"Under the Bridges of Paris" is a

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

song with music written by

Vincent Scotto Vincent Scotto (21 April 1874 – 15 November 1952) was a French composer. Biography Early life Vincent Scotto was born on 21 April 1874 in Marseille to Pasquale Scotto d'Aniello and Antonia Intartaglia, from the island of Procida, north of th ...

, the original French lyrics (entitled "''Sous les ponts de Paris''") by Jean Rodor (1913), and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

sections of lyrics added by

Dorcas Cochran Dorcas Cochran (c. 1903 – July 6, 1991) was an American lyricist and screenwriter. She is also referenced by her married name, Dorcas Cochran Jewell. Biography As a lyricist, her best-known song was " Again," which had multiple recorded ver ...

(1952) resulting in the released version (1954) containing both French and English sections.

Background

Recordings by both Eartha Kitt (released as a B-side to "

Santa Baby "Santa Baby" is a song performed by American singer Eartha Kitt with Henri René and His Orchestra and originally released in 1953. The song was written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer, who also used the pseudonym Tony Springer in an attempt ...

") and Dean Martin charted in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1955, but failed to chart in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, though both were subsequently released as LP album tracks as well. The recording by Eartha Kitt with Henri René and his orchestra and chorus was made in New York City on October 25, 1953. It was released by

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ari ...

as catalogue number 20-5502 (in USA) and by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

on the

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

label as catalogue number B 10647. Kitt's recording appears on her 1954 album ''

That Bad Eartha ''That Bad Eartha'' is a twelve-song reconfiguration of material from American singer Eartha Kitt's first two eight-song, 10-inch albums issued by RCA Victor. It contains all eight songs from the 1953 album RCA Victor Presents Eartha Kitt. I ...

''.

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

recorded a jazz trio version of the song for his Paris-themed album of 1960, ''Legrand Piano''. It was also performed by Polish singer

Violetta Villas Czesława Gospodarek (née Cieślak; 10 June 1938 – 5 December 2011), known by her stage name Violetta Villas, was a Polish and international cabaret star, singer, actress, composer and songwriter. Her voice was characterized as coloratura so ...

during her Las Vegas shows in late 60s.

References

Under The Bridges Of Paris (Sous Les Ponts De Paris) heet music English lyric by Dorcas Cochran; French lyric by J. Rodor; Music by Vincent Scotto. Copyright 1914 by H. Delormel. Copyright renewed 1948 by Vincent Scotto and assigned to H. Delormel. Copyright 1952 by Editions Fortin. Copyright 1953 by Hill and Range songs, New York, N.Y. Songs with lyrics by Dorcas Cochran 1913 songs Eartha Kitt songs Dean Martin songs Songs about Paris Songs with music by Vincent Scotto {{pop-song-stub