Swinging on a Star

"Swinging On a Star"
Single by Bing Crosby
from the album Selections from Going My Way
Released 1944
Format 7-inch, 10-inch
Recorded 1944
Genre Traditional pop
Writer(s) Jimmy Van Heusen
Johnny Burke

"Swinging on a Star" is an American pop standard with music composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke.[1] It was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1944 film Going My Way, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song that year,[1][2] and has been recorded by numerous artists since then. In 2004 it finished at #37 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

Origins

Song writer Jimmy Van Heusen was at Crosby’s house one evening for dinner, and to discuss a song for the movie Going My Way. During the meal one of the children began complaining about how he didn’t want to go to school the next day. The singer turned to his son and said to him, “If you don’t go to school, you might grow up to be a mule. Do you wanna do that?”

Van Heusen thought this clever rebuke would make a good song for the movie.[2] He pictured Crosby, who played a priest, talking to a group of children acting much the same way as his own child had acted that night. Van Heusen took the idea to his partner lyricist Johnny Burke, who approved. They wrote the song.[3]

Recordings

The first recording of "Swinging on a Star", with Bing Crosby, took place in Los Angeles on February 7, 1944, and was released as Decca Records on Disc No. 18597 paired with "Going My Way". The Williams Brothers quartet, including a young Andy Williams, sang backup vocals behind Crosby.[3]

Some additional recordings:

1956: Oscar Peterson on his album At the Stratford Shakespearean Festival
1959: Shari Lewis and her puppets on her album Hi Kids
1960: Mark Murphy on his album Hip Parade
1963: Big Dee Irwin and Little Eva[1] (reached Number 7 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1964)
1964: Burl Ives on his album Chim Chim Cheree and Other Children's Choices
1964: Frank Sinatra on his album Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners
1964: Richard Anthony "À toi de choisir" (french cover)
1968: Dave Van Ronk on his album Dave Van Ronk and the Hudson Dusters
1974: Lena Zavaroni on her album Ma! (He's Making Eyes At Me)
1975: Maureen McGovern on her album Academy Award Performance: And the Envelope, Please
1978: Rosemary Clooney on her Bing Crosby tribute album Rosie Sings Bing
1980: Joanie Bartels on her album Sillytime Magic
1981: Franciscus Henri on his children's album Sunshine Rainbows and Violins
1992: Michael Feinstein on his album Pure Imagination
1993: Dave McKenna on his album Handful of Stars
1996: Maria Muldaur on the album A Child's Celebration Of Folk Music
1998: Tony Bennett on his album Tony Bennett: The Playground
1999: Ruby Braff on his album In The Wee, Small Hours
2000: Adam Bomb on his album Get Animal 1
2002: Susan Johnson on her album Previously Unreleased Live Performances
2008: Clare Teal as a B-side on the Children in Need album BandAGEd: Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth
2012: Andy Wright as a first single cover release.[4]

In TV and film

1947: The song was featured in the Little Lulu cartoon, Bout with a Trout. The cartoon's voice actors sang the song while Bing Crosby recorded bits of it with Bob Hope and Jerry Colonna
1963: sung by the Muppet Rowlf the Dog (voiced by Jim Henson) and Jimmy Dean on the Jimmy Dean Show
1967: Pinky and Perky did a version of the song on their Summer Holiday EP
1969: Jane Norman sang the song on her children's TV show Pixanne while sitting on a "swinging" star[5]
1969: Susan (Loretta Long) and some Muppets sang the song on Sesame Street, episode 10
1974: sung by Lena Zavaroni on Junior Showtime on Yorkshire Television[6]
1975: sung by Julie Andrews on her TV special Julie Andrews: My Favorite Things
1987: a new adaptation based particular on the 1963 Big Dee Irvin & Little Eva version was used as the theme song to the American television series Out of this World
1991: Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello sing it in the film Hudson Hawk
1994: sung again by Joanie Bartels on her video, The Extra-Special Substitute Teacher

Parodies

The song was parodied in a The Far Side cartoon, which depicted a man-turned-pig saying to his wife, "Hey! So I made the wrong decision! [referring to the part of the song which says "Or would you rather be a pig"]... But you know, I really wasn't sure I wanted to swing on a star, carry moonbeams home in a jar!"

In 1969, Ray Stevens sang "Gitarzan", which featured the wrong notes from "Swinging on a Star": "Carrying Moonbeams Home in a Jar."

During his 2009 Tour of Refusal, Morrissey occasionally sang the chorus over the chorus of his 2004 hit "First of the Gang to Die".

A Prairie Home Companion guitarist Pat Donohue wrote "Would You Like to Play Guitar," which wittily advises aspiring musicians against the practical perils of a full-time music career.

The song was the title song for the television sitcom, "Out Of This World," about a teenage girl born of an alien father and earth mother. It's sung first as originally written and then again with lyrics changed to fit the content of the series.[7]

Awards and honors

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 134. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. 1 2 Gilliland, John (1994). Pop Chronicles the 40s: The Lively Story of Pop Music in the 40s (audiobook). ISBN 978-1-55935-147-8. OCLC 31611854. Tape 2, side A.
  3. 1 2 A Bing Crosby Discography, Part 1b: Commercial Recordings - The Decca Years
  4. ↑ "Andy Wright - Swinging on a Star". YouTube.
  5. ↑ Video on YouTube
  6. ↑ Junior Showtime at British Film Institute
  7. ↑ Me. (John Boni) I created the show.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 19, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.