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| (Irving Berlin) |
| (o): | Irving Kaufman (1926) | label: Harmony |
| | Irving Berlin wrote this melody for his second wife Ellin MacKay. She received Always' royalties for dowry. Berlin actually wrote it while in a Florida restaurant with his piano player and this piano player's girlfriend. "Write me a song", she asked. "What's your name?" said Irving. "Mona" she answered. Berlin started humming and dictating the melody which later became Always, but for now with working title Mona. The project was left untouched until his company needed a follow-up for his hit Remember ('25). Since Mona was no longer around, Berlin changed the title in Always. This improved the universal utility of the opening line considerably. No longer was the use of "I'll be loving you always..." the sole privilege of boyfriends of a Mona. Introduced in vaudeville by Gladys Clark and Henry Bergman ('25). First recorder Irving Kaufman also made his debut in vaudeville. |
| (c): | Nick Lucas (1926) , Henry Burr (1926) , Vincent Lopez (1926) , George Olsen (1926) , Josephine Baker (1926) , Benny Goodman (1935) , Fud Candrix (1938) , Gordon Jenkins (1944) , Sammy Kaye (1945) , Guy Lombardo (1945) , Frank Sinatra (1947) , Earl Bostic (1952) , Lionel Hampton (1953) , Billie Holiday (1955) , Ella Fitzgerald (1958) , Sammy Turner (1959) , Patsy Cline (1960) [posthumous C&W hit in '80], Jerry Jackson (1964) , Harry Nilsson (1973) , Willie Nelson (1981) , June Pointer (1983) , James Ingram (1986) [Luther Ingram's is another Always], Leonard Cohen (1992) , Paul McCartney (2012) , |
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| Atlantic Starr's Always (n°1 US in '87) is another one. |
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