The song of the day for Friday, July 19, 2019, is “Sweet Lorraine.”

About This Song

“Sweet Lorraine” was written in 1928 by Cliff Burwell and Mitchell Parish. It was originally a vaudeville song; the Rudy Valle recording made the song quite popular as 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” in 1965; it was released on his album If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set. Bennett tells 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

Sweet Lorraine, a song by Tony Bennett on Spotify

“Sweet Lorraine,” as well as If I Ruled the World: Songs for the Jet Set, is available from iTunes.