"There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" is a 1928 song sung by

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-bi ...

in the early

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

talking picture ''

The Singing Fool ''The Singing Fool'' is a 1928 American musical drama part-talkie motion picture directed by Lloyd Bacon which was released by Warner Bros. The film stars Al Jolson and is a follow-up to his previous film, ''The Jazz Singer''. It is credited wit ...

'' the same year. The song, along with " Sonny Boy" and " I'm Sitting on Top of the World", which were also in ''The Singing Fool'', were big hits for Jolson. The song was written by Al Jolson,

Billy Rose Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with sh ...

and

Dave Dreyer Dave Dreyer (September 22, 1894 in Brooklyn, New York – March 1, 1967 in New York City) was an American composer and pianist. He started off as a pianist with vaudeville greats such as Al Jolson, Sophie Tucker, Belle Baker, and Frank Fay. ...

. According to John A. Lomax in his "American Ballads and Folk Songs" published in 1934, from the song "Goin' Home". The line "Got a rainbow tied all 'round my shoulder" refers to the "Rainbow" as "the arc of a swinging pick, probably going so fast it becomes red hot." This song is in the section entitled "Songs from Southern Chain Gangs".

Other notable recordings

McKinney's Cotton Pickers McKinney's Cotton Pickers were an American jazz band, founded in Detroit, Michigan, United States in 1926, and led by William McKinney, who expanded his Synco Septet to ten players. Cuba Austin took over for McKinney on drums, with the latter bec ...

– recorded November 23, 1928 for Victor Records (catalog No. V-38013-B). *Al Jolson recorded the song again on November 21, 1947 for Decca Records (catalog No. 24400). *

Donald Peers Donald Rhys Hubert Peers (10 July 1908 – 9 August 1973) was a popular Welsh people, Welsh singer. His best remembered rendition and signature song was "In a Shady Nook by a Babbling Brook". Biography Early life Peers was born in the Welsh m ...

with two pianos recorded it at Royal Albert Hall, London on June 13, 1949 along with " Blue Skies" and " If You Were the Only Girl (in the World)". The medley was released by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

on the

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 ...

label as catalog number B 9792. *

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to hi ...

– recorded for Columbia Records (catalog No. 39798) in 1952. *

and Charlotte Austin (dubbed by

Jo Ann Greer Katherine Joan Greer (April 3, 1927 – May 24, 2001), known professionally as Jo Ann Greer, was an American singer. Career Her career spanned nearly 50 years, and she primarily worked in the fields of movie dubbing and band-singing. She init ...

) - from the film ''Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder'' (1952). *

Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, Pop music, pop, rock and roll, Folk music, folk, Swing music, swing, and country music. He started his car ...

also recorded this song and it was included in his album ''

Oh! Look at Me Now "Oh! Look at Me Now" is a 1941 song composed by Joe Bushkin, with lyrics by John DeVries. It is strongly associated with Frank Sinatra, who first recorded it with Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, in an arrangement by Sy Oliver. Sinatra re-recorded t ...

'' (1962). *

Pasadena Roof Orchestra The Pasadena Roof Orchestra (PRO) is a contemporary band from England that specialises in the jazz and swing genres of music of the 1920s and 1930s, although their full repertoire is considerably wider. The orchestra has existed since 1969, a ...

– ''Night Out'' (1979). *

Barbara Cook Barbara Cook (October 25, 1927 – August 8, 2017) was an American actress and singer who first came to prominence in the 1950s as the lead in the original Broadway musicals ''Plain and Fancy'' (1955), ''Candide'' (1956) and ''The Music Man'' (19 ...

– ''Rainbow Round My Shoulder'' (2008).

References

{{Authority control 1928 songs Al Jolson songs Songs with lyrics by Billy Rose Songs written by Al Jolson Songs with music by Dave Dreyer