Carolina in the Morning

"Carolina in the Morning"
Sheet music cover with Ben Bernie & His Orchestra
Song
Published1922 (1922)
GenrePopular
Composer(s)Walter Donaldson
Lyricist(s)Gus Kahn
Audio sample
Recording of Carolina in the Morning, performed by Marion Harris (1922)
Recording by Van and Schenck (1922), which was one of the best selling recordings of 1923[1]

"Carolina in the Morning" is a popular song with words by Gus Kahn and music by Walter Donaldson, first published in 1922 by Jerome H. Remick & Co.[2]

Sheet music of the operatic edition of Carolina in the Morning

The song debuted on Broadway in the elaborate and risqué musical revue The Passing Show of 1922 at the Winter Garden Theater.[3] Vaudeville performers incorporated it into their acts and helped popularize it. Among these was William Frawley[citation needed], who later sang it in Paramount Pictures' original version of The Lemon Drop Kid in 1934, as well as the 1952 episode "Ricky Loses His Voice" of I Love Lucy,[4] and the 1963 season 3 episode "Evening with a Star" of My Three Sons, where it generated moderate attention.

Notable recordings when the song was new were made by such artists as Marion Harris, Van & Schenck, Paul Whiteman and the American Quartet.[5]

"Carolina in the Morning" gradually became a standard, being revived regularly as a popular song into the 1950s. Al Jolson recorded it on June 11, 1947[6] and he featured it in the film Jolson Sings Again (1949). Danny Winchell had a hit with his version in 1952.[7]

Other artists to have later successes with the song included Bing Crosby who recorded the song in 1956[8] for use on his radio show and it was subsequently included in the box set The Bing Crosby CBS Radio Recordings (1954-56) issued by Mosaic Records (catalog MD7-245) in 2009.[9] He subsequently used it in his album A Southern Memoir. Other notable versions were by Dean Martin (for his album Swingin' Down Yonder), Jimmy Durante, Dinah Shore (for her album Dinah Down Home!),[10] Judy Garland, and Danny Kaye.
In 1957, Bill Haley & His Comets recorded a rock and roll version. Freddy Cannon recorded this song on his debut 1960 album The Explosive Freddy Cannon.

It was also performed by Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore on The Dick Van Dyke Show and by Vivian Vance and William Frawley on I Love Lucy.

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research.
  2. ^ "Carolina in the Morning. Song". Johns Hopkins University, The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music. Archived from the original on 2012-12-14. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
  3. ^ "Internet Broadway Database". ibdb.com. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  4. ^ "Internet Movie Database". imdb.com. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 483. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  6. ^ "Jolson.org". Jolson.org. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  7. ^ Oermann, Robert K. (21 February 2011). "Radio Host Danny Winchell Passes". MusicRow. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  8. ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  9. ^ "allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  10. ^ "Discogs.com". Discogs.com. Retrieved December 1, 2017.