"This Is All I Ask" is a popular song written by

Gordon Jenkins Gordon Hill Jenkins (May 12, 1910 – May 1, 1984) was an American arranger, composer, and pianist who was influential in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. Jenkins worked with The Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Frank Sinatra, Loui ...

in 1958. Jenkins considered this his finest composition, and he recorded it in arrangements he wrote for

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ove ...

, Tiny Tim,

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

, and

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

. Bennett continued to sing the song throughout his career and gave an "emotional" performance of it at his final concerts, in 2021, at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

where he celebrated his 95th birthday with

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

Recordings

*1958

included the song on his album ''

The Very Thought of You "The Very Thought of You" is a pop standard that was recorded and published in 1934 with music and lyrics by Ray Noble. The song was first recorded by Ray Noble and His Orchestra with Al Bowlly on vocals for HMV in England in April 1934. This re ...

''. *1960

- included in his album '' Alone Together'' *1962 Jenkins released his own instrumental version of the song as a single ( Columbia 42608). It registered in the '' Cashbox'' "Looking Ahead" survey, a chart measuring singles popularity below position 100, early in 1963. *1962

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

- his single release reached No. 67 in the Billboard Hot 100 and was also included in his album ''Singin' Easy'' (Decca DL 4433/74433). *1963 Tony Bennett - a single release, which reached the No. 70 position in the Billboard Hot 100. *1963

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...

sang the song four times on his

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Kraft Music Hall ''The Kraft Music Hall'' was a popular old-time radio variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired first on NBC radio from 1933 to 1949. Radio ''The Kraft Program'' debuted June 26, 1933, as a musical-variety progra ...

television show in 1963 prior to its release on his The Songs I Love LP that year. *1963

Robert Goulet Robert Gérard Goulet (November 26, 1933 October 30, 2007) was an American and Canadian singer and actor of French-Canadian ancestry. Goulet was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts until age 13, and then spent his formative years in Cana ...

sang the song on a 1963 episode of

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...

as did

Gisele MacKenzie Gisèle MacKenzie (born Gisèle Marie Louise Marguerite LaFlèche; January 10, 1927 – September 5, 2003)
Accessed April 2010 ...

one year later on Benny's 1964 Christmas Day show. The Goulet version can be seen in syndication reruns. The MacKenzie appearance is available on a 2013 home video release. Goulet included the song on his 1964 album ''My Love Forgive Me''. *1963

John Gary John Gary (born John Gary Strader; November 29, 1932 – January 4, 1998) was an American singer, recording artist, television host, and performer on the musical stage. Early life From Watertown, New York, Gary started singing at the age of 5. ...

- for his album '' Catch a Rising Star''. *1964

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

released a version on his 1964 album, ''

The Wonderful World of Andy Williams ''The Wonderful World of Andy Williams'' is the thirteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released by Columbia Records to coincide with the December 31, 1963, broadcast of ''The Andy Williams Show''. Various tracks were ...

''. *1964

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced song ...

- included in his album '' Hello Young Lovers''. *1964

Bobby Timmons Robert Henry Timmons (December 19, 1935 – March 1, 1974) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He was a sideman in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers for two periods (July 1958 to September 1959; February 1960 to June 1961), between which he w ...

- recorded for his album ''

Workin' Out! ''Workin' Out!'' is an album by American jazz pianist Bobby Timmons recorded in 1964 and released in 1965 on the Prestige label.

'' with

Johnny Lytle Johnny Dillard Lytle (October 13, 1932 in Springfield, Ohio – December 15, 1995 in Springfield) was a jazz drummer and vibraphonist. Life and career Lytle grew up in Springfield, Ohio in a family of musicians, the son of a trumpeter father ...

. *1965 The song was featured on Sinatra's 1965 album '' September of My Years'', arranged by Jenkins, which won the

Grammy Award for Album of the Year The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regar ...

. Sinatra was inspired to record ''September of My Years'', an album of songs on aging, by hearing the line "Beautiful girls, walk a little slower when you walk by me" from the song. *1965

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

- recorded for his album '' Love Is Everything''. *1965 barbershop quartet champion The Four Renegades sang the song on ''The Top Ten Barbershop Quartets Of 1965'', arranged by their tenor Warren "Buzz" Haeger. *1966 Jack Jones - for his album ''The Impossible Dream''. *1968

Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons, 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career. AllMusic has described Monro as "one of the m ...

- included in the album ''The Late, Late Show''. *1968 Tiny Tim - for his album ''

God Bless Tiny Tim ''God Bless Tiny Tim'' is the first album by Tiny Tim. Released in 1968 on the Reprise label, it included "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" (the song which made him famous), a version of "I Got You Babe", and a collection of obscure songs. Many of th ...

''. *1973

- recorded for his album '' A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night' *1984

Howard Keel Harold Clifford Keel (April 13, 1919November 7, 2004), known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer, known for his rich bass-baritone singing voice. He starred in a number of MGM musicals in the 1950s and in the CBS tel ...

- for his album ''And I Love You So''. *1989

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

included in the album ''Tenderly'' *2011 Tony Bennett &

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...

- included in the album '' Duets II'' *2021

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty ...

- included in his digital album ''Slow Dance''.

References

{{Authority control 1958 songs Songs written by Gordon Jenkins Andy Williams songs Frank Sinatra songs Nat King Cole songs Tony Bennett songs Songs about old age