DESCRIPTION:
Josephine recorded her version in 1927. Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 -- April 12, 1975) was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. Nicknamed the "Bronze Venus," the "Black Pearl," and even the "Créole Goddess" in anglophone nations. "Blue Skies" is a popular song, written by Irving Berlin in 1926.
The song was composed in 1926 as a last minute addition to the Rodgers and Hart musical, Betsy. Although the show only ran for 39 performances, "Blue Skies" was an instant success, with audiences on opening night demanding 24 encores of the piece from star, Belle Baker.
In 1927, the music was published and Ben Selvin's recorded version was a #1 hit. That same year, it became one of the first songs to be featured in a talkie, when Al Jolson performed it in The Jazz Singer. 1946 was also a notable year for the song, with a Bing Crosby/Fred Astaire film taking its title, and two recorded versions by Count Basie and Benny Goodman reaching #8 and #9 on the pop charts, respectively. Crossing genres, Willie Nelson's recording of "Blue Skies" was a #1 country music hit in 1978. It was a major western swing and country standard already in 1939, by Moon Mullican, and in 1962 by Jim Reeves.
"Blue Skies" is one of many popular songs whose lyrics use a "Bluebird of happiness" as a symbol of cheer: "Bluebirds singing a song -- Nothing but bluebirds all day long."
Josephine Baker was much more famous as a cabaret performer, dancer and personality than as a jazz singer but, as she shows on some of these early recordings, she could swing and improvise when she wanted to.