Dream a Little Dream of Me

"Dream a Little Dream of Me" is a song, from circa 1931, with music by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt and lyrics by Gus Kahn. It was first recorded in February 1931 by Ozzie Nelson and also by Wayne King and His Orchestra, with vocal by Ernie Birchill. A popular standard, it has seen more than 60 other versions recorded, with one of the highest chart ratings by Mama Cass Elliot with the Mamas & the Papas in 1968.

Early recordings

"Dream a Little Dream of Me" was recorded by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra, with vocal by Nelson, on February 16, 1931, for Brunswick Records. Two days later, Wayne King and His Orchestra, with vocal by Ernie Birchill, recorded the song for Victor Records. "Dream a Little Dream of Me" was also an early signature tune of Kate Smith. In summer 1950, seven recordings of "Dream a Little Dream of Me" were in release, with the versions by Frankie Laine and Jack Owens reaching the US top 20 at respectively numbers 18 and 14: the other versions were by Cathy Mastice, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Jordan, Vaughn Monroe, Dinah Shore and a duet by Bing Crosby and Georgia Gibbs. Other traditional pop acts to record "Dream a Little Dream of Me" include Louis Armstrong, Barbara Carroll, Nat King Cole, Doris Day, Joni James, and Dean Martin.

The song was again recorded in 1968 by Mama Cass Elliot with The Mamas & the Papas, and then by Anita Harris. More than 40 other versions followed, including by the Mills Brothers, Sylvie Vartan, Henry Mancini, The Beautiful South, Anne Murray, Erasure, Michael Bublé, and Italian vocal group Blue Penguin (see below: List of recorded versions).

Cass Elliot version

"Dream a Little Dream of Me"
Single by Mama Cass with the Mamas & the Papas
from the album The Papas & The Mamas
B-side	"Midnight Voyage"
Released	June 1968
Format	7-inch single
Genre	Pop
Length	3:14
Label	Dunhill
Composer(s)	Fabian Andre, Wilbur Schwandt
Lyricist(s)	Gus Kahn
Producer(s)	Lou Adler
The Mamas and the Papas singles chronology
"Safe in My Garden" (1968) "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (1968) "For the Love of Ivy" (1968)
Audio sample
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"Dream a Little Dream of Me" was recorded for the Mamas & the Papas April 1968 album release The Papas & The Mamas. The group had often sung the song for fun, having been familiarized with it by member Michelle Phillips, whose father had been friends with the song's co-writer, Fabian Andre, in Mexico City where Michelle Phillips' family had resided when she was a young girl. "Mama" Cass Elliot suggested to group leader John Phillips that the group record "Dream a Little Dream of Me". According to him she was unhappy while recording the song, objecting to its campiness. However, Elliot herself would later tell Melody Maker: "I tried to sing it like it was 1943 and somebody had just come in and said, 'Here's a new song.' I tried to sing it as if it were the first time."

In the album version, recorded with the Mamas and the Papas, a spoken introduction from an engineer is heard mentioning a drink, and then concluding with the words: "And now, to sing a lovely ballad, here is Mama Cass". Only the last part was heard on the single version of the song. Cass did her own whistling, which is heard before the song's fade.

By the time of the album's release, there were strong indications that the Mamas & the Papas were set to disband, a perception strengthened by the failure of the lead single "Safe in My Garden". Having an opportunity to promote the group's best-known member as a soloist, Dunhill Records gave a June 1968 single release to the "Dream a Little Dream of Me" track with the credit reading - to John Phillips' displeasure -^[1] "Mama Cass with the Mamas & the Papas"; in its UK release the artist credit simply read "Mama Cass". Promoted in the US press and on billboards with a photograph of a discreetly but obviously nude Elliot lying in a bed of daisies,^[2] "Dream a Little Dream of Me" peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 that August (its Cash Box peak was #10 and in Record World it reached #8). The Billboard Easy Listening chart ranked the single as high as #2.^[3] In the UK "Dream a Little Dream of Me" reached #11 that September; the track also afforded Mama Cass a hit in Ireland (#13) and South Africa (#8). In Australia the Go-Set Top 40 chart ranked "Dream a Little Dream of Me" at #1 for the weeks of 4 & 11 September 1968.^[4] "Dream a Little Dream" was released as a single in Europe in 1992 - credited to the Mamas and the Papas and featuring that group's #1 hit "Monday, Monday" as the B-side - to reach #5 in Germany and #22 in Switzerland. In Australia the song spent two weeks at #1,^[5] and was the 16th biggest hit of 1968.^[6]

A slightly different version of "Dream a Little Dream of Me" was included on Elliot's solo debut album, Dream a Little Dream.^[2]

Chart performance

Anita Harris version

The release of the Mama Cass single of "Dream a Little Dream of Me" prompted a cover by Anita Harris which was recorded at Olympic Studios in a session produced by Mike Margolis with Alan Tew as musical director. Released 26 July 1968, the Harris version debuted in the UK Top 50 dated 10 August 1968 at #46 ahead of the Cass version at #49 although the latter would vault into the Top 30 and then Top 20 over the next two weeks while the Harris version would never reach the Top 30. However Harris's version of "Dream a Little Dream of Me" would maintain a lower chart presence throughout the ascendancy of the Cass version with Harris's single peaking at #33 the week after Cass's peak at #11. Both Cass's and Harris's versions of the song have an inaccurate rendering of the middle eight bars.

Robbie Williams version

"Dream a Little Dream"
Song by Robbie Williams
from the album Swings Both Ways
Released	15 November 2013 (2013-11-15)
Genre	Swing pop
Length	3:33
Label	Island
Composer(s)	Fabian Andre Wilbur Schwandt
Lyricist(s)	Gus Kahn
Producer(s)	Guy Chambers
Swings Both Ways track listing
"Swings Both Ways" (5) "Dream a Little Dream" (6) "Soda Pop" (7)
Music video
Robbie Williams featuring Lily Allen on YouTube

English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams recorded "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (retitled "Dream a Little Dream") for his tenth studio and second swing album, Swings Both Ways (2013). While the album version is a duet with Lily Allen, she was omitted from the single version, which was released on 13 December 2013 as the album's second single.

Music Video

The video features Williams singing the song whilst presenting a Christmas show in the style of The Dean Martin Show.

Track listings

• Irish digital download^[14]

1. "Dream a Little Dream" – 3:10

• German, Swiss and Austrian digital download^[15]

1. "Dream a Little Dream" (single version) – 3:11
2. "You Got Old" – 3:43
3. "Puttin' on the Ritz" (remix) – 2:18

Charts

Release history

List of recorded versions

Performances in other media

• During the mid- to late 1980s, the toy mechanical teddy bear Teddy Ruxpin "sang" several old love songs, including "Dream a Little Dream of Me".
• It was the theme song in the 1989 movie Dream a Little Dream, and featured two versions: a solo by Mickey Thomas, and a duet by him and Mel Tormé.
• At the beginning of the 1989 movie The Dream Team, an enfeebled man (played by singer-accordionist Bill Goffi),^[48] sitting in the sanatorium, sings it.
• In the 1989 Carl Reiner film, Bert Rigby, You're a Fool, Bert (Robert Lindsay) sings the song to his girlfriend in a dream sequence homage to the movie "An American in Paris."^[49]
• A 1989 French ad for Yoplait Yop brand yogurt,^[50][51]
• In Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D (1991), Miss Piggy sings the song as a loosely parodied version of Mama Cass.
• Burgess Meredith sang the song as a lullaby to the girl playing his great-granddaughter (Allie, played by Katie Sagona) in the 1995 movie Grumpier Old Men.
• The song is heard in the final scene of the 1996 movie Beautiful Thing, as the two main characters dance outside their apartment complex.
• A few verses were sung by John Crichton, portrayed by Ben Browder, in the Farscape 2000 episode "Dream a Little Dream".
• Brittany Murphy can be heard singing parts of it throughout the 2001 film Don't Say a Word.
• It is performed by the Egyptian actress Yousra in the 2006 movie The Yacoubian Building.
• Zooey Deschanel performed live by at fashion designer Erin Fetherston's 2007 show.
• Pete Doherty and Carl Barat performed it as a party piece during the first iteration of The Libertines. Most recently they performed it at the Hackney Empire on April 12, 2007, during a surprise reunion show for the duo. Barat often tap-dances during the performance.
• Sung by Bobbi Eakes on the June 14, 2007, broadcast of ABC's All My Children.
• The song provides the title for Season 3 Episode 10 (2008) of Supernatural.
• The character Artie Abrams, portrayed by Kevin McHale, sings the song on Glee in the episode "Dream On" (2010).
• The song is featured in Anand Tucker's 2010 movie Leap Year.
• It can be heard during the final scene and closing credits of the 2010 movie Repo Men.
• The Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong duet version of the song is featured in the 2011 Hallmark Channel movie The Lost Valentine.
• Used for the opening and closing credits for the HBO film Cinema Verite (2011).
• In a 2012 video advertisement for Premier Inn, an instrumental version of the song is background behind the announcer's voice.^[52]
• Caro Emerald performed it on Dutch TV in connection with her winning De Gouden Notekraker for live musical performance in 2012.^[53]
• Actress Sarah Paulson performs a snippet of the song in the second episode of the fourth season of American Horror Story, playing the conjoined twins Bette and Dot Tattler.
• Jaymay sang it for the 2014 movie A Good Marriage.
• "Devil You Know", an episode of the TV series Boardwalk Empire's fifth and final season (2014) heavily features actress/singer Margot Bingham's version of the song. Bingham's version of the song is also featured briefly in the 2016 video game Battlefield 1.
• A version of the song is used in the TV commercial for Travel Counsellors aired on UK channel ITV1 in June and July 2015.
• A French version of the song, "Les Yeux Ouverts," was sung by The Beautiful South in the 1995 film, "French Kiss." It is also on the film's Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album.

References

External links

• NPR audio piece on "Dream a Little Dream of Me" being one of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics