The song of the day for Saturday, March 9, 2013 is Sweet Lorraine.

About This Song

Written in 1928 by Cliff Burwell and Mitchell Parish, Sweet Lorraine has been a popular and jazz standard since that time. Rudy Vallee recorded it in 1928. The Nat King Cole recording from 1940 may be best known, but it has also been recorded by Teddy Wilson, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Art Tatum and many other great singers and instrumentalists.

About This Version

Today’s version is from Tony Bennett’s 1965 album If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set. This is one of the first Tony Bennett albums I experienced. I was in junior high school and remember going shopping with my Mother when she bought this album. We listened to it after dinner and agreed it was a great album. My Dad and I liked the new Brazilian sound best; Mom liked the ballads. I remember thinking that I’d never seen a cooler album design than this. The photograph of Rio de Janeiro was – and still is – breathtaking, especially for a kid from Birmingham, Alabama who had never been out of the South in her life.

This recording of Sweet Lorraine features Bobby Hackett – not on the cornet but the ukulele – and Joe Marsala on clarinet and the great Ralph Sharon Trio with Sharon, Hal Gaylord on bass and Billy Exiner on drums.

http://open.spotify.com/track/50XojfSBJJQ75bAFowNyGZ
Sweet Lorraine, as well as the full If I Ruled The World: Songs For The Jet Set, is available from iTunes.