What a Diff'rence a Day Made
Encyclopedia
"What a Diff'rence a Day Made" is a popular
song
originally written in Spanish
by María Méndez Grever
(María Grever), a Mexican composer, in 1934. Originally, the song was known as Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado ("When I Return To Your Side"). The song is also known in English as "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes".
lyrics were written by Stanley Adams
, and was played by Harry Roy
& his Orchestra. It was published in late 1934. The most successful early recording, in 1934, was by the Dorsey Brothers.
Dinah Washington
won a Grammy Award
in 1959 for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance with this song. Her version was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. It also earned her her first top ten Pop hit, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100
.
, a Mexican-American singer, recorded the song in 1944 (Capitol #167, paired with "Don't You Notice Anything New?").
Julie Dawn (singer) and Roy Marsh and his Swingtette released a version of the track Paired with "I am going to love that Guy" (this track Bringing together Julie Dawn and Frank Deniz and his Spirits of Rhythm.) exact release date unknown at the moment (Decca 8034 Matrix numbers I 1320 and I1322)
In 1975, Esther Phillips
's recorded a disco
remake which went to number two on the disco charts.
It was recorded by Diana Ross
in 1972, but not released until thirty-four years later when her Blue
album was discovered in the Motown vaults and released in 2006.
Other artists who covered the song include Sarah Vaughan
, Renee Olstead
, Aretha Franklin
on her 1964 album, Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington
, Eydie Gorme
on her 1964 album, Freddy Fender
recorded a version for his 1976 LP If You're Ever In Texas
, Eydie Gorme canta en español con Los Panchos, Cher
perform the song in The Cher Show, Luis Miguel on his 1991 album Romance, and Jamie Cullum
on his 2003 album, Twentysomething
.
In 2007 R&B/Dance
singer Deborah Cox
made a remake of this song on her album Destination Moon
. Also in 2007, Peter Criss
covered the song on his album One for All
.
Lonnie Johnson
covered the song on his album Losing Game.
Rod Stewart
- Fly Me To The Moon ... The Great American Songbook - Volume V (2010)
Bobby Darin
also covered the song on his album "Winners" released in 1964; although he recorded it in 1960.
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...
originally written in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
by María Méndez Grever
María Grever
María Grever was the first Mexican female musician to become a successful composer.Maria Joaquina de la Portilla Torres was born to a Spanish father and Mexican mother in Mexico. After spending much of her childhood in Spain, she returned with her parents to Mexico at the age of 12. She studied...
(María Grever), a Mexican composer, in 1934. Originally, the song was known as Cuando Vuelva A Tu Lado ("When I Return To Your Side"). The song is also known in English as "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes".
Song information
The EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
lyrics were written by Stanley Adams
Stanley Adams (singer)
Stanley Adams was an American lyricist and songwriter. He wrote the English lyrics for the song "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" and the English lyrics for "La Cucaracha"...
, and was played by Harry Roy
Harry Roy
Harry Roy was a British dance band leader and clarinet player from the 1920s until the 1960s.-Life and career:...
& his Orchestra. It was published in late 1934. The most successful early recording, in 1934, was by the Dorsey Brothers.
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington
Dinah 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"...
won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 1959 for Best Rhythm and Blues Performance with this song. Her version was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. It also earned her her first top ten Pop hit, reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
Covers
Andy RussellAndy Russell (singer)
Andy Russell was an American popular vocalist, specializing in traditional pop and Latin music.He was born Andrés Rabago Pérez in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles. He was one of ten children born to parents who were Mexican immigrants of Spanish descent...
, a Mexican-American singer, recorded the song in 1944 (Capitol #167, paired with "Don't You Notice Anything New?").
Julie Dawn (singer) and Roy Marsh and his Swingtette released a version of the track Paired with "I am going to love that Guy" (this track Bringing together Julie Dawn and Frank Deniz and his Spirits of Rhythm.) exact release date unknown at the moment (Decca 8034 Matrix numbers I 1320 and I1322)
In 1975, Esther Phillips
Esther Phillips
Esther Phillips was an American singer. Phillips was known for her R&B vocals, but she was a versatile singer, also performing pop, country, jazz, blues and soul music.-Early life:...
's recorded a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
remake which went to number two on the disco charts.
It was recorded by Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
in 1972, but not released until thirty-four years later when her Blue
Blue (Diana Ross album)
Blue, also referred to as The Blue Album, is a 2006 studio album released on Motown by American pop singer Diana Ross.Recorded in late 1971 and early 1972, the album was conceived as follow-up to the successful Lady Sings the Blues soundtrack but was shelved in order to return Ross to the pop...
album was discovered in the Motown vaults and released in 2006.
Other artists who covered the song include Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
, Renee Olstead
Renee Olstead
Rebecca Renee Olstead is an American actress and singer. Active since childhood as an actress, she is best known for her roles in the TV sitcoms Still Standing as Lauren Miller and The Secret Life of the American Teenager as Madison Cooperstein...
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha 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...
on her 1964 album, Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington
Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington
In January 1995, John Snyder, the producer of the reissue, said - "...This is a very soulful record, a record of ispired singing by one of the great voices of our time. That makes it a "must-have" and a record that is once again "current." It's that kind of work: Ms. Franklin's performance makes...
, Eydie Gorme
Eydie Gormé
Eydie Gormé is an American singer, specializing, with her husband, Steve Lawrence, in traditional pop music, in the form of ballads and breezy swing. She has earned numerous awards, including the Grammy and the Emmy...
on her 1964 album, Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender , born Baldemar Garza Huerta in San Benito, Texas, United States, was a Mexican-American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados...
recorded a version for his 1976 LP If You're Ever In Texas
If You're Ever in Texas
-Track listing:#Don't Do It Darling#It's All In The Game#San Antonio Lady#What A Difference A Day Made#Living It Down#Pass Me By #If You're Ever In Texas#Sometimes#Just One Time#It's Too Late...
, Eydie Gorme canta en español con Los Panchos, Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
perform the song in The Cher Show, Luis Miguel on his 1991 album Romance, and Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum is an English pop and jazz-pop singer-songwriter. Though he is primarily a vocalist/pianist he also accompanies himself on other instruments including guitar and drums. Since April 2010, he has been presenting a weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on Tuesdays from 19:00.- Early...
on his 2003 album, Twentysomething
Twentysomething (album)
Twentysomething is the third album by Jamie Cullum. It was released in 2003 in his native UK, and in May 2004 in the United States.On this release Cullum performs some original material as well as some covers and standards...
.
In 2007 R&B/Dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
singer Deborah Cox
Deborah Cox
Deborah Cox is a Canadian R&B singer-songwriter and actress. Her 1998 song "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" held the record for longest-running number one single on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart , a record held for nearly eight years. She has achieved ten number-one hits on...
made a remake of this song on her album Destination Moon
Destination Moon (album)
Destination Moon is the fourth album by Canadian R&B singer Deborah Cox, released in June 2007 by Decca Records. It also pays tribute to legendary jazz singer Dinah Washington, and Cox calls it "a concept album that I've had in mind for years". Many of Washington's songs are reinterpreted on the...
. Also in 2007, Peter Criss
Peter Criss
George Peter John Criscuola , better known as Peter Criss, is an American drummer and singer, best known as the original drummer for the rock band Kiss...
covered the song on his album One for All
One for All (Peter Criss album)
One for All is the fifth studio album by former Kiss drummer and vocalist Peter Criss. It was released by Megaforce Records on July 23, 2007. The album reached number 36 on the Billboard Top Independent Album list...
.
Lonnie Johnson
Lonnie Johnson
Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson was an American blues and jazz singer/guitarist and songwriter who pioneered the role of jazz guitar and is recognized as the first to play single-string guitar solos...
covered the song on his album Losing Game.
Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
- Fly Me To The Moon ... The Great American Songbook - Volume V (2010)
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin
Bobby 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...
also covered the song on his album "Winners" released in 1964; although he recorded it in 1960.
Use in media
The song, as performed by Dinah Washington, is used in the soundtrack of the following films:- Niagara MotelNiagara MotelNiagara Motel is a 2006 Canadian drama film directed by Gary Yates. The film earned numerous nominations, including a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress for Caroline Dhavernas.- Plot :...
, directed by Gary YatesGary Yates (director)Gary Yates is a film director from Winnipeg, Manitoba.Yates has worked on Canadian television since the early 1990s and recently completed a number of feature films starring actor Kevin Pollack, including Niagara Motel and Seven Times Lucky , which was nominated for five Genie Awards.Gary Yates...
(2005) - The Best of YouthThe Best of YouthThe Best of Youth , is a 2003 Italian film directed by Marco Tullio Giordana. Originally planned as a four-part mini-series, it was presented at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival where it won the prestigious Un Certain Regard award. It was then given a theatrical release in Italy in two three-hour...
, directed by Marco Tullio GiordanaMarco Tullio GiordanaMarco Tullio Giordana is an Italian director and scriptwriter. His film Quando sei nato non puoi più nasconderti was entered into the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.-Director:*Maledetti, vi amerò...
(2003) - Run Lola RunRun Lola RunRun Lola Run is a 1998 German crime thriller film written and directed by Tom Tykwer and starring Franka Potente as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu as Manni. The story follows a woman who needs to obtain 100,000 German marks in 20 minutes to save her boyfriend's life...
, directed by Tom TykwerTom TykwerTom Tykwer is a German film director, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing Run Lola Run , Heaven , Perfume: The Story of a Murderer , and The International ....
(1998) - FaithfulFaithful (film)Faithful is a comedy film released in 1996 about a wife, her husband and a hit man. It was directed by Paul Mazursky and produced by Robert De Niro and written by Chazz Palminteri....
, directed by Paul MazurskyPaul MazurskyPaul Mazursky is an American film director, screenwriter and actor.-Personal life:He was born Irwin Mazursky in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jean , a piano player for dance classes, and David Mazursky, a laborer. Mazursky was born to a Jewish family; his grandfather was an immigrant from...
(1996) - CasinoCasino (film)Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
, directed by Martin ScorseseMartin ScorseseMartin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
(1995) - Chungking ExpressChungking ExpressChungking Express is a 1994 Hong Kong film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. The film consists of two stories told in sequence, each about a lovesick Hong Kong policeman mulling over his relationship with a woman...
, directed by Wong Kar-waiWong Kar-waiWong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046...
(1994) - Corrina, CorrinaCorrina, Corrina (film)Corrina, Corrina is a 1994 feature film set in 1959 about a widower who hires a housekeeper/nanny to care for his daughter . It was written and directed by Jessie Nelson...
, directed by Jessie Nelson (1994)
- The song, performed by Tony BennettTony BennettTony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, is in the film One Fine Day starring George ClooneyGeorge ClooneyGeorge Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
. - The song, performed by Esther Phillips, is used at the end of the film The SunchaserThe SunchaserSunchaser is a 1996 film directed by Michael Cimino and starring Woody Harrelson, Jon Seda and Anne Bancroft. This is director Cimino's last feature-length film.-Plot summary:...
, directed by Michael CiminoMichael CiminoMichael Cimino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and author. He is best known for writing and directing Academy Award-winning The Deer Hunter and the infamous Heaven's Gate. His films are characterized by their striking visual style and controversial subject...
, starring Woody HarrelsonWoody HarrelsonWoodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
.