Can you name a song which has been re-done every ten years or so since the 1930s?

[KurtNYC]

I am making a video scrapbook using old family photos and I thought using different versions of the same song, but from different eras which match the period of each group of pictures, would tie the whole thing together musically.

[woodsprite]

1. Neat idea! My first thought was a Christmas song, so probably not appopriate.

White Christmas (but it was 1940).

What about "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", "Stardust", "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" or
"When you wish upon a star"? They all have a good representation in years.

Here's a great site: http://tsort.info/music/yr1930.htm

If you click on the title of the song, it will tell you other times it's been recorded by a popular artist. Kinda cool!

Happy hunting! It sounds like a really neat project.

[cyberswede]

3. Cool site!

Body and Soul was recorded a bunch of times...

http://tsort.info/music/447z27.htm

[KurtNYC]

4. I like "when you wish upon a star"

thanks for the link!

I think "Summertime" -- Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitgerald, John Coltrane, Miles, Davis, Janis Joplin, Celine Dion, etc is probably the winner. There are many pure instrumental versions (which are good for slide shows since lyrics can have unintended meaning when combined with pictures).

Billie Holiday's incredible talent and heart made this song a legend.

Love this Coltrane version for it's 1950s cool...

Best intro plus "the cotton is hiiiiiigh, ofh so hiiiiiigh..."

[Scruffy Rumbler]

2. Happy Days are Here Again?

[Lars39]

5. Puttin' on the Ritz

[mrmpa]

6. Happy Days are here again............

Last edited Wed Dec 12, 2012, 05:30 PM - Edit history (1)

Done from the 1920's until at least the 1970's

[Spike89]

7. Lots of the blues songs from the 30s

Baby Please Don't Go seems to get covered every few years...It is from the 30s and I've heard versions (slowly evolving) from the 40s and 50s into the 60s when Van Morrison turned it into a rock classic, the Rolling Stones covered it, as did the Butterfield Blues Band, and of course ACDC. There are at least a dozen more versions too.

[locks]

8. long-living oldies

(I found my thrill on) Blueberry Hill
Bye Bye Blackbird 26
It Had to be You 24
Stormy Weather
Carolina in the Morning 22-70's
Missouri Waltz 14
When the Saints Go Marching In 1896
Mack the Knife 28
You Are My Sunshine
(I'm lookin' over a) Four Leaf Clover

[greendog]

9. Lovesick Blues

Hank's 1948 version is the best known but it started out as a show tune in the 20's and has been covered many times through the years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovesick_Blues

[greendog]

10. You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Made_Me_Love_You_%28I_Didn%27t_Want_to_Do_It%29

[kwassa]

11. My Funny Valentine, Just One of Those Things, All of Me, Over the Rainbow ...

Pennies from Heaven, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,

and Someday My Prince Will Come.

[Kingofalldems]

12. Lulu's Back in Town

[Jetboy]

13. Ain't She Sweet was a hit in the 1920s and has been covered many times since.

Gene Vincent and Frankie Lymon did it in the 50s and the Beatles did it in the 60s.

Also:

Blue Moon

My Blue Heaven

Stagger Lee

[swimboy]

14. Baby Face

had a pretty good run from the '20s through to the '70s.

[Major Nikon]

15. Happy Birthday to You

Dammit, Marilyn, my kids are here...

[pscot]

16. Mairzy dotes?

[cemaphonic]

17. John Hardy Was a Desparate Little Man

Probably not right for your purpose, but I can think of versions of it from just about every decade since the 30s.

[sarge43]

18. Star Dust

Composed in 1927, one of the most recorded songs in history. Check the Wiki article for some of the famous recordings.

[LTR]

19. Here's a place to start

http://firewireblog.com/2009/02/06/10-of-the-most-covered-songs-ever/

"Summertime" seems to fit the description.

[Tom Ripley]

20. Summertime, Mack the Knife, Blue Moon, Walkin' Blues, September Song, Stardust, My Funny Valentine

[bif]

21. "I get a kick out of you" "April In Paris"

Tons of other standards.

[Arugula Latte]

22. I'll bet You Are My Sunshine would qualify.

[Jim Lane]

23. "I'll Be Seeing You"

According to the Wikpedia article -- at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27ll_Be_Seeing_You_(song) -- the song was published in 1938. There are covers by Bing Crosby (1944), Ray Conniff (1959), Sarah Vaughan (1963), Peggy Lee (1972), Judy Collins (1975), Etta James (1994), Rod Stewart (2002), Linda Ronstadt (2004), and Andrea Corr (2011), among others.

The theme seems appropriate to a collection of family photos, too.

[onenote]

24. Here is a short list of songs that originated in the 30s that have become perennials

They may not have hit the charts in every decade, but versions probably have been recorded in most decades since the original was released:

Over the Rainbow
Blue Moon
In the Mood
Stormy Weather
Will the Circle Be Unbroken