blue moon

[inky]

Who sang the ORIGINAL blue moon???

[kosoro]

Think it was Danny Williams?????

[littleoldme]

Bit of a convoluted history to this one. It seems the first vocal version of the finished song, written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, was recorded by Connie Boswell way back in 1934. Hart had previously written three completely different sets of lyrics to Rodgers' melody, the third of which appeared in the film Manhattan Melodrama as The Bad In Every Man, sung by Shirley Ross.

An instrumental version was also used as the theme to a radio show called Hollywood Hotel, before Connie Boswell's recording of the fourth set of lyrics finally caught the public ear.

Incidentally, Rodgers was so disgusted with The Marcels' 1961 smash hit doo-wop version of the song, that he took out newspaper ads pleading with people not to buy it!

[kosoro]

Think i got my Blue Moon and Moon River mixed up... Getting old

[Englishbird]

'Blue moon' was written for Jean Harlow for a film called Hollywood Party and at the time was titled 'prayer'.  Harlow never made the film and the song was dropped.  The second incarnation was 'Manhattan Melodrama' for a film of the same name for Shirley ross to sing Although that didn't work either and the song was replaced in the film.

The song was finally written as the blue moon that we know and was recorded by Connie Boswell of the Boswell Sisters On January 15th 1935.

It looks like it's been recorded by just about everyone since, including Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, The Marcels and Elvis to name but a few!!

[Englishbird]

oops, sorry littleoldme - didn't see that before i posted.  At least we found the same info! lol.

[littleoldme]

LOL kosoro, don't worry, it happens to the best of us :-). As for Moon River, would you believe the first person to record it was the actress Audrey Hepburn? She "sang" it (singing not being her strong point, in all fairness) in the film Breakfast At Tiffany's, for which it was written. Co-writer Henry Mancini then released an orchestral version before Danny Williams took the song to number one.

[littleoldme]

LOL Englishbird, don't worry, that happens to the best of us too :-) (just nice to get in first for a change).