The song of the day for Monday, June 1, 2020, is “Fly Me To The Moon.”
About Today
Today we are celebrating the composer of today’s song, Bart Howard, who was born on June 1, 1915, in Burlington, Iowa. He began his career as an accompanist at the age of 16 and played for Mabel Mercer, Johnny Mathis, and Eartha Kitt, among others. He is best known for “Fly Me To The Moon” and used to say that he lived off this song. As well he should; it’s a wonderful song.
About This Song
Bart Howard wrote “Fly Me To The Moon” in 1954. It was originally titled “In Other Words,” but the song was not doing that well, in spite of several recordings. In 1962, Howard renamed the song to “Fly Me To The Moon,” and the song began to catch on. Tony Bennett’s 1965 recording for If I Ruled The World was a big hit for Bennett. There have been many recordings of the song, including those by Frank Sinatra, Kaye Ballard, and many more. Bart Howard told Bennett that his 1965 recording was “the definitive performance of this song.”
About This Version
Tony Bennett recorded “Fly Me To The Moon” in 1965 for his album If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set. Don Costa wrote the very good arrangement. Featured are The Will Bronson Chorus and Al Cohn on tenor saxophone.
“Fly Me To The Moon,” as well as If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set, is available from iTunes.
Please feel free to leave a comment