Spring standards and other songs of spring

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Blue links are for Songbook feature pages or posts.

1884 — The Fountain in the Park (Ed Haley) — “While strolling through the park one day / In the merry merry month of May”

1920 — April Showers Bring May Flowers* (m. Jack Shilkret, Nathaniel Shilkret, w. Leo Wood) — copyright: 14 April 1920, 8 June 1920

1921 — April Showers (m. Louis Silvers, w. B. G. “Buddy” DeSylva)

1924 — Tell Her in Springtime (Irving Berlin) — introduced by Grace Moore in the 1924 Music Box Revue, where it was danced by Ula Sharon

1930 — It Seems to be Spring (m. Richard A. Whiting, w. George Marion, Jr.) — recording by The Sunshine Boys (Joe Mooney and Dan Mooney) on 12 September 1930, according to the Discography of American Historical Recordings; issued on the 78 rpm single (US) Columbia 2303-D, and on (UK) Columbia DB 345, c/w “I Like a Little Girl Like That” in each case — The song is actually, like “June in January,” about a love interest that seems to turn January into a warmer month, so I’m not sure that it belongs here.

1932 — April in Paris (m. Vernon Duke, w. E. Y. Harburg) — composed in 1932 for the Broadway musical, Walk A Little Faster

1933 — One Morning in May (m. Hoagy Carmichael, w. Mitchell Parish)

1935 — Paris in the Spring (m. Harry Revel, w. Mack Gordon)

1935 — March Winds and April Showers (Walter G. Samuels, Leonard Whitcup, Teddy Powell)

1935 — When April Comes Again (w.m. Al J. Neiburg, Marty Symes, Jerry Livingston**) — copyright, 15 October 1935 — recording by Jay Randell and his Orchestra, with vocal by Dick Dickson, in NYC on 27 December 1935; issued on the 78 rpm single Columbia 3113D, c/w “This is the Kiss of Romance” — The song was included in the 1936 show “Hollywood Revels of 1936.” The same trio of songwriters also co-wrote the 1933 standards “It’s the Talk of the Town” and “Under a Blanket of Blue.” — lyric: International Lyrics Playground

1935 — Santa Claus Came in the Spring (Johnny Mercer)***

1936 — I Got the Spring Fever Blues (Sue Werner, Kay Werner, Dave Bauer) — Chick Webb and his Orchestra, vocal: Ella Fitzgerald

1937 — Spring Cleaning — recorded by Fats Waller and his Rhythm

1938 — Spring Is Here (m. Richard Rodgers, w. Lorenz Hart) – introduced in the 1938 Rodgers & Hart musical I Married an Angel

1939 — Some Other Spring (m. Irene Kitchings, w. Arthur Herzog, Jr.) — Billy Holiday recording, 5 July 1939; issued on Vocalion 5021 (1, 2, 3), c/w “Them There Eyes”

1939 — Love Turns Winter to Spring — m. Matt Dennis, w. Frank Killduff (Brigham Townsend) — copyright, 13 September 1939 — Martha Tilton with Bobby Sherwood and his Orchestra in a 1941 Soundie of the same title; also recorded by Stan Kenton, The Four Freshmen, June Christy

1941 — I’ll Remember April (m. Gene De Paul, w. Don Raye and Patricia “Pat” Johnston)

1941 — Soft As Spring (Alec Wilder) —  see our feature page on selected Alec Wilder songs of the early 1940s; recordings include those by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra, vocal: Helen Forrest (1941), The Five (1955), Pete Jolly Quintet (1955), Al Cohn and his Orchestra (1956), Helen Merrill (1957), Sauter-Finegan Orchestra (1958)

1942 — Little April Shower (m. Frank Churchill, w. Larry Morey) — from the 1942 Disney animation film Bambi — lyric: Disney Wiki

1942 — Let’s Sing a Gay Little Spring Song (m. Frank Churchill, w. Larry Morey) — from the 1942 Disney animation film Bambi — lyric: Disney Wiki

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1943 — Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year (Frank Loesser)

1943 — Suddenly It’s Spring (m. Jimmy Van Heusen, w. Johnny Burke)

1944 — April Snow (m. Sigmund Romberg, w. Dorothy Fields) — from the 1945 Broadway musical Up in Central Park

1944 — It’s Anybody’s Spring (m. Jimmy Van Heusen, w. Johnny Burke) — recorded by Bing Crosby on 17 July 1944; issued on Decca 18743, as the B-side of “Welcome to My Dreams” — According to IMDb, in the 1945 film Road to Utopia the song was “[p]layed during the opening credits and also as background music,” and “[p]layed on a concertina by Bob Hope and sung by Bing Crosby.”

1945 — It Might as Well Be Spring (m. Richard Rodgers, w. Oscar Hammerstein II) — from the musical film State Fair (1945)

1949 — Younger Than Springtime (m. Richard Rodgers, w. Oscar Hammerstein II) — introduced by William Tabbert in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific

1949 — In the Spring of the Year (m. Alec Wilder, w. Lee Kuhn) — copyright, 20 April 1949 — recording by Mabel Mercer released on her 1958 album Once in a Blue Moon, (US) Atlantic Records 1301, SD 1301

1949 — It Happens Every Spring (m. Josef Myrow, w. Mack Gordon) — introduced in the 1949 film It Happens Every Spring — Recorded by Frank Sinatra, Margaret Whiting, Kay Starr, Art Lund and the Crew Chiefs, The Four Freshmen, Gogi Grant

1950 — When April Comes Again (m. Paul Weston, w. Doris Schaefer) — copyright, 8 March 1950 — recordings by Jo Stafford with Paul Weston and his Orchestra (1950), Paul Weston and his Orchestra (1955), Mel Tormé with The Marty Paich Dek-Tette (1956), The Singers Unlimited (1977), Frank Foster (1996), Ian Bargh (2000)

1952 — The Ol’ Spring Fever (m. Harry Warren, w. Leo Robin) — recorded by Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra on 21 February 1952, in Los Angeles, CA

1953 — Spring, Spring, Spring (m. Gene de Paul, w. Johnny Mercer) — copyright registration, 26 October 1953 and 7 July 1954; introduced in the 1954 musical film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; recording by Johnny Mercer with the Paul Smith Trio and The Notables released on the 1956 album Sings Just for Fun, Jupiter Records JLP 1001

1955 — Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most (m. Thomas Wolf, Jr., w. Frances Landesman) Tommy Wolf and Fran Landesman — recording by Tommy Wolf released on his 1958 LP Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most, Fraternity Records F-1010; album recorded on 5 & 6 September 1957

1956 — A Fine Spring Morning (Bob Haymes) — 1956 recording by Blossom Dearie appeared on her 1957 album Blossom Dearie, Verve Records MG V-2037; album recorded 11-12 September 1956

1956 — The April Age (m. Alec Wilder, w. William Engvick) — Thanks to visitor Thomas Birr, who, in a 25 Feb 2018 comment, informed me of the Cleo Laine EP, which resulted in the addition of two songs to this page, “The April Age” and (see below) “I Dedicate April.” Cleo Laine’s recording appears on the EP The April Age (1), (2), (UK) Pye Nixa / Jazz Today Series NJE 1026, released in December 1956

1956 — Melancholy March (m. Herm Saunders, w. Dore Langdon) — copyright, 2 August 1956 — recording by Julie London released on the 1956 album Calendar Girl, (US) Liberty Records SL 9002, SL-9002

1957 — So It’s Spring (Tommy Wolf, Wayne Arnold) – recording by Tommy Wolf released on the 1958 LP Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most (dr. chilledaire),(Discogs.com), Fraternity Records F-1010; album recorded on 5 & 6 September 1957; recording by Jackie & Roy with Bill Holman’s Orchestra released on the 1958 album Free and Easy!, ABC-Paramount ‎ABC-207; Carol Lawrence recording released on her 1962 album This Heart of Mine

1957 — They Say It’s Spring (Bob Haymes, Marty Clark)

1957 — Their Hearts Were Full of Spring (Bobby Troup)

1959 — There’ll Be Another Spring (Peggy Lee, Hubie Wheeler) — Peggy Lee and the George Shearing Quintet, recorded live in Miami on 29 May 1959; released in 1959 on Beauty and the Beat!, Capitol Records T 1219 (Mono), ST 1219 (Stereo)

1963 — Spring in Manhattan (m. Anthony Scibetta, w. Alice S. Reach) — copyright registered on 23 April 1963 — recording by Tony Bennett — issued in April 1964 on the single (US) Columbia 4-42779 (1) (2), as the B-side of “The Good Life”; also included on the 1964 LP The Many Moods of Tony, (US) Columbia CL 2141

1965 — April Come She Will (Paul Simon) — originally recorded by Paul Simon and included on his debut LP The Paul Simon Song Book, released in 1965 on CBS Records in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and, under the title The Sounds of Simon: The Paul Simon Song Book, on Columbia Records in Canada

1967/1972 — La Chanson de Maxence (m. Michel Legrand, w. Jacques Demy) and the English-language version, You Must Believe in Spring (lyric: Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman) — “La Chanson de Maxence” was introduced in the 1967 film Les demoiselles de Rochefort, where it was performed by Jacques Perrin, dubbed by Jacques Revaux, and a chorus. The earliest recording of “You Must Believe in Spring” listed by SecondHandSongs.com is a 1972 recording by Marlena Shaw. Cleo Laine’s performance of the song at Carnegie Hall on 17 October 1973 was included on her 1974 album Cleo Laine Live!!! At Carnegie Hall.

1972 — Pieces of April (Dave Loggins) — Three Dog Night

1976 — Blackberry Winter (Alec Wilder, Loonis McGlohon) — Teddi King recording released on her 1976 album Lovers & Losers, Audiophile AP 11

• Blackberry Winter, 1976-2009 recordings (part 1)
• Blackberry Winter – recordings after 2009 (part 2)

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* April Showers Bring May Flowers (m. Jack Shilkret, Nathaniel Shilkret, w. Leo Wood) — copyright: 14 April 1920, 8 June 1920

• early recordings:
  • Van Eps Quartet — recorded in July 1920; issued on Aeolian Vocalion 14099, as the B-side of “Will You Remember or Will You Forget” (William Hewitt) — A-side songwriter credited on the label as “Hewett”
  • Harry Raderman’s Jazz Orchestra — recorded in February 1921 in NYC; issued in the US on the 78 rpm single OKeh 4281, and in Canada on Starr-Gennett 4281, in each case c/w “Wyoming,” flip-side recorded by the Green Brothers’ Novelty Band

** credited under his birth name, Jerry Levinson

*** 1935 recordings of “Santa Claus Came in the Spring”

• 27 September 1935 recording by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra issued on 11 December 1935 on Victor 25195 (1, 2, 3) b/w  “Eeny Meeny Miney Mo” (Matty Malneck, Johnny Mercer)
• recording by Putney Dandridge and his Orchestra issued in November 1935 on Vocalion 3083, as the B-side of “Eeny Meeny Miney Mo”

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