I'm Making Believe
{{Infobox song
| name = I'm Making Believe
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = the Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald
| album =
| A-side = "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall"
| released = {{start date|1944|10}}
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length =
| label = Decca
| composer = James V. Monaco
| lyricist = Mack Gordon
| producer = Milt Gabler
| prev_title =
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"I'm Making Believe" is a 1944 song composed by James V. Monaco with lyrics by Mack Gordon. The song first appeared in the film Sweet and Low-Down; the performance by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The version recorded by the Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald topped The Billboard{{'}}s National Best Selling Retail Records chart for two weeks in 1944. Their version had sold over one million copies by the time of Fitzgerald's death in 1996.{{cite news|last1=Holden|first1=Stephen|title=Ella Fitzgerald, the Voice of Jazz, Dies at 79|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/16/nyregion/ella-fitzgerald-the-voice-of-jazz-dies-at-79.html|work=The New York Times|location=New York|date=16 June 1996|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406031344/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/16/nyregion/ella-fitzgerald-the-voice-of-jazz-dies-at-79.html|archive-date=6 April 2009|access-date=15 May 2017}}
Composition and appearance in ''Sweet and Low-Down''
"I'm Making Believe" was composed by James V. Monaco with lyrics by Mack Gordon. It first appeared in the 1944 film Sweet and Low-Down, in which it is performed by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra.{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=J. Wilfred|title=Ella Fitzgerald: An Annotated Discography; Including a Complete Discography of Chick Webb|date=2001|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=Jefferson, North Carolina; London|isbn=978-0-7864-4690-2|url={{Google books|zCEkCQAAQBAJ|page=239|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=19 May 2017}}{{cite book|last1=Tyler|first1=Don |title=Hit Songs, 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-rock Era|date=2007 |publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786429462|page=275|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yycKAQAAMAAJ |access-date=15 February 2018}} Their rendition earned the film an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.{{cite web|title=The 17th Academy Awards | 1945|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1945|website=Oscars.org|date=4 October 2014 |publisher=AMPAS|access-date=20 May 2017}}
The Ink Spots and Ella Fitzgerald recording
On August 30, 1944, Ella Fitzgerald and the vocal group the Ink Spots recorded the vocals for "I'm Making Believe" and "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" in New York City for producer Milt Gabler.{{cite book|last1=Fritts|first1=Ron|last2=Vail|first2=Ken|title=Ella Fitzgerald: The Chick Webb Years & Beyond|date=2003|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Laxham, Maryland; Oxford, England|isbn=0-8108-4881-3|url={{Google books|id=W13y4UwnHIcC|page=68|text=|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=15 May 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1633222/m1/|title=Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #11|first=John|last=Gilliland|date=January 15, 1972|website=UNT Digital Library}} "I'm Making Believe" was recorded with two opposing choruses by Fitzgerald and Ink Spots member Bill Kenny.{{cite book|last1=Nicholson|first1=Stuart|title=Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First Lady of Jazz|date=1993|publisher=C. Scribner's Sons|isbn=0684196999|page=81 |edition=Reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YH_uAAAAMAAJ|access-date=15 February 2018}} The single was released in November 1944 as a 78-rpm disc by Decca Records.{{cite book|last1=Nicholson|first1=Stuart|title=Ella Fitzgerald: The Complete Biography|date=2004|publisher=Routledge|location=New York, London|isbn=0-415-97119-5|url={{Google books|id=M1QSBAAAQBAJ|page=81|text=|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=15 May 2017|quote=Released as two sides of a 78 disc…}}
Other versions
Reception
The Billboard praised the pairing of Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots, predicting the song would be popular among both jukebox and phonograph listeners.{{cite magazine|title=Popular Record Reviews|date=28 October 1944|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT21 |page=21}}{{cite magazine|title=Popular Record Reviews|date=30 December 1944 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT13|page=13}} DownBeat wrote of it: "[Fitzgerald] really tears this one apart … She's never done anything like it, and her vocal is actually thrilling."
Chart performance
The Ink Spots' and Fitzgerald's recording of "I'm Making Believe" topped The Billboard{{'}}s National Best Selling Retail Records chart for two consecutive weeks in December 1944.{{cite magazine|date=9 December 1944|title=Best Selling Retail Records|url={{Google books|qBoEAAAAMBAJ|page=18|plainurl=yes}}|magazine=The Billboard|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|access-date=23 March 2018}}{{cite magazine|date=16 December 1944|title=Best Selling Retail Records|url={{Google books|mBoEAAAAMBAJ|page=18|plainurl=yes}}|magazine=The Billboard|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|access-date=23 March 2018}} It also peaked at number three on the magazine's Most Played Jukebox Records chart.{{cite magazine|date=23 December 1944|title=Most Played Juke Box Records|url={{Google books|oxoEAAAAMBAJ|page=19|plainurl=yes}}|magazine=The Billboard|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|access-date=23 March 2018}} In 1945, their version peaked at number two on the Harlem Hit Parade{{cite magazine |title=Harlem Hit Parade|date=13 January 1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tREEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1897|magazine=Billboard |page=17}} and number five on the Records Most Played on the Air chart, both published by The Billboard.{{cite magazine |title=Records Most Played on the Air|date=3 February 1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=txEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT15|magazine=Billboard|page=18}} Hal McIntyre's cover of the song peaked at number 14 on the magazine's Records Most Played on the Air chart.{{cite magazine|title=Records Most Played on the Air|date=17 February 1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pxEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT20 |magazine=Billboard |page=20}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{The Ink Spots}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Ella Fitzgerald songs
Category:Number-one singles in the United States
Category:Decca Records singles
Category:Songs with lyrics by Mack Gordon