The song of the day for Thursday, May 7, 2026, is “Revolvin’ Jones.”

About This Song

“Revolvin’ Jones” was written in 1940 by Willard Robison. Other Robison songs include “Don’t Smoke In Bed” and “A Cottage for Sale.” Alec Wilder wrote this about Willard Robison in American Popular Song:

Everybody loved him and many tried to help him, among them John Mercer. Mildred Bailey revered him and sang every song of his she could lay her hands on. I became aware of him in the late twenties when he recorded for Perfect Records. He did manage, during his almost euphoric life, to write a few successful songs … but generally his songs were known only to a few singers and lovers of the off-beat and the non-urban song. He had a special flair for gentleness and childhood, the lost and the religious. I suppose it’s not part of the growth of popular music, nor perhaps were any of Robison’s songs. But if they could so much bolster John Mercer’s conviction that there was more to write lyrics about than city life, that the world of memory, of remembered sayings and scenes, was as evocative as the whispered words of lovers, then he did make a contribution.

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “Revolvin’ Jones” on March 16 1962, for On The Glory Road, featuring an arrangement by Ralph Sharon. Just days before the album was to be released, Columbia pulled the album. The 2011 Complete Collection box set included the album, which is now available from most streaming services.

“Revolvin’ Jones,” as well as On the Glory Road, is available on Apple Music.