"Days of Wine and Roses" is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

song, from the

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

movie of the same name. The music was written by

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. They received the Academy Award for Best Original Song for their work, as well as the 1963 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. In 2004 it finished at #39 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. The song's lyric is notable for consisting of just two complex sentences, each of which forms one of the song's two stanzas.

Recordings

The best-known recordings of the song were by Billy Eckstine in 1961 and Andy Williams in 1963, but several other recording artists have also recorded the song, including Bill Evans,

Vince Guaraldi Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this series includ ...

Bola Sete Bola Sete (born Djalma de Andrade; July 16, 1923 – February 14, 1987) was a Brazilian guitarist who played jazz with Vince Guaraldi and Dizzy Gillespie. History Born Djama de Andrade in Rio de Janeiro, Sete was the only son of a family with ...

Dick and Dee Dee Dick and Dee Dee (or Dick and Deedee) is an American singer-songwriter duo that reached popularity in the early to mid-1960s. The group was founded by California classmates Richard Gosting and Mary Sperling. They eventually changed their names t ...

, Shirley Bassey, Frank Sinatra, Julie London, Perry Como,

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for an unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a dist ...

(1963: ''Boss Guitar'') and

Lenny Breau Leonard Harold Breau (August 5, 1941 – August 12, 1984) was an American-Canadian guitarist. He blended many styles of music, including jazz, country, classical, and flamenco. Inspired by country guitarists like Chet Atkins, Breau used finger ...

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 birt ...

sang his interpretation on his prestigious ''

The Movie Song Album ''The Movie Song Album'' is a 1966 studio album by Tony Bennett. The album consists of songs from films, opening with the theme from ''The Oscar'', in which Bennett had recently appeared. With this project of such high quality of song material an ...

'' (1966). Pat Boone.

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

and

Joe Pass Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalaqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Pass is well known for his work stemming from numerous collaborations with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, an ...

recorded their version of this song on their

Pablo Records Pablo Records was a jazz record company and label founded by Norman Granz in 1973, more than a decade after he had sold his earlier catalog (including Verve Records) to MGM Records. Pablo initially featured recordings by acts that Granz manag ...

album '' Easy Living''. The song has become a jazz standard. Williams' version was recorded for Columbia Records. It was released as catalog number 42674. The song reached #9 on the adult contemporary chart and #26 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart,Andy Williams, "Days of Wine and Roses" chart positions
Retrieved June 9, 2013 and was the featured track on the album, ''

Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests ''Days of Wine and Roses and Other TV Requests'' is the eleventh album, studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in April 1963 by Columbia Records following his first season as host of his variety series, ''The Andy Will ...

'', which peaked at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart. Como's version was recorded for

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ari ...

. The recording was made on March 19, 1963. The record was issued by RCA Victor as a track on the album, '' The Songs I Love.'' On the '' Cash Box'' chart, where all singles were combined, the song reached a peak position of No. 30 in May 1963.

and

recorded their instrumental version for Fantasy Records in 1963. It was released on the album '' Vince Guaraldi, Bola Sete and Friends'', and was a featured single (it did not chart). In 2000,

The Lettermen The Lettermen are an American male pop vocal trio. The Lettermen's trademark is close-harmony pop songs with light arrangements. The group started in 1959. They have had two Top 10 singles (both No. 7), 16 Top 10 singles on the Adult Contempor ...

included the song on their ''Greatest Movie Hits'' album. R&B/soul singer

Miki Howard Alicia Michelle "Miki" Howard (born September 30, 1960) is an American singing, singer and actress who had a string of Top 40, top 10 hit songs in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, including "Baby, Be Mine (Miki Howard song), Baby, Be Mine" (1987) ...

recorded it for her 2008 album, ''

Private Collection A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individu ...

''. The phrase "days of wine and roses" is originally from the poem "Vitae Summa Brevis" by the English writer Ernest Dowson (1867–1900):

They are not long, the days of wine and roses: Out of a misty dream Our path emerges for a while, then closes Within a dream.

Chart positions

References

External links

"Days of Wine and Roses"
Jazz guitar solo {{DEFAULTSORT:Days of Wine and Roses (Song) 1962 songs 1963 singles Songs about alcohol Songs about flowers Songs with music by Henry Mancini Songs with lyrics by Johnny Mercer Nancy Wilson (jazz singer) songs Andy Williams songs Dick and Dee Dee songs Perry Como songs Patti Page songs Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songs Grammy Award for Record of the Year Grammy Award for Song of the Year Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) Columbia Records singles