"Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" is the title of a 1943

traditional pop Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western culture, Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known ...

composition by

Frank Loesser Frank Henry Loesser ( "lesser"; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls (musical), Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business ...

, written for and introduced in the 1944 film ''

Christmas Holiday ''Christmas Holiday'' is a 1944 American film noir crime film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly. Based on the 1939 novel of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham, the film is about a woman who marries a Sout ...

'', the song was largely overlooked for some ten years before being rediscovered in the mid-1950s to become a pop and jazz standard much recorded by vocalists and instrumentalists.

Composition / theme

An early instance of Frank Loesser writing his own music for his lyrics, "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" has been described by singer

Michael Feinstein Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music Revivalist artist, revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988, he won a Drama Desk Spec ...

- the "foremost expert on the music of the

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant 20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" is th ...

" - as "a perfect example of that heart-on-your-sleeve quality evident in so many oesser songs" The composer's daughter: Susan Loesser, classes the song as a rare "melancholy" item in her father's songbook, but one whose lyric is "not without hope". "Spring Will Be ..." belongs to a sub-genre of songs which treat springtime as a metaphor in an ironic context, the most extreme exemplars such as "

Spring Is Here "Spring is Here" is a 1938 popular song 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 ...

" and " Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" "upend ngthe conventional view of spring as the season of rebirth o insteaduse spring as the setting for expressions of disenchantment or remorse": however "Loesser's lyric ... follow a middle course, evoking a state of mind neither breezily cheerful nor trite; but not unremittingly dark either."

First recordings and ''Christmas Holiday''

"Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" was written for the film ''

'' to be sung by the female lead

Deanna Durbin Edna May Durbin (December 4, 1921 – April 17, 2013), known professionally as Deanna Durbin, was a Canadian-born American soprano and actress, who moved to the U.S. from Canada with her family in infancy. She appeared in musical films in the 1 ...

, a movie musical star from the age of 14 who at age 23 was making a career shift with an essentially dramatic role as a

fallen woman "Fallen woman" is an archaic term which was used to describe a woman who has "lost her innocence", and fallen from the grace of God. In 19th-century Britain especially, the meaning came to be closely associated with the loss or surrender of a ...

working a

taxi dance hall A taxi dance hall is a type of dance hall where dancers, usually young women, called taxi dancers are paid to dance with usually male patrons. The owners of a taxi dance hall provide music and a dance floor for their patrons and taxi dancers. In t ...

near

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. The film discreetly posits Durbin's character as a singer who is first seen singing "Spring Will Be ..." at the dance hall in a performance which eschews Durbin's established "perky upbeat operetta persona" in favor of a "downbeat bluesy jazz" style. The lyrics of "Spring Will Be ..." touch on the film's plot:

Dean Harens Dean Arthur Harens (June 30, 1920 – May 20, 1996) was an American actor. He appeared in movies, plays and many TV programs over four decades. Early years Harens was a protege of actress Alison Skipworth, who discovered him when he wa ...

plays a serviceman who, just after receiving a Dear John letter, is flying home for Christmas when a storm mandates a layover in New Orleans. Meeting Durbin at the dance hall, Harens treats her chivalrously, and she eventually confides her sad history. Once married to a charming roué (

Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...

) who has been jailed for murder, Durbin is now self-indentured at the dance hall as penance for failing to somehow save her husband from himself. Subsequent to a denouement which frees Durbin from her thralldom, with imminent romance with Harens implied, ''Christmas Holiday'' ends with Durbin gazing up at an overcast sky whose clouds drift apart as she watches. Completed in February 1944, ''Christmas Holiday'' would be released June 1944 to become a box office hit while making only a transient impression on the public consciousness, suggesting that moviegoers anticipating the lighter fare associated with Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly were disappointed by ''Christmas Holiday'' and preferred to forget the film, whose few critical notices virtually ignored "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" (Margaret Bean of the '' Spokesman-Review'' dismissed the film's "new song" as "not too appealing"). The song had already had three recorded versions prior to the film's release, beginning with that by Johnnie Johnston with the Paul Weston Orchestra, released March 1944 (the song serving as

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to a 78-rpm single entitled "Irresistible You"), followed by recordings by

Percy Faith Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian–American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of instrumental ballads and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizin ...

(recorded April 24, 1944), as an instrumental) and

Morton Downey John Morton Downey (November 14, 1901 – October 25, 1985), also known as Morton Downey, was an American singer and entertainer popular in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, enjoying his greatest success in the late 1920s ...

(recorded May 8, 1944, for June 8, release). Also recorded in 1944 by

Eddy Howard Edward Evan Duncan Howard (September 12, 1914 – May 23, 1963) was an American vocalist and bandleader who was popular during the 1940s and 1950s. Early years Eddy Howard was born in Woodland, California, and after attending San Jose State Coll ...

, "Spring Will Be ..." was recorded by Deanna Durbin - in her signature soprano - in a December 1944 session in which Durbin also recorded the other song she'd sung in ''Christmas Holiday'': " Always", with the tracks being paired on a March 1945 single release (on which "Always" was designated as

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

). Durbin's studio recording of "Spring Will Be ..." is the first evident instance of the song's two verses being preceded by a four line song intro which has rarely been included in subsequent recordings of the song. (See sidebox below.)

Rediscovery

As with its parent film, "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" seemed to soon lose such attention as it had garnered, the first evident recording of the song subsequent to 1944 being a 1950 release by the Ralph Flanagan Orchestra with vocalist Harry Prime. The song seems to have come to the fore due to its being recorded in the mid-1950s by

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

, who was evidently the first female vocalist to record "Spring Will Be ..." since Deanna Durbin in 1944, Vaughan also evidently being the song's first

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

-influenced interpreter. Vaughan first recorded "Spring Will Be ..." in a January 5, 1953, session with the Percy Faith Orchestra - Faith having made one of the earliest recordings of the song; the track being released as a single March 3, 1953, and appeared on the 1955 album ''

Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi ''Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi'' is a 12 track compilation album by Sarah Vaughan released in 1955 and recorded from December 21, 1949 to December 1952. History In 1950, a debut 10" LP entitled ''Sarah Vaughan'' was released with eight songs that wo ...

''. Subsequent to Vaugahn's version, "Spring Will Be ..." has been recorded on a constant basis mostly by jazz-influenced and/or traditional pop vocalists, mostly female. ("Nearly all the best songs about spring are about disappointment, and all the best versions are by tuned-in women who know the score.")

Recorded versions

Vocal versions of "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year" include those recorded by (album titles in italics): * Johnnie Johnston with the Paul Weston Orchestra: 78-rpm single 1944 *

: 78-rpm single 1944 *

: 78-rpm single 1945 * Harry Prime with the Ralph Flanagan Orchestra: 78-rpm single 1950 *

with the

Orchestra 78-rpm single 1953 *

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television and radio personality, comedian, musician, composer, writer, and actor. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-creator and ...

''Steve Sings'' 1956 * Ray Charles Singers ''Spring is Here'' 1956 *

Helen Merrill Helen Merrill (born Jelena Ana Milcetic; July 21, 1929) is an American jazz vocalist. Her first album, the eponymous 1954 recording ''Helen Merrill (album), Helen Merrill'' (with Clifford Brown on EmArcy), was an immediate success and associat ...

''Helen Merrill With Strings'' 1956 * Rita Reys with the Jazz Messengers ''The Cool Voice of Rita Reys'' 1956 * Four Lads ''The Four Lads Sing Frank Loesser'' 1957 *

Joni James Giovanna Carmella Babbo (September 22, 1930 – February 20, 2022), known professionally as Joni James, was an American singer of traditional pop. Biography Giovanna Carmella Babbo was born to an Italian-American family in Chicago, Illinois, on ...

''Joni Sings Songs by Frank Loesser'' 1956 * Dick Haymes ''Little White Lies'' 1958 *

Jeri Southern Jeri Southern (born Genevieve Lillian Hering; August 5, 1926 – August 4, 1991) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Early years Born Genevieve Lillian Hering in Royal, Nebraska, United States, Southern was the granddaughter of a German pig ...

''Coffee, Cigarettes & Memories'' 1958 *

Eydie Gormé Eydie Gormé ( ; born Edith Gormezano; August 16, 1928 – August 10, 2013) was an American singer who achieved notable success in pop, Latin, and jazz genres. She sang solo and in the duo Steve and Eydie with her husband, Steve Lawrence, on a ...

''Love is a Season'' 1959 *

Polly Bergen Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer, and entrepreneur. She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan (singer), Helen ...

''Four Seasons of Love'' 1960 *

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, 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, phra ...

''Hello Love'' 1960 *

Leslie Uggams Leslie Marian Uggams (; born May 25, 1943) is an American actress and singer. After beginning her career as a child in the early 1950s, she garnered acclaim for her role in the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical ''Hallelujah, Baby!'', winning a T ...

''So in Love!'' 1963 *

Larry Hovis Larry Hovis (February 20, 1936 – September 9, 2003) was an American singer and actor best known for the 1960s television sitcom '' Hogan's Heroes''. Early life and career Hovis was born in Wapato, Washington, and moved to Houston, Texas, as ...

Hogan's Heroes ''Hogan's Heroes'' is an American television sitcom created by Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy which is set in a Prisoner-of-war camp, prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Nazi Germany during World War II, and centers around a group of Allied prisoner ...

Sing the Best of World War II'' (multi-artist album) 1966 *

Julie London Julie London (born Julie Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch song, torch singer noted for her contralto voice, London recorded over thirty album ...

''Easy Does It'' 1968 * Lee Wiley ''Back Home Again: All New Performances'' 1971 *

Reg Varney Reginald Alfred Varney (11 July 1916 – 16 November 2008) was an English actor, entertainer and comedian. He is best remembered for having played the lead role of bus driver Stan Butler in the London Weekend Television, LWT sitcom ''On the Buse ...

''Reg's Party'' 1973 *

Margaret Whiting Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American singer of popular music who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard'', January 12, ...

& Johnny Desmond ''Ben Bagley's Frank Loesser Revisited'' (multi-artist album) 1974 * Audrey Morris ''Film Noir'' 1989 * Jo Sullivan Loesser ''Loesser by Loesser - Salute to Frank Loesser by Jo Sullivan Loesser'' (1992) *

Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist and songwriter. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of delivering dee ...

''Devil's Got Your Tongue'' 1992 *

Sathima Bea Benjamin Beatrice "Sathima Bea" Benjamin (17 October 1936 – 20 August 2013) was a South African vocalist and composer based in New York City for nearly 45 years. Early life She was born Beatrice Bertha BenjaminChinen, Nate ''The New York Times'', 29 ...

''A Morning In Paris'' 1997 (album recorded February 24, 1963) *

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...

''Film Noir'' 1997 * Lina Nyberg ''Smile'' 2000 * Kitty Margolis ''Left Coast Life'' 2001 The song has also been established as a favored piece by pop and jazz instrumentalists, exemplified by recorded versions by (album titles in italics): *Percy Faith Orchestra: 78-rpm single 1944 * Frankie Carle & his Orchestra ''Frankie Carle Plays Frank Loesser'' 1950 * Ralph Sharon ''Spring Fever'' 1953 * Mundell Lowe ''The Mundell Lowe Quintet'' 1954 *Percy Faith Orchestra ''North & South of the Border'' 1955 * Dick Marx & John Frigo ( medley: "Spring Is Here/ Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year") ''Too Much Piano'' 1955 * Dennis Farnon & his Orchestra ''Caution! Men Swinging'' 1957 * Camarata ''Spring'' 1958 *

Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones; July 2, 1930 – April 16, 2023) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For six decades, he was one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. He was a NEA Jazz Ma ...

Trio '' Count 'Em 88'' 1956 * Sal Salvador Quartet ''Colors in Sound'' 1958 *

Red Garland William McKinley "Red" Garland Jr. (May 13, 1923 – April 23, 1984) was an American modern jazz pianist. Known for his work as a bandleader and during the 1950s with Miles Davis, Garland helped popularize the block chord style of playing in jazz ...

''All Kinds of Weather'' 1959 * Richard Maltby & his Orchestra ''Swingin' Down the Lane'' 1959 *

Roland Kirk Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...

'' 1962 *

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...

Trio ''Sound of Spring'' 1962 *

Buddy DeFranco Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

& Tommy Gumina ''Pol.Y Tones'' 1963 *

Tommy Gwaltney Thomas Oliver Gwaltney III (February 28, 1921, in Norfolk, Virginia, United States – February 11, 2003, in Virginia Beach, Virginia) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. He played clarinet, saxophone, and vibraphone. Biogr ...

with Steve Jordan &

John Eaton John Eaton may refer to: * John Eaton (divine) (born 1575), English divine * John Eaton (pirate) (fl. 1683–1686), English buccaneer *Sir John Craig Eaton (1876–1922), Canadian businessman * John Craig Eaton II (born 1937), Canadian businessman ...

''Great Jazz'' 1963 * Archie Semple ''The Twilight Cometh'' 1963 * Ronnie Aldrich ''The Romantic Pianos of Ronnie Aldrich'' 1964 * Ferrante & Teicher ''Ferrante & Teicher'' 1971 *

Pim Jacobs Willem Bernard "Pim" Jacobs (29 October 1934 – 3 July 1996) was a Dutch jazz pianist, composer and television presenter. Early life Jacobs was born on 29 October 1934 in Hilversum, the Netherlands. His parents were artistic. He started playing ...

Trio ''Come Fly With Me'' 1982 *

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. ...

''For All Seasons'' 1985 * Loren Schoenberg & his Jazz Orchestra ''Time Waits For No One'' 1987 * Harry Allen Quartet ''Blue Skies - Jazz Ballads From the 1930s to Today'' 1994 * Larry Porter Trio ''March Blues'' 1995 *

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

Phil Woods Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931 – September 29, 2015) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, and composer. Biography Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. After inheriting a saxophone at age 12, he began t ...

'' Another Time, Another Place'' 1996 * Peter Mintun ''Piano at the Paramount'' 1997 * Bob Alberti Trio ''Nice & Easy'' 1998 * Chris Anderson ''From the Heart'' 1998 *

Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist, widely considered the "godfather of fusion". Alongside Gábor Szabó, he was a pioneer in melding jazz, country and rock ...

''Private Concert'' 1998 *

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

'' Standard Time, Vol. 5: The Midnight Blues'' 1998 * Joe Locke &

David Hazeltine David Perry Hazeltine (born October 27, 1958) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and educator. Early life Hazeltine was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on October 27, 1958. He began studying the piano at the age of nine, and first pe ...

Quartet''Mutual Admiration Society'' 1999 * David Murray Quartet ''Seasons'' 1999 * Ralph Sharon Quartet ''Ralph Sharon Quartet Plays the Frank Loesser Songbook'' 1999 * John Bunch Trio ''World War II Love Songs'' 2001 *

Ken Peplowski Ken Peplowski (born May 23, 1959) is an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and known primarily for playing swing music. For over a decade, Peplowski recorded for Concord Records. In ...

Quartet ''When You Wish Upon a Star'' 2007 *

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 193 ...

''The Story of Cathy & Me'' 2011

References

{{reflist 1943 songs Songs written for films Songs written by Frank Loesser Bing Crosby songs Vic Damone songs Ella Fitzgerald songs Eydie Gormé songs Carly Simon songs Sarah Vaughan songs