Song Sung Blue: #11 "Blue Skies" (1926) and "Blue Moon" (1934)

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This pair of classic standards complement each other in reflecting the despair and longing for optimism during the dark days of the depression. The legendary Broadway team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart were contracted by MGM to write a movie song. “Blue Moon” underwent several title changes and drastic rewrites before becoming the song we know. MGM used the song in a number of movies. In 1949, both Mel Torme and Billy Eckstein enjoyed hit recordings. Elvis covered it in his debut album. The most famous version of “Blue Moon” is by the doo-wop group the Marcels which reached #1 in 1961. Everyone under the sun has covered this song. Irving Berlin wrote “Blue Skies” for the Broadway musical flop “Betsy.” Ben Selwyn had a #1 recording in 1927. Al Jolson immortalized the song in the first movie talkie “The Jazz Singer.” Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye sang it in “White Christmas.” Willie Nelson topped the country charts with a cover in 1978. This is for you Fourwalls: Moon Mullican and Jim Reeves covered “Blue Skies” in 1939 and 1962.