When Sunny Gets Blue

"When Sunny Gets Blue"
Single by Johnny Mathis and Ray Conniff and his Orchestra
from the album Johnny's Greatest Hits
A-side"Wonderful! Wonderful!"
ReleasedNovember 5, 1956
Recorded1956
StudioColumbia 30th Street Studio, New York City
GenreVocal pop, jazz
Length2:34
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Marvin Fisher
Jack Segal
Producer(s)Ray Conniff
Johnny Mathis singles chronology
"When Sunny Gets Blue"
(1956)
"It's Not for Me to Say"
(1957)

"When Sunny Gets Blue" is a song written by Marvin Fisher (music) and Jack Segal (lyrics), which has become a jazz standard.[1] The song was originally recorded in September 1956 by Johnny Mathis backed by Ray Conniff and his Orchestra, released in February 1957 as the B-side of Mathis's debut single "Wonderful! Wonderful!". The song was included on the compilation album Johnny's Greatest Hits, released in April 1958. The album was a smash hit, staying on the Billboard pop chart for 490 weeks, including 3 weeks at number 1, and 57 weeks in the Top Ten.[2]

The song was recorded in January 1957 by June Christy for her album Fair and Warmer!, released later that year.[2] Pete Rugolo arranged and conducted for Christy. Around the same time, Nat King Cole recorded it for his album Love Is the Thing, with this rendition praised by music critic Will Friedwald as displaying Cole's "tenderness, compassion and empathy".[3] Arranger Gordon Jenkins backed Cole.

  1. ^ Johnson, J. Wilfred (5 August 2010). Ella Fitzgerald: An Annotated Discography; Including a Complete Discography of Chick Webb. McFarland. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-7864-5039-8.
  2. ^ a b Sullivan, Steve (2017). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings. Vol. 3. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 287. ISBN 9781442254497.
  3. ^ Friedwald, Will (2020). Straighten Up and Fly Right: The Life and Music of Nat King Cole. Oxford University Press. p. 346. ISBN 9780190882068.