Who's Sorry Now? (song)

"Who's Sorry Now?"
Sheet music cover, 1923
Single by Isham Jones Orchestra
A-side"Swingin' Down the Lane"
PublishedMarch 7, 1923 (1923-03-07) Waterson, Berlin & Snyder, Inc.[1] 1929 Mills Music, Inc.
ReleasedJuly 1923 (1923-07)
RecordedMay 4, 1923 (1923-05-04)[2]
StudioBrunswick Studios, 799 Seventh Avenue, New York City
GenreAmerican Dance Music, Jazz
Length3:04
LabelBrunswick 2438[3]
Composer(s)Ted Snyder
Lyricist(s)Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby
Isham Jones Orchestra singles chronology
"Broken Hearted Melody"
(1923)
"Who's Sorry Now?"
(1923)
"When You Walked Out, Someone Else Walked Right In"
(1923)
Audio sample
Recording of Who's Sorry Now, performed by the Isham Jones Orchestra (1923)

"Who's Sorry Now?" is a popular song with music written by Ted Snyder and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. It was published in 1923[4] as a waltz (3
4
time). Isham Jones had a hit recording in 1923 with the song arranged as a foxtrot (in 2
2
time).[5] Later sheet music arrangements, such as the 1946 publication that was a tie-in to the film A Night in Casablanca, were published in 2
2
time (notated as cut time). Other popular versions in 1923 were by Marion Harris, Original Memphis Five, Lewis James, and Irving Kaufman.

Advertisement featured in Cashbox magazine, 15 February 1958

"Who's Sorry Now?" was featured in the Marx Brothers film A Night in Casablanca (1946) and in the 1950 film Three Little Words, where it was sung by Gloria DeHaven.

Karen Elson with Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks recorded the song for an episode of the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire.

The song gave American singer Connie Francis her major solo debut hit, which in March 1958 reached number 4 on Billboard's Hot 100. The single, which would become Francis's signature record, spent a total of 22 weeks on the Hot 100 – the longest of any of her hits — and was the first of her eight singles to be certified gold in America. In May and June 1958 the single spent six weeks at number one in on the UK singles chart.

The 1923 sound recordings of the song entered the public domain in the United States in 2024.[6]

  1. ^ Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1923). Catalog of Copyright Entries, 1923 Music For the Year 1923 Vol 18 Part 3. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
  2. ^ "Brunswick matrix 10557-10559. Who's sorry now? / Isham Jones Orchestra - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  3. ^ "BRUNSWICK 78rpm numerical listing discography: 2000 - 2500". www.78discography.com. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  4. ^ Furia, Philip; Lasser, Michael (2006). America's Songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley. CRC Press. p. 36. ISBN 0-415-97246-9. On infrequent occasions Ruby also worked on lyrics. He and Kalmar wrote the words to a Tom Snyder tune they called "Who's Sorry Now?"
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 588. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  6. ^ "Public Domain Day 2024 | Duke University School of Law". web.law.duke.edu.