Pennies from Heaven (song)
Encyclopedia
"Pennies from Heaven" is a 1936
American
popular song with music by Arthur Johnston
and words by Johnny Burke
. It was introduced by Bing Crosby
in the 1936 film of the same name
. It was recorded in the same year by Billie Holiday
and afterwards performed by Louis Armstrong
, Tony Bennett
, Dinah Washington
, Clark Terry
, Frances Langford
, Arthur Tracy
, Big Joe Turner
, Frank Sinatra
, Stan Getz
, Dean Martin
, Skrewdriver
, Gene Ammons
, The Skyliners
(a major hit in 1960), Louis Prima
, Legion of Mary
, Guy Mitchell
, and many other jazz
and popular
singers.
1936 in music
-Events:*January 4 – Billboard magazine publishes its first music hit parade*March 28 – Inaugurational concert of the São Paulo City Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ernst Mehlich...
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
popular song with music by Arthur Johnston
Arthur Johnston (composer)
Arthur Johnston was a composer known for such works as “Mandy, Make Up Your Mind,” "Pennies From Heaven," and many others...
and words by Johnny Burke
Johnny Burke (lyricist)
Johnny Burke was a lyricist, widely regarded as one of the finest writers of popular songs in America between the 1920s and 1950s.-Biography:...
. It was introduced by Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
in the 1936 film of the same name
Pennies from Heaven (1936 film)
Pennies from Heaven is a 1936 musical comedy film starring Bing Crosby and featuring Louis Armstrong in a supporting role. The movie was directed by Norman Z. McLeod and the screenplay was written by Jo Swerling from a story by William Rankin based on the novel The Peacock Feather by Katherine...
. It was recorded in the same year by Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
and afterwards performed by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
, Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
, Frances Langford
Frances Langford
Julia Frances Langford was an American singer and entertainer who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and also made film appearances over two decades.-Birth:...
, Arthur Tracy
Arthur Tracy
Arthur Tracy was an American vocalist, billed as The Street Singer. His performances in theatre, films and radio, along with his recordings, brought him international fame in the 1930s...
, Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
, 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...
, Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Skrewdriver
Skrewdriver
Skrewdriver was an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde in 1976. They later evolved into one of the first neo-Nazi rock bands, playing a leading role in the Rock Against Communism movement and becoming known as the most prominent white power skinhead...
, Gene Ammons
Gene Ammons
Eugene "Jug" Ammons also known as "The Boss," was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons.-Biography:...
, The Skyliners
The Skyliners
The Skyliners are an American doo-wop group from Pittsburgh fronted by Jimmy Beaumont. The original lineup also included Wally Lester, Jack Taylor, Joe Verscharen, Louis M. Tutino and Janet Vogel...
(a major hit in 1960), Louis Prima
Louis Prima
Louis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
, Legion of Mary
Legion of Mary
The Legion of Mary is an association of Catholic laity who serve the Church on a voluntary basis. It was founded in Dublin, Ireland, as a Roman Catholic Marian Movement by layman Frank Duff. Today between active and auxiliary members there are in excess of 10 million members worldwide making it...
, Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell
Guy Mitchell, born Albert George Cernik, was an American pop singer, successful in his homeland, the U.K. and Australia...
, and many other jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and popular
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
singers.
Legacy
- Polly BergenPolly BergenPolly Bergen is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur.-Career:Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum...
and Gordon MacRaeGordon MacRaeGordon MacRae was an American actor and singer, best known for his appearances in the film versions of two Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Oklahoma! and Carousel and films with Doris Day like Starlift.-Early life:Born Albert Gordon MacRae in East Orange, New Jersey, MacRae graduated from...
sang a medley, which included "Pennies from Heaven" on her 1958 NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
variety show, The Polly Bergen ShowThe Polly Bergen ShowThe Polly Bergen Show is a half-hour 18-episode comedy/variety show, starring then 27-year-old Polly Bergen, which aired on NBC in the 1957-1958 television season. The program is remembered for its impressive guest-star lineup as well as its closing theme song, "The Party's Over" .The Polly Bergen...
. - The episode of Roseanne where the Conners win the state lottery jackpot of $108 million is titled "Millions from Heaven."
- The Louis Prima version was used in the 2003 film ElfElf (film)Elf is a 2003 comedy film directed by Jon Favreau, written by David Berenbaum and starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, and Zooey Deschanel. It was released in the United States on November 7, 2003 and grossed over $220,400,000 worldwide.-Plot:A baby crawls into Santa Claus' sack while he is...
. - Regis PhilbinRegis PhilbinRegis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
sang this song for the soundtrack to the game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. - Hugh Brannum, as "Smilin' Green Jeans" sang this song as an insert on Captain KangarooCaptain KangarooCaptain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running children's television program of its day...
, anachronistically dating the insert "Smilin' Green Jeans, 1932;" the song was wasn't composed until 1936. - Shirley BasseyShirley BasseyDame 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"...
sang this song on episode 504 of The Muppet ShowThe Muppet ShowThe Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
. - "Pennies from Heaven" provided the title for the celebrated 1978 BBC television series and the 1981 film adaptationPennies from Heaven (1981 film)Pennies from Heaven is a 1981 musical film. The film was based on a 1978 BBC television drama. In 1981, Dennis Potter adapted his own screenplay for a film of the same name for American audiences, with its setting changed to Depression era Chicago. Potter was nominated for the 1981 Academy Award...
of it — as well as being featured in both. - This song was used in the film "Corrina, Corrina"Corrina, Corrina (film)Corrina, Corrina is a 1994 feature film set in 1959 about a widower who hires a housekeeper/nanny to care for his daughter . It was written and directed by Jessie Nelson...
in 1994, and appears on the soundtrack. - The original, as well as the Louis Prima version, appears in the 2010 game Mafia 2.