"Spring is Here" is a 1938
popular song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...
composed by
Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by
Lorenz Hart for the musical ''
I Married an Angel'' (1938), where it was introduced by
Dennis King and
Vivienne Segal.
Rodgers and Hart had previously written a song entitled "Spring is Here in Person," which served as the title song for a 1929
Broadway production (filmed in 1930 - see ''
Spring is Here (film)'').
Theatrical producer Josh Logan, a longtime associate of Rodgers & Hart, would opine that "the most touching
f Hart's lyrics
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
Hi ...
are those about
unrequited love ith the 1938 song
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immedia ...
'Spring is Here'
eingone of the greatest examples".
Hart had had a romantic interest in ''I Married an Angel'' leading lady Vivienne Segal who turned down more than one
marriage proposal from him. Logan believed that Hart's lyrics for "Spring is Here" evoked the composer's disappointment over Segal's failure to reciprocate his interest.
Notable recordings
*
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool".
Baker earned much attention and ...
– ''Deep in a Dream'' (2002, posthumous, previously unreleased)
*
Shirley Bassey – ''
Let's Face the Music'' with Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra (1962)
*
Tony Bennett – ''The Rodgers and Hart Songbook'' (1973)
*
Nick Brignola – ''L.A. Bound'' (1979)
*
June Christy – ''The Intimate Miss Christy'' (1963)
*
Rosemary Clooney- ''Rosemary Clooney Sings Ballads'' (1985)
*
John Coltrane – ''Standard Coltrane'' (1958)
*
Chris Connor – ''Sings Lullabys of Birdland'' (1957)
*
Larry Coryell – ''Private Concert'' (1999)
*
Vic Damone – ''That Towering Feeling!'' (1956)
*
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
– ''Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall'' (1961)
*
Bill Evans – ''
Portrait in Jazz'' (1959)
*
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, i ...
– ''
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook'' (1956), ''
30 by Ella'' (1968)
*
The Four Freshmen – ''
Love Lost'' (1959)
*
Erroll Garner – (1950)
*
Ahmad Jamal – ''
Chamber Music of the New Jazz'' (1955)
*
Felix Knight – Original 78rpm: Victor 25842 – ''Spring Is Here'' (Rodgers-Hart) by
Leo Reisman & His Orchestra (1938)
*
Julie London – ''
Julie Is Her Name, Volume II'' (1958)
*
Susannah McCorkle – ''I'll Take Romance'' (1992)
*
Jessye Norman – ''The J.Norman Collection'' (1984)
*
Anita O'Day – ''
Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart
''Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart'' is a 1960 studio album by Anita O'Day, arranged by Billy May. O'Day and May had previously recorded an album dedicated to a single composer, Cole Porter, in 1959.
Reception
In a review for A ...
'' (1960)
*
Carly Simon – ''
Torch'' (1981)
*
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blue ...
– ''
Nina Simone with Strings'' (1966)
*
Frank Sinatra – Columbia single (1947); ''
Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely
''Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely'' (1958, also known as ''Sings for Only the Lonely'' or simply ''Only the Lonely'') is an album by Frank Sinatra.
The album consists of a collection of torch songs, following a formula similar to Sinatra' ...
'' (1958)
*
Jo Stafford – ''
As You Desire Me'' (1952)
*
Maxine Sullivan with
Claude Thornhill & His Orchestra (1938)
*
The Supremes – ''
The Supremes Sing Rodgers & Hart'' (1967)
*
Cal Tjader –
Soul Sauce
''Soul Sauce'' is an album by Latin jazz vibraphonist Cal Tjader recorded in late 1964 and released on the Verve label. (1964)
*
Danny Zeitlin
Denny Zeitlin (born April 10, 1938) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and clinical professor of psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco. Since 1963, he has recorded more than 100 compositions and was a first-place winner in t ...
– ''Mosaic Select'' (1967)
References
External links
*''Spring is Here'' a
jazzstandards.com
Songs with music by Richard Rodgers
Songs with lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Ella Fitzgerald songs
Nina Simone songs
Jo Stafford songs
1938 songs
1930s jazz standards
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