| "If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight)" | |
| Music by | James P. Johnson |
|---|---|
| Lyrics by | Henry Creamer |
| Published | 1926 |
| Language | English |
| Recorded by | Louis Armstrong Tony Bennett Bing Crosby Doris Day Ella Fitzgerald Frank Sinatra Many other artists |
"If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight)" is a popular song.
The music was written by James P. Johnson, the lyrics by Henry Creamer. The song was published in 1926 and first recorded by Clarence Williams' Blue Five with vocalist Eva Taylor in 1927.[1] It was popularized by the 1930 recording by McKinney's Cotton Pickers, who used it as their theme song.[2]
The song has become a standard, with recordings by many artists, including Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Frank Sinatra. Years after leaving her song-and-dance persona behind at MGM, actress Joan Crawford softly sings a few bars of the song to herself as a down-on-her-luck carnival dancer early in the Warner Bros. classic melodrama Flamingo Road (1949). The film's composer, Max Steiner, expands fragments of the song throughout that film.
QRS Player Piano Roll # Q-152
This song was whistled and sometimes sung (partially) by Jack Lemmon as "Ensign Pulver" (to himself) in the 1955 movie "Mr. Roberts" on a few occasions during the movie.
Sam plays a bit of it in Casablanca.