Happy Days Are Here Again

For the 1936 film of the same name, see Happy Days Are Here Again (film).

"Happy Days Are Here Again" is a song copyrighted in 1929 by Milton Ager (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics) and published by EMI Robbins Catalog, Inc./Advanced Music Corp.[1] The song was recorded by Leo Reisman and His Orchestra, with Lou Levin, vocal (November 1929), and was featured in the 1930 film Chasing Rainbows.[2] The song concluded the picture, in what film historian Edwin Bradley described as a "pull-out-all-the-stops Technicolor finale, against a Great War Armistice show-within-a-show backdrop."[3] This early example of 2-strip Technicolor footage was, along with another Technicolor sequence, later cut from the 1931 re-edited release of the otherwise black-and-white film, and is believed to have been lost in the 1967 MGM Vault 7 fire.[4][5]

In popular culture

Today, the song is probably best remembered as the campaign song for Franklin Delano Roosevelt's successful 1932 presidential campaign. According to TIME magazine, it gained prominence after a spontaneous decision by Roosevelt's advisers to play it at the 1932 Democratic National Convention, and went on to become the Democratic Party's "unofficial theme song for years to come".[6] The song is also associated with the Repeal of Prohibition, which occurred shortly after Roosevelt's election where there were signs saying "Happy days are beer again" and so on.[7]

Matthew Greenwald described the song as "[a] true saloon standard, [and] a Tin Pan Alley standard, and had been sung by virtually every interpreter since the 1940s. In a way, it's the pop version of Auld Lang Syne."[8]

The song is #47 on the Recording Industry Association of America's list of "Songs of the Century".

As of 2006, 76 commercially released albums include versions of the song.[9] The song has appeared in over 80 films, including many from the 1930s.

Barbra Streisand version

"Happy Days Are Here Again"
Single by Barbra Streisand
from the album The Barbra Streisand Album
B-side When the Sun Comes Out
Released November 1962
Format Vinyl single
Recorded 1962
Genre Pop
Label Columbia
Writer(s) Milton Ager (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics)
Barbra Streisand singles chronology
"Miss Marmelstein" "Happy Days Are Here Again" / "When the Sun Comes Out" "My Coloring Book" / "Lover, Come Back To Me"
"Happy Days Are Here Again / My Coloring Book"
Single by Barbra Streisand
from the album The Barbra Streisand Album
Released March 1965
Format Vinyl single
Recorded 1962
Genre Pop
Writer(s) Milton Ager (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics)
Barbra Streisand singles chronology
"Why Did I Choose You?" "Happy Days Are Here Again" / "My Coloring Book" "My Man

One of the most influential recordings of the song was Barbra Streisand's, made 33 years after its first recording. While the song is traditionally sung at a brisk pace, her recording is notable for how slowly and expressively she sings it.

On The Garry Moore Show, Streisand sang the song during the "That Wonderful Year" skit representing 1929. She performed it ironically as a millionaire who has just lost all of her money and enters a bar, giving the bartender her expensive jewelry in exchange for drinks.

Streisand first recorded the song in October 1962 at Columbia's NYC studio, some months before her first album sessions. This version, arranged and conducted by George Williams became Streisand's first commercial single in November 1962, with "When the Sun Comes Out" as a B-side. Only 500 copies of this single were pressed for the New York market, and no copies were sent to radio stations. This 1962 version was re-released as a single in March 1965 as part of the "Hall of Fame" series with the 1962 recording of "My Coloring Book".

Streisand re-recorded the song in January 1963 for her solo album debut "The Barbra Streisand Album".

Streisand sang this song on The Judy Garland Show, in a medley with Garland's "Get Happy". This live performance was included on the 2002 Streisand compilation album "Duets".

In June 1967, Streisand performed the song for over 135,000 people at Central Park. A recording of this performance was included on the live album "A Happening in Central Park", and later appeared on the Streisand compilations "Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits" and "The Essential Barbra Streisand".

Streisand included live versions of the song on the following live albums "Live Concert at the Forum" (1972), "One Voice" (1987), "Barbra: The Concert" (1994) "Timeless: Live in Concert" (2000) and "Streisand: Live in Concert 2006" (2007).

Official Streisand versions

Other versions

References

  1. ↑ Jack Yellen’s song catalog at Songwriters Hall of Fame
  2. ↑ New York Times film review
  3. ↑ p. 213, Bradley, Edwin M. (July 1996). The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927-1932. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-89950-945-7.
  4. ↑ "Chasing Rainbows (1930) - Trivia". IMDb. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
  5. ↑ Chasing Rainbows (article about the 1930 film)
  6. ↑ Claire Suddath
  7. ↑ https://www.google.ie/search?q=happy+days+are+beer+again&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=4nCYVaKFHoro-QHbyJTgDQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoATgK#imgrc=_
  8. ↑ Greenwald, Matthew. "Happy Days Are Here Again". All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved October 26, 2006.
  9. ↑ "Song Search Results: "Happy Days Are Here Again"". All Media Guide, LLC. Archived from the original on December 25, 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2006.
  10. ↑ VW Rabbit 1975 TV commercial, YouTube
  11. ↑ Singleton, Don (1983-09-18). "Vanessa Williams is crowned the first African-American Miss America in 1983". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2015-09-14.
  12. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082461/soundtrack?ref_=tt_trv_snd
  13. ↑ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/10/glee-recap-dueting-for-breadsticks.html
  14. ↑ http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=dc3ed1be-0de5-47e6-890c-495a81f934eb

External links

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