"Blue Skies" is a song by Irving Berlin, who wrote both the music and the lyrics. It was published by Irving Berlin, Inc. in 1926. It was a last-minute addition to Betsy, the Rodgers and Hart musical that ran for 39 performances. On opening night the audience demanded 24 encores from the star, Belle Baker. During a rehearsal she forgot the lyrics, and Berlin sang them himself from his seat in the front row.
The song was recorded for all the major labels and for dime-store labels. Ben Selvin's version, issued as The Knickerbockers, was a hit in 1927, the same year Al Jolson sang it in The Jazz Singer. Benny Goodman recorded it in 1935, and Count Basie and Benny Goodman both reached the pop charts with it. The 1946 Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire film Blue Skies took its title from the song. Later versions include Ella Fitzgerald's scat-jazz performance on her 1958 Irving Berlin Song Book, Johnny Rivers's 1962 release, Al Jarreau's 1992 recording for Glengarry Glen Ross, and Willie Nelson's 1978 version, which reached number one on the US country chart. It is a swing and jazz standard with English lyrics.
