I’m Beginning to See the Light

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I’m Beginning to See the Light (m. Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges, and Harry James, w. Don George)

According to jazzstandards.com three hit recordings heralded the song’s arrival on the jazz scene in 1945. The version by Harry James and his Orchestra with vocal by Kitty Kallen hit #1 and stayed there a second week. Ella Fitzgerald and the Inkspots reached #5 with their recording. And Duke Ellington and his Orchestra also had a top ten hit in 1945, recorded 1 December 1944, with vocalist Joya Sherrill (who was not 17 in 1944 when she rejoined the Ellington band as jazzstandards and others claim, but twenty).

Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, vocal Joya Sherrill, recorded 1 December 1944