"This Is All I Ask" is a popular song and jazz standard with English lyrics. Its music is by Gordon Jenkins, who is credited alone as writer, and it was first published in 1958. The original recording was made by Nat King Cole with an orchestra conducted by Jenkins on 2 May 1958 and released on 1 November 1958 on the album The Very Thought of You (Capitol), running 4:29. Jenkins considered it his finest composition and arranged it for Cole, Harry Nilsson, Tiny Tim, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra.
Tony Bennett included it on Alone Together (1960) and released it as a single in 1963, reaching No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100. Burl Ives's 1962 single reached No. 67, and in the same year Jenkins issued an instrumental version on Columbia. Other recordings include versions by Perry Como, Robert Goulet, John Gary, Andy Williams, Jimmy Durante, Johnny Mathis, Jack Jones, Matt Monro, Harry Nilsson (1973), George Benson (1989) and Tony Bennett with Josh Groban (2011). A line from the song inspired Sinatra's album September of My Years (1965), arranged by Jenkins, which won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Bennett sang the song throughout his career.
