Lover, Come Back to Me
Encyclopedia
"Lover, Come Back to Me" is a popular
song
. The music was written by Sigmund Romberg
with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
for the Broadway
show The New Moon
, where the song was introduced by Evelyn Herbert and Robert Halliday (as Robert Misson). The song was published in 1928
.
and Grace Moore
in New Moon
, the 1930 film adaptation of The New Moon, and by Jeanette MacDonald
and Nelson Eddy
in the 1940 adaptation, also titled New Moon.
's second single release in November 1962, as a double single with "My Coloring Book
".
Produced by Mike Berniker
, and recorded before Streisand's first album sessions, the single was sent to radio.
In 1963, Streisand later re-recorded the song for her second album "The Second Barbra Streisand Album
", which later appeared on the compilation "The Essential Barbra Streisand
". In her first television special, "My Name is Barbra", she performs a bitterly jubilant version of the song, showcasing her versatility. In 2000, she performed the song on her "Timeless Tour" and a live recording was included on the live album "Timeless: Live in Concert
", and the accompanying DVD release.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
. The music was written by Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg
Sigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...
with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
for the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
show The New Moon
The New Moon
The New Moon is the name of an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab. The show was the third and last in a string of Broadway hits for Romberg written in the style of Viennese operetta...
, where the song was introduced by Evelyn Herbert and Robert Halliday (as Robert Misson). The song was published in 1928
1928 in music
-Events:*April 27 - Igor Stravinsky's ballet Apollon musagète is premiered in Washington.*September 11 - Leoš Janáček's String Quartet No. 2, Intimate Letters, is premiered in Brno....
.
Film versions
The song was performed by Lawrence TibbettLawrence Tibbett
Lawrence Mervil Tibbett was a great American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone, he sang with the New York Metropolitan Opera company more than 600 times from 1923 to 1950...
and Grace Moore
Grace Moore
Grace Moore was an American operatic soprano and actress in musical theatre and film. She was nicknamed the "Tennessee Nightingale." Her films helped to popularize opera by bringing it to a larger audience.-Early life:...
in New Moon
New Moon (1930 film)
New Moon is the name of two different film versions of the operetta The New Moon with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and others. The original stage version premiered on Broadway in 1928...
, the 1930 film adaptation of The New Moon, and by Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
and Nelson Eddy
Nelson Eddy
Nelson Ackerman Eddy was an American singer and actor who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred...
in the 1940 adaptation, also titled New Moon.
Barbra Streisand version
Arranged and conducted by George Williams, the song was released as Barbra StreisandBarbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
's second single release in November 1962, as a double single with "My Coloring Book
My Coloring Book
-Sandy Stewart version:The song was recorded by Sandy Stewart and released as a single with "I Heard You Cry Last Night" as a b-side in 1962.-Other versions:*Dusty Springfield recorded the song for her 1964 debut album "A Girl Called Dusty"....
".
Produced by Mike Berniker
Mike Berniker
Michael Berniker was a record producer who was recognized with nine Grammy Awards over the course of his career for his work on albums with such performers as Perry Como, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme, Johnny Mathis and Barbra Streisand, as well as Broadway theatre cast recordings, Latin jazz,...
, and recorded before Streisand's first album sessions, the single was sent to radio.
In 1963, Streisand later re-recorded the song for her second album "The Second Barbra Streisand Album
The Second Barbra Streisand Album
The Second Barbra Streisand Album is the title of Barbra Streisand's second solo studio album. The album was released in August 1963, just six months after the release of her debut album, The Barbra Streisand Album, and recorded in just four days in June 1963 .Radio stations received mono and...
", which later appeared on the compilation "The Essential Barbra Streisand
The Essential Barbra Streisand
The Essential Barbra Streisand is a two-disc compilation album of Barbra Streisand released by Sony BMG as part of their Essentials series. Released in January 2002, and drawing from four decades of her work, it includes all but one of her top-ten hits, and most of her top-forty hits...
". In her first television special, "My Name is Barbra", she performs a bitterly jubilant version of the song, showcasing her versatility. In 2000, she performed the song on her "Timeless Tour" and a live recording was included on the live album "Timeless: Live in Concert
Timeless: Live in Concert
Timeless: Live in Concert is a live album released by Barbra Streisand on September 19, 2000 . It was her fifth live album and was released on Columbia Records...
", and the accompanying DVD release.
Official Versions
- "Lover, Come Back To Me" (1962 Version)
- "Lover, Come Back To Me" (1963 Version) / (Album Version) - 2:18
- "Lover, Come Back To Me" (live from "Timeless: Live in Concert", 2000)
- "Medley: Hooray For LoveHooray for Love"Hooray for Love" is a song title that appears on two separate songs. The earlier song was composed by Jimmy McHugh, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, for a 1935 RKO-Radio movie of the same title....
/ After You've GoneAfter You've Gone (song)"After You've Gone" is a 1918 popular song composed by Turner Layton, with lyrics written by Henry Creamer. It was recorded by Marion Harris on July 22, 1918 and released on Victor 18509. It is the basis for many other jazz songs, as it can easily be improvised over...
/ By Myself / S'Wonderful / (I Like New York In June) How About You?How About You?"How About You?" is a popular song composed by Burton Lane, with lyrics by Ralph Freed. It was introduced in the 1941 film Babes on Broadway by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney and has also featured in The Fisher King with Robin Williams. The music of the song appears in the film All About Eve...
/ Lover, Come Back To Me / You And The Night And The Music / It All Depends On YouIt All Depends on You"It All Depends on You" is a popular song.The music was written by Ray Henderson, with lyrics by Buddy G. DeSylva and Lew Brown. The song was published in 1926.-Recorded versions:*Shirley Bassey...
" (Live from "The Judy Garland ShowThe Judy Garland ShowThe Judy Garland Show is an American musical variety television series that aired on CBS on Sunday nights during the 1963-1964 television season. Despite a sometimes stormy relationship with Judy Garland, CBS had found success with several television specials featuring the star...
" - 4:34
Notable Recordings
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and Dorothy KirstenDorothy KirstenDorothy Kirsten was an American operatic soprano.-Biography:... - Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
- Tore Faye's Quartet. Recorded in Oslo on December 6, 1954. It was released on the 78 rpm record His Master's Voice A.L. 3468.
- Billie HolidayBillie HolidayBillie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
- Ella FitzgeraldElla FitzgeraldElla Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
- Jane PowellJane PowellJane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...
(1949) - Bobby DarinBobby DarinBobby Darin , born Walden Robert Cassotto, was an American singer, actor and musician.Darin performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country...
- Peggy LeePeggy LeePeggy Lee was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and...
- Anna MoffoAnna MoffoAnna Moffo was an Italian-American opera singer and one of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation...
and Sergio FranchiSergio FranchiSergio Franchi was an Italian tenor.Franchi was born in Cremona, Italy. His father wanted him to become an electrical engineer, so he studied both music and engineering simultaneously. The family moved to South Africa in 1952, where Sergio worked part-time as a draftsman, while continuing to study...
for their popular 1963 RCA Victor Red Seal album The Dream Duet - Earl WrightsonEarl WrightsonEarl Wrightson was an American singer and actor best known for musical theatre, concerts and television performances. His regular singing partner was the soprano Lois Hunt.-Early life and career:...
with Percy Faith & His Orchestra - Jeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
and Nelson EddyNelson EddyNelson Ackerman Eddy was an American singer and actor who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred... - Aretha FranklinAretha FranklinAretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
for her album "The Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha FranklinThe Tender, the Moving, the Swinging Aretha Franklin"Aretha is a natural. No matter what she sings - new songs like Without the One You Love and Don't Cry, Baby or time-tested stadarts like Try a Little Tenderness and I Apologize - she is completely free, uninhibited and thrilling", Billy James, said."...Every step of the way, Aretha has grown. She...
" (1962). - Rudy ValleeRudy ValléeRudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
- Annette HanshawAnnette HanshawCatherine Annette Hanshaw was born at her parents' residence in New York City on October 18, 1901. [Ed. While Annette sometimes gave her birth date as 1910, nephew Frank W. Hanshaw III confirms 1901 as the date on Annette's birth certificate.]-Biography:...
- Liza MinnelliLiza MinnelliLiza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
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- Arthur SchuttArthur SchuttArthur Schutt was an American jazz pianist and arranger.Schutt learned piano from his father, and accompanied silent films as a teenager in the 1910s...
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- Nat King ColeNat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
- Brenda LeeBrenda LeeBrenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...
- Thomas Hayward
- Tony MartinTony Martin (entertainer)Tony Martin is an American actor and singer.-Career:Tony Martin was born on Christmas Day, 1913 as Alvin Morris in San Francisco, California to Jewish immigrant parents. He received a saxophone as a gift from his grandmother at the age of ten. In his grammar school glee club, he became an...
and Joan WeldonJoan WeldonJoan Weldon is an American film and television actress. She began her career singing in the San Francisco Grand Opera Company chorus. Later she became a contract actress with Warner Bros. where she remained until her contract ended in 1954... - Bryan FerryBryan FerryBryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
(1999) - The performance featured in the 2004 Encores!Encores!Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert is a program that has been presented by New York City Center since 1994. Encores! is dedicated to performing the full score of musicals that rarely are heard in New York City...
revival of The New Moon, recorded on Ghostlight Records. It is sung first by Christiane NollChristiane NollChristiane Noll is an American singer and actress known for her work in musicals and on the concert stage. She is perhaps best known for originating the role of Emma Carew in Frank Wildhorn's Jekyll & Hyde, as well as her roles in Urinetown and City of Angels.-Life and career:Noll was born in New...
and later by Rodney Gilfry and a male chorus. - Mildred BaileyMildred BaileyMildred Bailey was a popular and influential American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing"...
with Benny Goodman on the Camel Caravan broadcast of Oct. 28, 1939 and for Columbia records with a small group in 1938. - Anita O'DayAnita O'DayAnita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
- Artie ShawArtie ShawArthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
- Al BowllyAl BowllyAlbert Allick Bowlly was a Southern-African singer, songwriter, composer and band leader, who became a popular Jazz crooner during the 1930s in the United Kingdom and later, in the United States of America. He recorded more than 1,000 records between 1927 and 1941...
- The CleftonesThe CleftonesThe Cleftones were a doo-wop group from Queens, New York. They were formed in 1955 at Jamaica High School. The group consisted of Herbie Cox , Charlie James , Berman Patterson, , William McClane , and Warren Corbin . They were originally called The Silvertones...
- The Four Evers
- Chet AtkinsChet AtkinsChester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...
& Les PaulLes PaulLester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations... - Smith Ballew with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra 1929
- Ben WebsterBen WebsterBenjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
- Lester YoungLester YoungLester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
- Benny GolsonBenny GolsonBenny Golson is an American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.-Biography:While in high school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Golson played with several other promising young musicians, including John Coltrane, Red Garland, Jimmy Heath, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, and...
- Coleman HawkinsColeman HawkinsColeman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
- John ColtraneJohn ColtraneJohn William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
- Dinah WashingtonDinah WashingtonDinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
- Cassandra WilsonCassandra WilsonCassandra Wilson is an American jazz musician, vocalist, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. Described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed with an unmistakable timbre and attack [who has] expanded the playing field" by incorporating country, blues and folk music into her...
on LoverlyLoverlyLoverly is an album by American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson, released in 2008.-Track listing:# "Lover, Come Back to Me" – 4:16# "A Day in the Life of a Fool" – 4:58...
and Silver PonySilver PonySilver Pony is an album by American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson, released in November 2010 on Blue Note Records. A mixture of live and studio-recorded tracks, it was produced by Wilson and John Fischbach. It includes jazz, blues and pop standards, as well as original music by Wilson and her band...
Appearances in Popular Culture
- Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
's recording appeared in episode #7.02 of "Dancing With The Stars". - Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and Judy GarlandJudy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
performed a chorus of the song as part as a medley on Judy Garland Show. - The Jeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
and Nelson EddyNelson EddyNelson Ackerman Eddy was an American singer and actor who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred...
duet appeared in the film "That's Entertainment, Part II". - The Tony MartinTony Martin (entertainer)Tony Martin is an American actor and singer.-Career:Tony Martin was born on Christmas Day, 1913 as Alvin Morris in San Francisco, California to Jewish immigrant parents. He received a saxophone as a gift from his grandmother at the age of ten. In his grammar school glee club, he became an...
and Joan WeldonJoan WeldonJoan Weldon is an American film and television actress. She began her career singing in the San Francisco Grand Opera Company chorus. Later she became a contract actress with Warner Bros. where she remained until her contract ended in 1954...
duet appeared in the 1954 biopic "Deep In My Heart". - The song appeared in the 1930 short film "An Intimate Dinner in Celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee".
- The song performed in the film "U-571U-571 (film)U-571 is a 2000 film directed by Jonathan Mostow, and starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Thomas Kretschmann, Jon Bon Jovi, Jack Noseworthy, Will Estes, and Tom Guiry...
" at the wedding reception while Dahlgreen is talking to Tyler. - The Annette Hanshaw rendition of this song was also use in the animated movie Sita Sings The Blues