Song of the Day: I Wish I Were In Love Again

The song of the day for Wednesday, July 16, 2014 is “I Wish I Were In Love Again.”

About This Song

Today’s song, “I Wish I Were In Love Again,” was written for the 1937 Broadway musical Babes In Arms (not to be confused with the Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland film of the same name, released in 1939; however, Rooney and Garland did sing today’s song in the 1948 film Words and Music). Significant recordings include those by Judy Garland (1946), Ella Fitzgerald (1955), and Frank Sinatra(1957). It’s one of the several songs from Babes in Arms that became standards: “My Funny Valentine,” “Where Or When,” “Johnny One Note” and “The Lady Is A Tramp” were also premiered in that musical. Wow.

About This Version

On this day in July, 1973, Tony Bennett and The Ruby Braff/George Barnes Quartet were in a recording studio in New York recording the Rodgers and Hart songs for two Improv records: Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs and Tony Bennett Sings … More Great Rodger & Hart. You can read more about this session on our sister site, The Interactive Tony Bennett Discography.

For this reason, I’m happy to present a song from that session as the song of the day, though regular readers of this blog will know that I need little excuse to play a Rodgers and Hart song sung by Tony Bennett. Not only are the songs themselves some of the best songs written for the American songbook, these particular recordings are quite extraordinary. The Ruby Braff/George Barnes Quartet consisted of a cornet (Braff), two guitars (Barnes and Wayne Wright) and bass (John Guiffrida). I’ve always found it remarkable that a group with no piano or drums could be so wonderful, but they are; every song on both of these albums is wonderful. Including this one.

http://open.spotify.com/track/4Qytn2uiRVOpuWHmmo1OMt
“I Wish I Were In Love Again,” as well as The Complete Improv Recordings, is available from iTunes.