OVER THE RAINBOW

Music: Harold Arlen- Lyrics: Yip Harburg

Year: 1939

over the rainbow-clasicos del jazz-standards jazz

Origin of the song

Judy Garland performed ‘Over the Rainbow’ in the film The Wizard of Oz. The film was released on 15 August 1939 in Hollywood and two days later in New York. The song had an immediate great success: in less than one month, four versions of it hit the charts and one of them, Glenn Miller orchestra’s, with singer Ray Eberle, remained first place for seven weeks.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had chosen Jerome Kern for the movie’s score, but the compositor rejected the offer, as his doctor had prescribed absolute rest to recover from a recent heart attack. The production company had to resign too, with the second option for the film’s star and accepted Garland only after the denial of 20th Century Fox of lending Shirley Temple. After various changes in the script (in which more than a dozen writers intervened) and the cast, the film was finished in March 1939. The official director was Victor Fleming, but Mervyn LeRoy and King Vidor collaborated in the work. The film got six nominations for the Oscars and won the award for Best Original Score (thanks to Herbert Stothart) and for Best Song, ‘Over the Rainbow’.

Versions in the top charts

PERFORMERS	DATE OF RECORDING	DAY OF ENTRANCE	PERMANENCE WEEKS	HIGH POSITION REACHED
Glenn Miller Orchestra	1939.07.12	1939.08.19	15	1 (seven weeks)	Ray Eberle (voc)
Bob Crosby Orchestra	1939.07.24	1939.09.16	8	2 (seven weeks)	Teddy Grace (voc)
Judy Garland	1939.07.28	1939.09.09	12	5	Judy Garland (voc), Victor Young Orchestra
Larry Clinton Orchestra	1939.12.08	1939.08.19	7	10	Bea Wain (voc)
The Demensions	1960.??.??	1960.07.04	15	16	Phil Del Giudice, Lenny Dell, Howard Margolin, Marisa Martelli (voc)
Gary Tanner	1978.??.??	1978.05.27	5	69	Gary Tanner (voc, g)

Jazz. Outstanding performances

Instrumental

PERFORMERS	DATE OF RECORDING	MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
Boyd Raeburn Orchestra	1946.??.??	Boyd Raeburn (sax, dir), Frank Beach, Bob Fowler, Ray Linn, Dale Pierce (tp), Burt Johnson, Tommy Pederson, Ollie Wilson (tb), Lloyd Otto, Evan Vail (tpa), Bill Starkey (ci), Ethmer Roden (as, fl), Willie Schwartz (as, cl), Ralph Lea, Guy McReynolds (ts), Hy Mandel (bars), Loretta Thompson (arp), Hal Schaefer (p), Tony Rizzi (g), Harry Babasin (b), Max Albright (d)
Art Tatum	1948.12.31	Art Tatum (p)
Charlie Barnet Orchestra	1949.08.16	Charlie Barnet (ss, dir), Ray Wetzel, Rolf Erickson, John Howell, Doc Severinsen, Maynard Ferguson (tp), Dick Kenney, Harry Betts, Herbie Harper, Kenny Martlock (tb), Vinnie Dean, Ruben Leon (as), Dick Hafer, Kurt Bloom (ts), Manny Albam (bars), Claude Williamson (p), Ed Safranski (b), Tiny Kahn (d)
Bud Powell Trio	1951.05.01	Bud Powell (p), Curly Russell (b), Max Roach (d)
Dave Brubeck Quartet	1952.10.22	Dave Brubeck (p), Paul Desmond (as), Ron Crotty (b), Lloyd Davis (d)
Stan Kenton Orchestra	1953.01.28	Stan Kenton (p, dir), Buddy Childers, Maynard Ferguson, Conte Candoli, Don Dennis, Ruben McFall (tp), Bob Burgess, Frank Rosolino, Bill Russo, Keith Moon, George Roberts (tb), Vinnie Dean, Lee Konitz (as), Bill Holman, Richie Kamuca (ts), Bob Gioga (bars), Sal Salvador (g), Don Bagley (b), Stan Levey (d)
Art Tatum	1953.12.28	Art Tatum (p)
James Moody Band	1954.04.12	James Moody (ts, as, dir), Dave Burns (tp), William Shepherd (tb), Pee Wee Moore (bars), Jimmy Boyd (p), John Latham (b), Joe Harris (d)
Erroll Garner	1955.03.14	Erroll Garner (p)
Stan Getz Quartet	1955.12.16	Stan Getz (ts), Bengt Hallberg (p), Gunnar Johnson (b), Anders Burman (d)
Pee Wee Russell Quintet	1958.02.19	Pee Wee Russell (cl), Nat Pierce (p), Steve Jordan (g), George Wettling (b), Walter Page (d)
Chet Baker Sextet	1962.01.05	Chet Baker (tp), Bobby Jaspar (ts, fl), Amadeo Tomasi (p), Rene Thomas (g), Benoit Quersin (b), Daniel Humair (d)
Ben Webster Quartet	1964.03.11	Ben Webster (ts), Hank Jones (p), Richard Davis (b), Osie Johnson (d)
Art Pepper Quartet	1977.07.28	Art Pepper (as, ts, cl), George Cables (p), George Mraz (b), Elvin Jones (d)
Mary Lou Williams	1978.07.16	Mary Lou Williams (p)
Stanley Jordan	1990.11.??	Stanley Jordan (g)
Steve Grossman Quartet	1991.09.13	Steve Grossman (ts), McCoy Tyner (p), Avery Sharpe (b), Art Taylor (d)
Keith Jarrett	1995.02.13	Keith Jarrett (p)

Vocal

PERFORMERS	DATE OF RECORDING	MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
Bob Crosby Orchestra	1939.07.24	Bob Crosby (dir), Billy Butterfield, Zeke Zarchy, Shorty Sherock (tp), Warren Smith, Ray Conniff (tb), Irving Fazola (cl), Joe Kearns, Bill Stegmeyer (as), Eddie Miller (cl, ts), Gil Rodin (ts), Joe Sullivan (p), Nappy Lamare (g), Bob Haggart (b), Ray Bauduc (d), Teddy Grace (voc)
Frank Sinatra	1945.05.01	Frank Sinatra (voc), Charles Griffard, Leonard Mach, Horace Nelson (tp), Carl Loeffler, Jimmy Skiles, Paul Weigand (tb), James Stagliano (tpa), Heine Beau, Manny Gershman, Leonard Hartman, Herbert Haymer, William Smith (sax), Mark McIntyre (p), Dave Barbour (g), Artie Shapiro (b), Ray Hagan (d), string section, Axel Stordahl (dir)
Aretha Franklin	1960.08.01	Aretha Franklin (voc), Tyree Glenn (tb,) Ray Bryant (p) Skeeter Best, Chauncey Westbrook (g), Bill Lee (b), Osie Johnson (d)
Ella Fitzgerald	1961.01.15	Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Billy May Orchestra
Eva Cassidy	1992.??.??	Eva Cassidy (voc, g), other unidentifed musicians
Jane Monheit	2004.05.10	Jane Monheit (voc), unidentified orchestra, Ed Shearmur (dir)

On cinemas

The song 'Over the Rainbow' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:

ORIGINAL TITLE	TITLE IN SPAIN	YEAR OF PRODUCTION	PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM
The Wizard of Oz	El mago de Oz	1939	Judy Garland
The Philadelphia Story	Historias de Filadelfia	1940	James Stewart (a capella)
I Wake Up Screaming	¿Quién mató a Vicky?	1941	Instrumental
The Glenn Miller Story	Música y lágrimas	1953	Glenn Miller Orchestra
Interrupted Melody	Melodía interrumpida	1955	Eleanor Parker (dubbed by Eileen Farrell)
Ten North Frederick	10, calle Frederick	1958	Background music
Sweet Bird of Youth	Dulce pájaro de juventud	1962	Background music
In the Cool of the Day	Amor prohibido	1963	Judy Garland
A Patch of Blue	Un retazo de azul	1965
The Abominable Dr. Phibes	El abominable Dr. Phibes	1971	Instrumental
Dr. Phibes Rises Again	El retorno del Doctor Phibes	1972	Vincent Price
The Pink Panther Strikes Again	La Pantera Rosa ataca de nuevo	1976	Herbert Lom
International Velvet	Doble triunfo	1978
Made in America	Made in America	1993
Sleepless in Seattle	Algo para recordar	1993	Ray Charles
My Life	Mi vida	1993
Corrina, Corrina	Corina, Corina	1994	Jevetta Steele
That's Entertainment! III	That's Entertainment! III	1994	Judy Garland
Stonewall	Stonewall	1995	Judy Garland
My Fellow Americans	Mis queridos compatriotas	1996	Instrumental
One Fine Day	Un día inolvidable	1996
Contact	Contact	1997
Face / Off	Cara a cara	1997	Olivia Newton-John
Selena	Selena	1997	Jennifer Peña
Meet Joe Black	¿Conoces a Joe Black?	1998	Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
You’ve Got Mail	Tienes un e-mail	1998	Harry Nilsson
Little Voice	Little Voice	1998	Jane Horrocks
Finding Forrester	Descubriendo a Forrester	2000	Bill Frisell- Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Little Nicky	Little Nicky	2000	Judy Garland
The Majestic	The Majestic	2001	Chet Baker
Unconditional Love	Amor sin condiciones	2002	Jonathan Pryce
The Big Bounce	Golpe en Hawai	2002	Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow	Sky Captain y el mundo de mañana	2004	Jane Monheit
50 First Dates	50 primeras citas	2004	Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School	Un toque de seducción	2005	Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Alpha Dog	Alpha Dog	2006	Eva Cassidy
Fred Claus	Fred Claus	2007
Australia	Australia	2008	Judy Garland
Milk	Mi nombre es Harvey Milk	2008	Judy Garland
9	Número 9	2009	Judy Garland
Into the White	Perdidos en la nieve	2012	Rupert Grint
Sykt lykkelig	Siempre feliz	2010
Blemded	Juntos y revueltos	2014	Drew Barrymore