The song of the day for Wednesday, December 4, 2013 is “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm.”

About This Song

Today’s song is by the great composer Irving Berlin. It was written in 1937 for the movie On the Avenue, which starred Dick Powell and Alice Faye.

This song a classic Christmas favorite, with recordings by Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald (with and without Louis Armstrong), Frank Sinatra and Kay Starr, among many others.

I chose this song today as it seems that a great part of the U.S. is having very cold weather. Even here in usually mild Portland, Oregon, we’re going to be seeing temperatures in the teens and possibly even the single digits before it’s all over. So, bundle up everyone!

It also gives us a chance to remind our readers that The Twelve Days of a Tony Bennett Christmas will be starting on December 14. In the meantime, get your love to keep you warm or, lacking that, bring out the down jackets and gloves and remember to keep your head warm too.

About This Version

“I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” is from Bennett’s 2008 Christmas album A Swingin’ Christmas Featuring the Count Basie Big Band. I like the cover of the album, which does a very sweet nod to Norman Rockwell’s 1942 painting “Freedom From Want.” Rockwell created a series of four lithographs to help promote the sales of war bonds.

I also love hearing Antonia sing with her Dad; I always enjoy hearing them sing together at their concerts.

http://open.spotify.com/track/0oBudl7P9fqep8ghZpA6wH
“I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm,” as well as the album A Swingin’ Christmas, is available from iTunes and Amazon.