Because of You (1940 song)
Encyclopedia
"Because of You" is a popular
song
. It was written by Arthur Hammerstein
and Dudley Wilkinson in 1940
. It was used in the 1951 film I Was an American Spy.
A 1951 recording by Tony Bennett
(Columbia Records
catalog number
39362, recorded April 4, 1951) was the first major hit for him, reaching number one on the Billboard
charts and staying there for ten weeks. A cover version
by Johnny Desmond
reached number seventeen at the same time. The song was also covered that year by Gloria DeHaven
(Decca
catalog number 27666) and by Louis Armstrong
(Decca catalog number 27816). The same year, this song was also covered by Les Baxter
(Capitol
catalog number 1681). Also in 1951, Tab Smith
released an R&B instrumental version which hit number one on the R&B chart and number twenty on the pop chart.
"Because of You" is a popular
song
. It was written by Arthur Hammerstein
and Dudley Wilkinson in 1940
. It was used in the 1951 film I Was an American Spy.
A 1951 recording by Tony Bennett
(Columbia Records
catalog number
39362, recorded April 4, 1951) was the first major hit for him, reaching number one on the Billboard
charts and staying there for ten weeks. A cover version
by Johnny Desmond
reached number seventeen at the same time.
The song was also covered that year by Gloria DeHaven
(Decca
catalog number 27666) and by Louis Armstrong
(Decca catalog number 27816). The same year, this song was also covered by Les Baxter
(Capitol
catalog number 1681). Also in 1951, Tab Smith
released an R&B instrumental version which hit number one on the R&B chart and number twenty on the pop chart.
"Because of You" is a popular
song
. It was written by Arthur Hammerstein
and Dudley Wilkinson in 1940
. It was used in the 1951 film I Was an American Spy.
A 1951 recording by Tony Bennett
(Columbia Records
catalog number
39362, recorded April 4, 1951) was the first major hit for him, reaching number one on the Billboard
charts and staying there for ten weeks. A cover version
by Johnny Desmond
reached number seventeen at the same time.
The song was also covered that year by Gloria DeHaven
(Decca
catalog number 27666) and by Louis Armstrong
(Decca catalog number 27816). The same year, this song was also covered by Les Baxter
(Capitol
catalog number 1681). Also in 1951, Tab Smith
released an R&B instrumental version which hit number one on the R&B chart and number twenty on the pop chart. Jimmy Velvet
(1958), recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. This was the flip side of "Blue Velvet".
In 1959, a recording was made by Connie Francis
. In 1967, a recording was made by Chris Montez
, whose version peaked at number seventy-one on the pop chart.
A version by Donnie Iris
was released as a single in 1979. It was one of the first singles of his solo career, but it had no affect on the charts (his first successful single would come in 1980 with "Ah! Leah!
").
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
. It was written by Arthur Hammerstein
Arthur Hammerstein
Arthur Hammerstein , was the son of Oscar Hammerstein I and uncle of Oscar Hammerstein II, was an opera producer and one of the writers of the song "Because of You," a major hit for Tony Bennett in 1951. Hammerstein wrote the song in 1940. It was used in the film I Was an American Spy...
and Dudley Wilkinson in 1940
1940 in music
-Events:*July 20 - Billboard magazine publishes its first "Music Popularity Chart".*May 27 - Quartetto Egie make their debut performance.*August - Edmundo Ros forms his own rumba band.*November 23 - Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Quintet is premièred....
. It was used in the 1951 film I Was an American Spy.
A 1951 recording by Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
(Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
catalog number
Catalog numbering systems for single records
This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...
39362, recorded April 4, 1951) was the first major hit for him, reaching number one on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts and staying there for ten weeks. A cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond , born Giovanni Alfredo De Simone, was a popular American singer.-Early years:...
reached number seventeen at the same time. The song was also covered that year by Gloria DeHaven
Gloria DeHaven
Gloria Mildred DeHaven is an American actress and a former contract star for MGM.-Early life and career:DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven, both former vaudeville performers.She began her career as a child...
(Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
catalog number 27666) and by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
(Decca catalog number 27816). The same year, this song was also covered by Les Baxter
Les Baxter
Les Baxter was an American musician and composer.Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer...
(Capitol
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
catalog number 1681). Also in 1951, Tab Smith
Tab Smith
Talmadge "Tab" Smith , was an American swing and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist. He is best known for the tracks, "Because Of You" and "Pretend". He variously worked with Count Basie, the Mills Rhythm Boys and Lucky Millinder.-Biography:Smith was born in Kinston, North Carolina, United States...
released an R&B instrumental version which hit number one on the R&B chart and number twenty on the pop chart.
"Because of You" is a popular
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
. It was written by Arthur Hammerstein
Arthur Hammerstein
Arthur Hammerstein , was the son of Oscar Hammerstein I and uncle of Oscar Hammerstein II, was an opera producer and one of the writers of the song "Because of You," a major hit for Tony Bennett in 1951. Hammerstein wrote the song in 1940. It was used in the film I Was an American Spy...
and Dudley Wilkinson in 1940
1940 in music
-Events:*July 20 - Billboard magazine publishes its first "Music Popularity Chart".*May 27 - Quartetto Egie make their debut performance.*August - Edmundo Ros forms his own rumba band.*November 23 - Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Quintet is premièred....
. It was used in the 1951 film I Was an American Spy.
A 1951 recording by Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
(Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
catalog number
Catalog numbering systems for single records
This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...
39362, recorded April 4, 1951) was the first major hit for him, reaching number one on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts and staying there for ten weeks. A cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond , born Giovanni Alfredo De Simone, was a popular American singer.-Early years:...
reached number seventeen at the same time.
The song was also covered that year by Gloria DeHaven
Gloria DeHaven
Gloria Mildred DeHaven is an American actress and a former contract star for MGM.-Early life and career:DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven, both former vaudeville performers.She began her career as a child...
(Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
catalog number 27666) and by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
(Decca catalog number 27816). The same year, this song was also covered by Les Baxter
Les Baxter
Les Baxter was an American musician and composer.Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer...
(Capitol
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
catalog number 1681). Also in 1951, Tab Smith
Tab Smith
Talmadge "Tab" Smith , was an American swing and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist. He is best known for the tracks, "Because Of You" and "Pretend". He variously worked with Count Basie, the Mills Rhythm Boys and Lucky Millinder.-Biography:Smith was born in Kinston, North Carolina, United States...
released an R&B instrumental version which hit number one on the R&B chart and number twenty on the pop chart.
"Because of You" is a popular
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
. It was written by Arthur Hammerstein
Arthur Hammerstein
Arthur Hammerstein , was the son of Oscar Hammerstein I and uncle of Oscar Hammerstein II, was an opera producer and one of the writers of the song "Because of You," a major hit for Tony Bennett in 1951. Hammerstein wrote the song in 1940. It was used in the film I Was an American Spy...
and Dudley Wilkinson in 1940
1940 in music
-Events:*July 20 - Billboard magazine publishes its first "Music Popularity Chart".*May 27 - Quartetto Egie make their debut performance.*August - Edmundo Ros forms his own rumba band.*November 23 - Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Quintet is premièred....
. It was used in the 1951 film I Was an American Spy.
A 1951 recording by Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
(Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
catalog number
Catalog numbering systems for single records
This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...
39362, recorded April 4, 1951) was the first major hit for him, reaching number one on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts and staying there for ten weeks. A cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond
Johnny Desmond , born Giovanni Alfredo De Simone, was a popular American singer.-Early years:...
reached number seventeen at the same time.
The song was also covered that year by Gloria DeHaven
Gloria DeHaven
Gloria Mildred DeHaven is an American actress and a former contract star for MGM.-Early life and career:DeHaven was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor-director Carter DeHaven and actress Flora Parker DeHaven, both former vaudeville performers.She began her career as a child...
(Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
catalog number 27666) and by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
(Decca catalog number 27816). The same year, this song was also covered by Les Baxter
Les Baxter
Les Baxter was an American musician and composer.Baxter studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer...
(Capitol
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
catalog number 1681). Also in 1951, Tab Smith
Tab Smith
Talmadge "Tab" Smith , was an American swing and rhythm and blues alto saxophonist. He is best known for the tracks, "Because Of You" and "Pretend". He variously worked with Count Basie, the Mills Rhythm Boys and Lucky Millinder.-Biography:Smith was born in Kinston, North Carolina, United States...
released an R&B instrumental version which hit number one on the R&B chart and number twenty on the pop chart. Jimmy Velvet
Jimmy Velvet
Jimmy Velvet was an early American soft rock and roll vocalist, during the 1960s. His most popular singles were "It's Almost Tomorrow" and "We Belong Together".- History :...
(1958), recorded at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. This was the flip side of "Blue Velvet".
In 1959, a recording was made by Connie Francis
Connie Francis
Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
. In 1967, a recording was made by Chris Montez
Chris Montez
Chris Montez , is an American singer.-Early life:Montez grew up in Hawthorne, California, influenced by the Latino-flavored music of his community and the success of Ritchie Valens....
, whose version peaked at number seventy-one on the pop chart.
A version by Donnie Iris
Donnie Iris
Donnie Iris is an American rock musician known for his work with The Jaggerz and Wild Cherry during the 1970s, and for his solo albums during the 1980s...
was released as a single in 1979. It was one of the first singles of his solo career, but it had no affect on the charts (his first successful single would come in 1980 with "Ah! Leah!
Ah! Leah!
"Ah! Leah!" is a song by American rock musician Donnie Iris from his 1980 album Back on the Streets. The song was released as a single in late-1980 and reached #29 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #19 on the U.S...
").
See also
- List of number-one singles of 1951 (U.S.)
- List of number-one rhythm and blues hits (United States)
- List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1950s