“Love Letters in the Sand” is a popular song first published in 1931. The music was written by J. Fred Coots and the lyrics by Nick Kenny and Charles Kenny. The song was “inspired” by an 1881 composition, “The Spanish Cavalier”. Ted Black’s orchestra had the first major hit. Continue reading
“Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” is a popular song with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. The song was publicized first in the movie, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song. From 1967 to 1973, it was used as the theme song to Love is a Many Splendored Thing, the soap opera based on the movie. Continue reading
“Autumn Leaves” is a much-recorded popular song. Originally it was a 1945 French song “Les feuilles mortes” (literally “The Dead Leaves”) with music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prévert. Yves Montand (with Irène Joachim) introduced “Les feuilles mortes” in 1946 in the film Les Portes de la Nuit. The American songwriter Johnny Mercer wrote English lyrics in 1947 and Jo Stafford was among the first to perform this version. Autumn Leaves became a pop standard and a jazz standard in both languages and both as an instrumental and with a singer. Continue reading