It Might as Well Be Spring
Encyclopedia
"It Might as Well Be Spring" is a song from the 1945 film
, State Fair
. With music by Richard Rodgers
and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
, it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song
that year. State Fair was the only original film score by Rodgers and Hammerstein. In the film the song was sung by Jeanne Crain
, who played Margy Frake, but was dubbed by Louanne Hogan. Dick Haymes
, the original Wayne Frake, made the first hit recording of the song, followed by another hit recording by Frank Sinatra
on his 1961 album Sinatra & Strings. The recording by Dick Haymes
was released by Decca Records
as catalog number
18706. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on November 8, 1945 and lasted 12 weeks on the chart, peaking at #5. It was the flip side of "That's for Me
," another top-10 best seller.
Other contemporary recordings were made by the Sammy Kaye
orchestra and the Paul Weston
orchestra (with vocals by Margaret Whiting
) and Shirley Bassey
in 1962. Ella Fitzgerald
recorded this on her live 1961 Verve
release Ella in Hollywood
.
The recording by Sammy Kaye
was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-1738. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on December 20, 1945 and lasted 4 weeks on the chart, peaking at #8.
The recording by Paul Weston
/Margaret Whiting
was released by Capitol Records
as catalog number 214. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on November 22, 1945 and lasted 6 weeks on the chart, peaking at #6.
The recording by Paul Fenoulhet with The Skyrockets Dance Orchestra with refrain song was made in London on February 2, 1946. It was released by EMI
on the HMV Records label as catalogue number BD 5928.
Singer and pianist Nina Simone
sang "It Might As Well Be Spring" on her first album for Colpix Records
, titled The Amazing Nina Simone
(1959). It was featured by Blossom Dearie
(in French) on her Blossom Dearie
album.
The version by Ray Conniff
and his Orchestra & Chorus can be found on his album, Hollywood In Rhythm (1958).
Contemporaty jazz singer Jane Monheit
performs the song as an up-tempo swing waltz on Live at the Rainbow Room (2003).
Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau
plays this with his trio in his 1995 studio album Introducing Brad Mehldau. His version runs at about 280 beats per minute in a 7-in-a-bar meter. On the 2000 live double CD Progression, The Art of the Trio Volume 5, Mehldau performs a shorter version it the same tempo and meter, without improvised solos but with an extended improvised coda on the turnaround.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, State Fair
State Fair (1945 film)
State Fair is a 1945 film directed by Walter Lang. The film a musical adaptation of the 1933 film of the same name, with original music by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The film starred Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Fay Bainter and Charles Winninger...
. With music by Richard Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
, it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
that year. State Fair was the only original film score by Rodgers and Hammerstein. In the film the song was sung by Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress.-Early life:Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's...
, who played Margy Frake, but was dubbed by Louanne Hogan. Dick Haymes
Dick Haymes
Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
, the original Wayne Frake, made the first hit recording of the song, followed by another hit recording by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
on his 1961 album Sinatra & Strings. The recording by Dick Haymes
Dick Haymes
Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
was released by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
as catalog number
Catalog numbering systems for single records
This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...
18706. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on November 8, 1945 and lasted 12 weeks on the chart, peaking at #5. It was the flip side of "That's for Me
That's for Me
The music was written by Richard Rodgers, the lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The song was published in 1945. It was included in the 1945 version of the musical film State Fair.Recordings were made by Jo Stafford and Dick Haymes....
," another top-10 best seller.
Other contemporary recordings were made by the Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye , born Samuel Zarnocay, Jr., was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era.-Biography:...
orchestra and the Paul Weston
Paul Weston
Paul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer and conductor. Weston was born Paul Wetstein in Springfield, Massachusetts...
orchestra (with vocals by Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting was a singer of American popular music and country music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s.-Youth:...
) and Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
in 1962. Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
recorded this on her live 1961 Verve
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
release Ella in Hollywood
Ella in Hollywood
Ella in Hollywood is a live 1961 album by Ella Fitzgerald, with a jazz trio led by Lou Levy, recorded in Hollywood, Los Angeles....
.
The recording by Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye
Sammy Kaye , born Samuel Zarnocay, Jr., was an American bandleader and songwriter, whose tag line, "Swing and sway with Sammy Kaye", became one of the most famous of the Big Band Era.-Biography:...
was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-1738. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on December 20, 1945 and lasted 4 weeks on the chart, peaking at #8.
The recording by Paul Weston
Paul Weston
Paul Weston was an American pianist, arranger, composer and conductor. Weston was born Paul Wetstein in Springfield, Massachusetts...
/Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting was a singer of American popular music and country music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s.-Youth:...
was released by Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
as catalog number 214. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on November 22, 1945 and lasted 6 weeks on the chart, peaking at #6.
The recording by Paul Fenoulhet with The Skyrockets Dance Orchestra with refrain song was made in London on February 2, 1946. It was released by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
on the HMV Records label as catalogue number BD 5928.
Singer and pianist Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
sang "It Might As Well Be Spring" on her first album for Colpix Records
Colpix Records
Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia and Pictures . It was founded by Jonie Taps and Harry Cohn in 1958, and was based in New York City. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R...
, titled The Amazing Nina Simone
The Amazing Nina Simone
The Amazing Nina Simone is an album by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It was her first album for the label Colpix Records, which would quickly be followed by 8 albums on the same label, before signing with Philips Records in 1964...
(1959). It was featured by Blossom Dearie
Blossom Dearie
Blossom Dearie was an American jazz singer and pianist, often performing in the bebop genre and remembered for her girlish voice.-Early career:...
(in French) on her Blossom Dearie
Blossom Dearie (album)
Blossom Dearie is a 1957 studio album by Blossom Dearie, it was her first recording for Verve Records.This is Dearie's first American solo album...
album.
The version by Ray Conniff
Ray Conniff
Joseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.-Biography:...
and his Orchestra & Chorus can be found on his album, Hollywood In Rhythm (1958).
Contemporaty jazz singer Jane Monheit
Jane Monheit
Jane Monheit is a jazz and adult contemporary vocalist for Concord Records. She has collaborated with artists such as Michael Bublé, Ivan Lins, Terence Blanchard and Tom Harrell, and has received Grammy nominations for two of her recordings.-Early life:Jane Monheit was raised in Oakdale, New York...
performs the song as an up-tempo swing waltz on Live at the Rainbow Room (2003).
Jazz pianist Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau is an American jazz pianist. Besides leading his own group, the Brad Mehldau Trio, he has performed with many renowned artists, including Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Larry Grenadier, Peter Bernstein, Jeff Ballard, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Kurt...
plays this with his trio in his 1995 studio album Introducing Brad Mehldau. His version runs at about 280 beats per minute in a 7-in-a-bar meter. On the 2000 live double CD Progression, The Art of the Trio Volume 5, Mehldau performs a shorter version it the same tempo and meter, without improvised solos but with an extended improvised coda on the turnaround.