"Sally" is a popular song written by Leo Towers, Harry Leon and Will E. Haines. It was first sung by

Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was an English actress, singer, comedian and star of cinema and music hall who was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...

in the 1931 film '' Sally in Our Alley''. "Sally" was released on

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the record "Fall In and Follow the Band".

Merseybeat Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a British popular music genre that developed, particularly in and around Liverpool, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The genre melded influences from American rock and roll, rhythm and blues, skiffle ...

group

The Koobas The Koobas were an English beat group from Liverpool. Their music, and their early history, is similar in some ways to that of fellow Liverpudlians The Beatles, though they never achieved widespread popularity. History The group was founded ...

covered the song in 1967 and released it as a single on Columbia.

Gerry Monroe Gerry Monroe (20 January 1933 – October 1989) was an English pop singer, who enjoyed brief popularity in the early 1970s. Born Henry Morris in South Shields, County Durham, England, Monroe scored five Top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart in ...

scored a hit with the song in 1970 and it was also released by

Karl Denver Karl Denver (16 December 1931 – 21 December 1998) was a Scottish singer, who, with his trio had a series of UK hit singles in the early 1960s. Most famous of these was a 1961 version of " Wimoweh", which showed off Denver's falsetto yodel ...

in 1966.

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

covered the song during a soundcheck at Wembley on his 1990 world tour; the song was released on the live album ''

Tripping the Live Fantastic ''Tripping the Live Fantastic'' is Paul McCartney's first official solo live album and his first release of concert material since Wings' 1976 ''Wings over America'' live package. It was released in 1990 as triple LP, double cassette and double ...

''.

Background

The tune was composed by pianist Harry Leon (born Aaron Sugarman; 18 August 1901–18 February 1970), a Jewish musician from the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

of London, who played in

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s in

Denmark Street Denmark Street is a street on the edge of London's West End running from Charing Cross Road to St Giles High Street. It is near St Giles in the Fields Church and Tottenham Court Road station. The street was developed in the late 17th centu ...

. His friend Leo Towers (originally Leonard Blitz) wrote a lyric, and they took the song, initially called "Gypsy Sweetheart", to music publisher Will Haines of Cameo Music. Haines wanted the lyric to include a girl's name, and Leon and Towers revised the words to include "Sally", which was the nickname of Leo Towers’ sister Sarah. Leon did not think the song would be successful, and sold his share in the song for £30.Richard Anthony Baker, ''Old Time Variety: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2011, , p.80 Whilst backstage at The Metropolitan, Fields described: "In comes this fellow one night, very Cockney, and he tells us all of this song he’s just written with some friends. The title of the song was 'Sally'." The name "Sally" surprised Fields, as the title of her upcoming film, ''Sally in our Alley,'' had not yet been released to the public. After a little work and an audition for

Archie Pitt Archie Pitt (1882 – 12 November 1940) was a British music hall performer, showman and talent agent. He is best known for his marriage to Gracie Fields whose career he managed.Babington p.57 Selected filmography Actor * '' Danny Boy'' (1934) ...

, it was agreed the song would be used in the film. "Sally" became the star vehicle of Fields' film, appearing throughout the film over six times including being played in the background by an orchestra, whistled by dockyard workers, and sung twice by Fields.

References

{{reflist, 2 1931 songs Gracie Fields songs