"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" was written by Irving Berlin, who composed the music and the lyrics, and was copyrighted in 1937. It was introduced in the film On the Avenue, which premiered on 12 February 1937, where it was sung by Dick Powell and Alice Faye. Several recordings followed in January 1937: Ray Noble with vocalist Howard Barrie, Red Norvo with Mildred Bailey, and Billie Holiday with her orchestra. The Noble, Norvo and film versions were successful that year, as were the versions by Glen Gray, with vocal by Kenny Sargent, and by Holiday.
Les Brown's instrumental version, arranged by Skip Martin and recorded in 1946, became a million-seller and a top-ten song on Billboard in 1949, and the Mills Brothers also had a chart hit with it on Decca that year. The song is a winter song rather than a Christmas song, since its lyrics never mention the holiday, yet it has become part of the US holiday repertoire. Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, Dean Martin, Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington and others have recorded it.
