When did Glenn Miller sing At Last?

Answer 1

The vocalists in the movie Orchestra Wives were Ray Eberle and Pat Friday. Pat Friday was not credited because she was not an actor, but provided the singing voice for costar Lynn Bari.

When the song was released on record, only Ray Eberle sang.

Answer 2

The song was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren. It was performed originally for the movie Sun Valley Serenade but was cut from the final release. It was brought back with a slightly different arrangement in the movie Orchestra Wives, and became a huge hit.

Answer 3

It was performed on 78 by Ray Eberle, and in the movie "Orchestra Wives" by Ray Eberle and Pat Friday. It was originally scheduled to be used in an earlier film "Sun Valley Serenade" but was cut at the last minute. It was felt that the song was too good to leave out so 20th Century Fox worked it into Miller's second film.

Note that the song was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren. Miller performed it but didn't write it.

Answer 4

Ray Eberle sang the lyrics on both the 78 recording and in the film Orchestra Wives. In the film he was accompanied by Pat Friday, "ghosting" for star Lynn Bari. Both of these recordings were made in 1942.

A different arrangement featuring John Payne and Lynn Bari was recorded in 1941 for the soundtrack of the film Sun Valley Serenade, but was dropped before the film was released. Many years later it appeared on LP and CD.

Many other artists "covered" the song in later years, most famously the late Etta James, whose recording eventually eclipsed even Miller's legendary performances.

Answer 5

Yes. It began as a composition exercise written when he was studying with Dr. Joseph Schillinger. It had variously been titled "Now I Lay Me Down to Weep" and "Gone With the Dawn", but when Miller decided to use it as his theme song he felt a better name was needed. RCA had decided to pair the song with Sunrise Serenade on a Bluebird 78 rpm record, and someone said (roughly) well, if it's on the opposite side of Sunrise Serenade, what's the opposite of sunrise?" and the rest was history.

Answer 6

No. The original melody was called Tar Paper Stomp, and is attributed to Joe Garland but had other composers as well.

The song ran almost 8 minutes which precluded its being recorded on the 3-minute discs available at the time. The rights were sold to various orchestras and it was retitled several times.

It eventually ended up in Artie Shaw's bandbook and got the title In the Mood. Shaw broadcast it a few times but finally gave up and sold it yet again. Miller realized the song's potential and applied his arranging skills. He sped up the tempo, cut out some of the longer middle parts, and emphasized the repetitive riffs that build up to a crashing end. The rest, as they say, is history.

Answer 7

Yes, but just "patter" with the actual vocalists. He can be heard on these recordings:

Annie's Cousin Fanny, with Tommy Dorsey's band

The Lady's in Love With You, with his own band

It Happened in Sun Valley, with his own band on the soundtrack of Sun Valley Serenade

Answer 8

He didn't sing that tune. He conducted the orchestra. There's more information at the Related Question.

Answer 9

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