BLUE SKIES ... NOTHING BUT BLUE SKIES

By Debbie Bulloch



Recently, the weather in Ventura County (and most of coastal Southern California) has been very un-summer like. Overcast days, fog, and cold temperatures seem to be the norm - and when good old Sol makes an appearance, it is usually for a brief moment in the late afternoon. The weather has turned Southern Californians, who are usued to eternal sunshine, a tad grumpy.

I too am yearning for days of sunshine and blues skies - nothing but blue skies. My wish for sunshine got me thinking about Irving Berlins famous tune, "Blues Skies."

Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was an American composer and lyricist widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in history.

His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band," became world famous. The song sparked an international dance craze in places as far away as Russia, which also "flung itself into the ragtime beat with an abandon bordering on mania." Over the years, he was known for writing music and lyrics in the American vernacular: uncomplicated, simple and direct, with his aim being to "reach the heart of the average American" whom he saw as the "real soul of the country."

He wrote hundreds of songs, many becoming major hits, which made him a legend before he turned thirty. During his 60-year career, he wrote an estimated 1,500 songs, including the scores for 19 Broadway shows and 18 Hollywood films, with his songs nominated eight times for Academy Awards. Many songs became popular themes and anthems, including "Easter Parade", "White Christmas", "Happy Holiday", "This is the Army, Mr. Jones", and "There's No Business Like Show Business.”

Berlin’s Broadway musical and 1942 film, “This is the Army,” with Ronald Reagan, had Kate Smith singing Berlin's "God Bless America" which was first performed in 1938. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Celine Dion recorded it as a tribute, making it #1 on the charts.

Berlin's songs have reached the top of the charts 25 times and have been re-recorded countless times by singers including Ethel Merman, Frank Sinatra, Ethel Waters, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, Rosemary Clooney, Diana Ross, Bing Crosby, Rita Reys, Frankie Laine, Johnnie Ray, Al Jolson, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. Composer Douglas Moore sets Berlin apart from all other contemporary songwriters, and includes him instead with Stephen Foster, Walt Whitman, and Carl Sandburg, as a "great American minstrel" – someone who has "caught and immortalized in his songs what we say, what we think about, and what we believe." Composer George Gershwin called him "the greatest songwriter that has ever lived," and composer Jerome Kern concluded that "Irving Berlin has no place in American music - he is American music."

“Blue Skies” was composed by Irving Berlin in 1926 as a last minute addition to the Rodgers and Hart musical, Betsy. Although the show only ran for 39 performances, "Blue Skies" was an instant success, with audiences on opening night demanding 24 encores of the piece from star, Belle Baker. During the final repetition, Ms. Baker forgot her lyrics, prompting Berlin to sing them from his seat in the front row.

In 1927, the music was published and Ben Selvin's recorded version was a #1 hit. That same year, it became one of the first songs to be featured in a talkie, when Al Jolson performed it in The Jazz Singer. 1946 was also a notable year for the song, with a Bing Crosby/Fred Astaire film taking its title, and two recorded versions by Count Basie and Benny Goodman reaching #8 and #9 on the pop charts, respectively. Proving its enduring popularity, Willie Nelson's recording of "Blue Skies" was a #1 country music hit in 1978.

"Blue Skies" is one of many popular songs whose lyrics use a "Bluebird of happiness" as a symbol of cheer: "Bluebirds singing a song -- Nothing but bluebirds all day long."

Here then, are three different versions of this beloved American classic. Enjoy!

WILLIE NELSON – Blues Skies



ELLA FITZGERALD – Blue Skies



BING CROSBY – Blue Skies