Why Was I Born?
"Why Was I Born?" is a 1929 song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.
It was written for the show Sweet Adeline (1929) and introduced by Helen Morgan.[1] Popular recordings in 1930 were by Helen Morgan and by Libby Holman.[2]
Notable recordings
- Billie Holiday - recorded the song for Brunswick Records (catalog No. 7859) on January 25, 1937 with Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra.[3]
- Lena Horne in the film Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
- Frank Sinatra recorded the song for Columbia Records on December 28, 1947.[4]
- Vic Damone reached No. 20 in the Billboard charts in 1949 with the song.[5]
- Dorothy Lamour - The Road to Romance...For Bing, Bob and You! (1957).[6]
- Margaret Whiting - Margaret Whiting Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1960)
- Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane - Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane (1963)
- Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1963)
- Dinah Washington - for her album Dinah '63 (1963).[7]
- Georgia Brown - Georgia Brown (The Sensational New Singing Star of Oliver!) (1963).[8]
- Cher - Bittersweet White Light (1973)
- Sonny Rollins - Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert (2005)
- Bob Dylan - Triplicate (2017)
References
- ^ "Internet Broadway Database". ibdb,com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 612. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
- ^ "The Online Discographical Project". 78discography.com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ^ "Frank Sinatra Discography". jazzdiscography.com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 120. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
- ^ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ^ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ^ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
