If You Are But a Dream

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"If You Are But a Dream" is a popular song published in 1942 with words and music by Moe Jaffe, Jack Fulton and Nat Bonx. The melody is based on Anton Rubinstein's "Romance in E flat, Op. 44, No. 1," popularly known as "Rubinstein's Romance".

The song is most closely associated with Frank Sinatra, who recorded it first for Columbia Records on November 14, 1944, [1] with an arrangement by Axel Stordahl. This recording was on the reverse side of a 78 rpm record with "White Christmas", [2] and consequently did very well with "White Christmas" reaching the No. 7 spot in the Billboard charts. "If You Are But a Dream" itself briefly reached the Billboard charts in the No. 19 position. [3] A year later, in 1945, "If You Are But a Dream" was included in the Academy Award-winning short film, The House I Live In , in which Sinatra was featured. [4]

Sinatra recorded this song again for Capitol Records on December 11, 1957, [5] with an arrangement by Nelson Riddle. This recording was first released on the LP This Is Sinatra Volume 2 (Capitol 982). Both the Columbia and Capitol versions have subsequently been reissued on a number of CDs.

"If You Are But a Dream" was featured most prominently in Woody Allen's 1987 film, Radio Days , which features the 1944 recording on the soundtrack. [6]

There is also another song based on the same Rubenstein work. It was written by Al Kasha and Hank Hunter and was called "Forever and a Day". It was recorded by Jackie Wilson for his 1963 LP, Jackie Wilson – Sings The World's Greatest Melodies.

Other recordings

"If You Are But a Dream" was also recorded by a number of other artists.

These include (among others):

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References

  1. ↑ "Frank Sinatra Discography". jazzdiscography.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  2. ↑ "45worlds.com". 45worlds.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p.  391. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
  4. ↑ "Internet Movie Database". imdb.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Frank Sinatra Discography". jazzdiscography.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Internet Movie Database". imdb.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. 1960. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  10. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p.  132. ISBN   0-89820-083-0.
  11. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. 1960. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. 1962. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. 1999. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. 1965. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. 1964. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
  18. ↑ "45cat.com". 45cat.com. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
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