Begin the Beguine is a song by Cole Porter, who wrote its music and lyrics in 1935 during a Pacific cruise aboard the Franconia, from Kalabahi to Fiji. It was introduced in the Broadway musical Jubilee at the Imperial Theatre in October 1935, sung by June Knight, and published by Harms, Inc. in New York that month. At first it gained little popularity, perhaps because of its length and unconventional form, and Josephine Baker's dance to it in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 did not help.
The breakthrough came with Artie Shaw and His Orchestra, whose extended swing version, arranged by Jerry Gray, was recorded on 24 July 1938. It became a best-seller, peaking at no. 3, and is one of the most famous recordings of the Swing Era. The song was then used in the MGM film Broadway Melody of 1940, with Lois Hodnott singing and Eleanor Powell and Fred Astaire dancing. Big bands including Harry James, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller recorded it, and Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Elvis Presley are reference versions. The beguine is a dance and music form similar to a slow rhumba. Julio Iglesias recorded a Spanish version, Volver a Empezar, in 1981, reaching No. 1 in the UK.
