Katana VentraIP

Why Was I Born?

"Why Was I Born?" is a 1929 song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics written by Oscar Hammerstein II.[4]

"Why Was I Born?"

"Don't Ever Leave Me"

1929

1929 T.B. Harms, Inc., Universal Polygram International Publishing, Inc.[1]

January 20, 1930[2]

October 16, 1929 take 2[3]

New York City

Sweet Adeline (1929 Broadway musical)

Show tune, Popular Music

3.22

Victor 22199

Jerome Kern

Oscar Hammerstein II

It was written for the show Sweet Adeline (1929) and introduced by Helen Morgan.[5] Popular recordings in 1930 were by Helen Morgan and by Libby Holman.[6]

- recorded the song for Brunswick Records (catalog No. 7859) on January 25, 1937 with Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra.[7]

Billie Holiday

in the film Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

Lena Horne

recorded the song for Columbia Records on December 28, 1947.[8]

Frank Sinatra

reached No. 20 in the Billboard charts in 1949 with the song.[9]

Vic Damone

- The Road to Romance...For Bing, Bob and You! (1957).[10]

Dorothy Lamour

- The London Sessions (1960) [11]

Judy Garland

- Margaret Whiting Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1960)[12]

Margaret Whiting

and John Coltrane - Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane (1963)[13]

Kenny Burrell

- Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (1963)[4]

Ella Fitzgerald

- for her album Dinah '63 (1963).[14]

Dinah Washington

- Georgia Brown (The Sensational New Singing Star of Oliver!) (1963).[15]

Georgia Brown

- Bittersweet White Light (1973)[16]

Cher

- Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert (2005)[17]

Sonny Rollins

- Triplicate (2017)[18]

Bob Dylan