They Say It's Wonderful

"They Say It's Wonderful" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the musical Annie Get Your Gun (1946), where it was introduced by Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton.^[1] A film version in 1950 again featured the song when it was performed by Howard Keel and Betty Hutton.

Recordings

• Ethel Merman recorded it for the original Decca Records cast album of Annie Get Your Gun (1946).^[2] In 1979, she recorded a "camp" version for The Ethel Merman Disco Album, but it was not released on the original vinyl record. It was issued as a bonus track on the CD reissue in 2002.^[3]
• Andy Russell - single (1946; Billboard No. 10)^[4]
• Perry Como with Russ Case and His Orchestra - single (1946; Billboard No. 27)^[2]
• Bing Crosby recorded the song on January 22, 1946^[5] - single (1946; Billboard No. 12)
• Frank Sinatra - single (1946; "Billboard" No. 11)
• Betty Hutton & Howard Keel - Annie Get Your Gun film and soundtrack (1950)
• Modern Jazz Quartet - The Modern Jazz Quartet (1957)^[6]
• Dave Brubeck - Plays and Plays and... (1957)^[7]
• Sarah Vaughan - Sarah Vaughan Sings Broadway: Great Songs from Hit Shows (1958)^[8]
• Johnny Mathis - Heavenly (1959)^[9]
• Doris Day - Show Time (1960)
• John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman - John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman (1963)
• Jimmy Scott - Falling in Love Is Wonderful (1963)
• Hampton Hawes - Blues for Bud (1968)
• Suzi Quatro & Eric Flynn - Annie Get Your Gun – 1986 London Cast (1986)
• Tony Bennett - Bennett/Berlin (1987)
• Stacey Kent - Love Is...The Tender Trap (1998)^[10]
• Bernadette Peters - Annie Get Your Gun Broadway revival cast recording (1999)
• Eliane Elias - Everything I Love (2000)^[11]
• Michael Poss recorded the song, combined with "I Need to Be in Love", for his album Silver Screen Serenades (2000)
• Judy Garland & Howard Keel recorded the song when Garland was originally slated to star in the film. It was released on the Annie Get Your Gun film soundtrack reissue CD (2000).
• Sathima Bea Benjamin - Musical Echoes (2002)
• Beegie Adair - The Great American Songbook Collection (2002)^[12]
• Kirsten Dunst - Spider-Man 3 (2007)
• Susan Lucci - ABC Presents: Love Affair (2008)
• Seth MacFarlane - Once in a While (2019)^[13]

Popular culture

• More recently it was performed in an episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel by Darius de Haas.^[14]

References

1. Mordden, Ethan (27 August 1999). Beautiful Mornin' : The Broadway Musical in the 1940s: The Broadway Musical in the 1940s. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-19-535176-7.
2. Gilliland, John (c. 1975). "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #13". UNT Digital Library.
3. The Ethel Merman Disco Album, Track 8 - "They Say It's Wonderful". Original 1979 recording reissued on CD in 2002 by Fynsworth Alley, LLC and Universal Music Enterprises, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
4. Whitburn, Joel (1991). Pop Memories 1890-1954: The History of American Popular Music. Record Research, Inc. p. 375. ISBN 0898200830.
5. "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
6. "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
7. "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
8. "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
9. "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
10. "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
11. "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
12. "www.discogs.com". discogs.com. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
13. "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
14. "All The Songs In 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Season 3". Bustle. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.