Irving Berlin was one of America's great composers but from all reports, he wasn't much of a piano player or a singer. Everyone sounded great performing an Irving Berlin song except Irving Berlin.
In 1933, he was working on a revue called As Thousands Cheer. Moss Hart was the director and they'd been having trouble finding the right tune for the Act One finale. Berlin had written several that hadn't worked…but one day, he ran into a rehearsal with great enthusiasm. "I've got it," he yelled. "I came up with a new song and it's perfect." And with that, he sat down at a piano and began to play and sing his latest composition.
It sounded terrible. Hart didn't know what to do since Berlin was so excited. Finally, after the terrible tune was over and he'd had a chance to think about it, Hart said, "Irving…do me a favor and play 'Blue Skies!'"
Irving was puzzled. "Blue Skies" was (then) his biggest hit but what did it have to do with this song in this show? "Just humor me," Hart said. Play 'Blue Skies!'"
So he played "Blue Skies" and it sounded terrible, too.
When he was done, Hart said, "Irving…the new song is terrific!"
That it was. Audiences loved it and a few years later, MGM used it as the title song in a movie with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. Here's that movie, very appropriate for today…
