The song of the day for Sunday, January 12, 2014 is “As Time Goes By.”

About This Song

“As Time Goes By” was written for the 1931 Broadway musical Everybody’s Welcome by Herman Hupfeld. It was a modest hit, with recordings by Rudy Vallee and Binnie Hale. All that changed in 1942, when it was sung by Dooley Wilson in the film Casablanca. Not only was “As Time Goes By” sung; it was a major point plot, as Rick (Humphrey Bogart) had told his pianist Sam (Dooley Wilson) to never ever play that song. Until Rick’s long-lost love, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) comes to Casablanca and Rick’s American Bar and asks Sam to play the song. The song provides one of the most misquoted lines in all of film. Bogart never says “play it again, Sam.” He says “if she can stand it, so can I. Play it Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’” The American Film Institute named “As Time Goes By” the second most important song in film, second only to “Over The Rainbow.”

About This Version

Tony Bennett recorded “As Time Goes By” from his 1975 album Life Is Beautiful. Note that Tony Bennett sings the verse for this song, which has seldom been heard, especially since the release of the film Casablanca. The lovely arrangement is by Torrie Zito and Bennett accompanied by the Torrie Zito Trio, with Zito on piano, John Guiffrida on bass and Chuck Hughes on drums. The songs from this album, as well as Bennett’s two Rodgers and Hart albums, the two albums with Bill Evans (including many alternate takes) and a live performance with Jimmy and Marian McPartland are collected in The Complete Improv Recordings.

http://open.spotify.com/track/7J8cyzumDB2CJpfAFsO1hp
“As Time Goes By,” as well as The Complete Improv Recordings,” is available from iTunes.