The song of the day for Tuesday, March 11, 2025, is “Sweet Lorraine.”
About This Song
“Sweet Lorraine” was written by Cliff Burwell and Mitchell Parish in 1928. It was originally a vaudeville song; the Rudy Vallee recording made the song quite popular and a nice, up-tempo jazz number. Nat “King” Cole had a major hit with this song in 1940.
About This Version
Tony Bennett recorded “Sweet Lorraine” on March 11, 1965, for If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set. Trumpet player Bobby Hackett played ukulele and Joe Marsala played clarinet.
Bennett told this story in his autobiography, The Good Life:
That album [If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set] also included a song that’s always been very special to me: “Sweet Lorraine.” I dedicated it to Nat Cole, who had died a month earlier in April 1965. I was heartbroken when I heard that Nat had passed away. Bobby Hackett and I were working at the Palmer House in Chicago, and it seemed appropriate to pay tribute by recording Nat’s signature tune while we were in his hometown. Bobby, whose instrument was normally cornet, surprised us all by playing ukulele on this record; his buddy Joe Marsala played clarinet.
“Sweet Lorraine,” as well as If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set, is available on Apple Music.
Here is Nat Cole’s 1940 recording of “Sweet Lorraine.”
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