Before it had been recorded or even published, Fred Astaire had sung "So Rare" on his radio show The Packard Hour.[6] This was the recollection of Jess Oppenheimer, then a writer for the show, who recommended the song on behalf of his friend Jerry Herst, then an "aspiring songwriter". According to Oppenheimer, this led to "So Rare" being "snapped up by a publisher who heard it on the program".[7]
Since 1937, "So Rare" has been recorded by numerous artists,[8][9][10][11] but it notably became a late-career hit in 1957 for Jimmy Dorsey, reaching #2 on Billboard magazine's pop charts,[12] and #4 on the R&B singles chart.[13] Recorded on 11 November 1956 and released on the Cincinnati label Fraternity, Jimmy Dorsey's version, which had a decidedly rhythm and blues feel unlike the earlier versions, became the highest-charting song by a big band during the first decade of the rock and roll era. Credited on the label to "Jimmy Dorsey with Orchestra and Chorus",[14] the vocals are by the Artie Malvin Singers.[15]Billboard ranked this version as the No. 5 song for 1957.[16]
Less than two months after "So Rare" became a hit, Jimmy Dorsey died from lung cancer.
↑ Sheet music for "So Rare" typically credits words to Jack Sharpe and music to Jerry Herst. See, for example So Rare [music], words by Jack Sharpe, music by Jerry Herst, Melbourne: Allan & Co., c1937, held in National Library of Australia, Bib ID 1862893
↑ Online (78rpm) Discographical Project session listings for Melotron and Conqueror
↑ Pop chart data 1890-2011, spreadsheet from Billboard magazine sources, downloadable from Bullfrogspond.com retrieved 30 October 2011. This has Lombardo reaching #1, Arnheim #2
↑ Jess Oppenheimer, Laughs, luck... and Lucy: how I came to create the most popular sitcom of all, 1999, Syracuse University Press, pp.90-91, ISBN9780815605843; excerpt at Google Books
↑ Whitburn, Joel (1983) The Billboard Book of US Top 40 Hits, New York: Billboard Publications, Inc, page 94 ISBN9780823075119
↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p.169.
↑ See Label shot at technodisco.net, retrieved 2 November 2011: The label on the original Fraternity 45rpm record F-755 shows "JIMMY DORSEY" prominently, followed by small print "with Orchestra and Chorus"
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