very first tunes included in a talkie. Bing Crosby similarly sang it in the 1946 movie Blue Skiesbased upon a story developed by Berlin; Crosby repeated the tune with Danny Kaye in the 1954 vacation traditional White Christmas“Blue Skies” has actually because been covered in lots of popular designs from ragtime piano to huge band jazz, and Willie Nelson struck primary on the nation chart with the tune.
Among the most fascinating aspects of “Blue Skies,” set up here in the guitar-friendly secret of C significant, is the smart method Berlin provides his warm lyric