I'll See You In My Dreams: A Song History

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"I'll See You In My Dreams" pairs a melody by Isham Jones with words by Gus Kahn, and Leo Feist, Inc. of New York issued the sheet music in 1924.[1] The Discography of American Historical Recordings documents a New York session on December 4, 1924, credited to "Isham Jones ; Ray Miller Orchestra," with Frank Bessinger as vocalist; it cites Ross Laird's Brunswick discography for the note that Jones served as guest conductor, and Brunswick released the side, labeled a fox trot, on record 2788.[2] Less than three weeks later, on December 23, the singer Marion Harris recorded her own version for the same label.[3]

Sheet music cover with a lithograph of a young woman lost in thought

Winslow Homer, Ever of Thee, I'm Fondly Dreaming - Sheet Music Cover, lithograph, c. 1850s. The cover of an older, unrelated song, shown for its dreamy subject; it has no connection to this one.

Warner Bros. gave the same title to its film biography of Kahn, which opened in New York in December 1951, with Danny Thomas as the lyricist and Doris Day as his wife, Grace LeBoy Kahn, and the song is among those credited in the picture.[4] At the Concert for George, the tribute to George Harrison staged at London's Royal Albert Hall on November 29, 2002, Joe Brown ended the night with it as a ukulele number.[5] Dana Gruber includes it in Speakeasy And Tin Pan Alley Tunes For Chromatic Dulcimer, a collection of popular songs from the early 1900s arranged as chromatic dulcimer solos in DAD tuning, published by Fingers Of Steel.[6]

Our book that contains the song "I'll See You In My Dreams"

Sources

  1. University of Wisconsin-Madison Mills Music Library: "I'll see you in my dreams" (sheet music, Leo. Feist, 1924).
  2. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Brunswick matrix 14389-14392. I'll see you in my dreams / Isham Jones ; Ray Miller Orchestra".
  3. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Brunswick matrix 14537-14539. I'll see you in my dreams / Marion Harris".
  4. AFI Catalog of Feature Films: "I'll See You In My Dreams (1952)".
  5. Ultimate Classic Rock: "How Concert for George Bid an Emotional Goodbye to George Harrison".
  6. Fingers Of Steel: "Dana Gruber, Speakeasy And Tin Pan Alley Tunes For Chromatic Dulcimer".
  7. Image: Winslow Homer, Ever of Thee, I'm Fondly Dreaming - Sheet Music Cover, lithograph, c. 1850s. The Cleveland Museum of Art.

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