"Blue Skies" is an old song that was initially written by Irving Berlin, back in 1926.
At its origin, it was an addition for the Rodgers and Hart musical, "Betsy". The musical had a short number of 39 performances, but it became highly successful.
The public requested 24 encores of "Blue Skies" from Belle Baker, the performer. An incident happened when, at the final repetition, the singer forgot the lyrics. At that point, the writer of the song, Berlin, started singing them from the front row.
The song was eventually published, one year later, in 1927. Ben Selvin sang it and it quickly became a number one on various charts.
Another artist to have sung it was Al Jolson, at "The Jazz Singer". This was one of the first time in music history when a song would be performed in a talkie.
The free Blue Skies piano sheet music of Sinatra’s song is truly amazing.
Because of its growing popularity, the song reached the point of being recorded by all the major store labels and all the dime store labels of its time.
Years later, in 1935, "Blue Skies" was recorded by another artist, Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. In 1946, the title of the song was taken for a movie featuring Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby, and it also featured versions of the song from Benny Goodman and Count Basie. These versions occupied numbers 8 and 9 on the pop charts of that year.
One of the most notable covers made for "Blue Skies" was Willie Nelson's. He turned it into a country song and recorded it in 1978. The song had already had success as a western swing, in 1939, when Moon Mullican recorded it, and as a country standard, in 1962, with Jim Reeves. Willie Nelson's cover reached number one on US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks. It was also number four on the Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks, number 26 in New Zealand and number 53 in Australia.
"In Walked Bud", a composition from Thelonious Monk, made in 1947, took as inspiration the chord changes from the popular song.
Frank Sinatra made a famous cover of "Blue Skies", in 1946.
Other artists who covered it include: Moon Mullican, Maurice Rocco, George Olsen, Donald Peers, Erroll Garner, Mary Lou Williams, Doris Day, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Rivers, Rosemary Clooney, Lyle Lovett, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Brandi Carlile, Sarah Davies, Rod Stewart, Steve March Tormé, Lori Cullen, Groove Armada, The Swingle Singers and many others.
The free Blue Skies piano sheets for this beautiful popular song is available on our website, below, in the next section. You can enjoy Frank Sinatra's cover of the track using the material bellow.
