Irving Kaufman - Blue Skies (1927)

BLUE SKIES
Words and music by Irving Berlin
Performed by Irving Kaufman
with unidentified piano and guitar accompaniment
Recorded January 6, 1927
Banner 1932

"Blue Skies" was introduced by vaudeville star, Belle Baker, in the Broadway show "Betsy," a Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical. In December of 1926, just before the show opened on Broadway, Baker was unhappy with the musical score because it didn't have any songs that she felt were suitable for her dynamic voice. She called her friend, Irving Berlin, who offered her a new tune he had not quite finished and together they completed the song the night before the show opened. "Betsy" opened at the New Amsterdam Theater on Broadway December 28, 1926. It ran for 39 performances. Florenz Ziegfeld, the producer, allowed "Blue Skies" it to be sung in the second act, but Rodgers and Hart were not aware that it had been included and they were understandably upset. The song was a big success and she had to sing 24 encores. "Betsy" was a flop and closed after 39 performances, but "Blue Skies" became an immediate hit.

Irving Kaufman's recording was made just nine days later (January 6, 1927) and it is one of the first recordings made of this song. By the end of February 1927, the song had also been recorded by Ben Selvin's Knickerbockers, Vincent Lopez, Adrian Schubert, George Olsen, Sam Lanin, Arthur Fields, Bob Haring, and Jesse Crawford. Al Jolson sang it in "The Jazz Singer" (1927) and again in "The Jolson Story" (1946) where he dubbed it for Larry Parks. It was sung by Eddie Cantor in "Glorifying the American Girl" (1929). by Ethel Merman and Alice Faye in "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (1938) and by Bing Crosby in "Blue Skies" (1946) and "White Christmas" (1954).


Blue Skies, by Irving Berlin

(verse)
I was blue, just as blue as I could be
Ev'ry day was a cloudy day for me
Then good luck came a-knocking at my door
Skies were gray but they're not gray anymore

(chorus)
Blue skies
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see

Bluebirds
Singing a song
Nothing but bluebirds
All day long

Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you're in love, my how they fly

Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on