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later revised by Van Heusen and Burke. At the party they sang "Bessie ... with the laughing face." It was such a hit that they used it at other female birthday events. When they sang it as "Nancy ... with the laughing face" at little Nancy
Sinatra's birthday party, Frank broke down and cried, thinking it had been written especially for his daughter; the trio wisely didn't correct him. Jimmy assigned his royalties to Nancy after Frank recorded it for Columbia in 1944.
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were working at 20th
Century-Fox composing for a film. While Burke was out of their writer's bungalow, Phil Silvers, the comedian, a friend to both, entered and suggested to Jimmy that they write a song for Johnny's wife, Bessie, who was soon to celebrate a birthday. Silvers provided the lyrics,
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in 1944. Many, perhaps most, peopleâincluding, for a time, Sinatra himselfâwrongly assume or assumed the song was composed specifically for
Sinatra's wife or
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cues up some music and "Nancy (with the
Laughing Face)" begins to play. Paulie, lost in emotion for a few moments, finally smiles and says "my song."
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In the
British Sitcom "Fresh Fields" this song is referenced by William when his mother-in-law Nancy has her portrait painted by his wife Hester.
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Former broadcast executive and music historian Rick
Busciglio tells the story of the song's inception as related to him by Van Heusen:
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However, Silvers, on the Dick Cavett Show finally revealed that he had written the lyrics for his daughter, also named Nancy.
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from lecture "Confessions of An Ad Man," by Rick
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entitled "Nancy with the
Laughing Face" features a guest character named Nancy who is played by
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returns from jail to a big welcome back party at the Bada Bing! club. Following a group toast,
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In 1979, I was working with songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen on a TV special with Frank
Sinatra and
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that was never produced. Jimmy told me that one day (circa 1942), he and his lyricist
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singing a rendition entitled "Nancy (with the Reagan Face)" at his first
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Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of
Coltrane and Hartman
447:"Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #14 - All Tracks UNT Digital Library"
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The Season 5 episode âA House Full of Extremely Lame Horsesâ of
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is seen asking Silvio "What the fuck? Why is this his song?"
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during her visit to the community's hub, the "Nuthutch".
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Google Books: Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art
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405:) performing the song at the end of the episode.
401:features the character Danny Stevens (played by
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240:The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark
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514:"Facts about Ronald Reagan"
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449:. Digital.library.unt.edu
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491:. YouTube. 2010-11-22.
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631:1940s jazz standards
621:The Fleetwoods songs
306:Nigerian Marketplace
252:The Songs of Sinatra
611:Frank Sinatra songs
222:Voices in Standards
114:Cannonball Adderley
626:Tony Bennett songs
337:In popular culture
84:Notable recordings
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616:Ray Charles songs
273:Sinatra's Sinatra
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131:Know What I Mean?
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366:The Commish
329:Easy Living
280:Ben Webster
248:Johnny Mann
235:Grant Green
196:Kurt Elling
172:Ray Charles
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596:1944 songs
590:Categories
556:2022-07-05
523:2022-07-05
499:2021-01-26
453:2021-01-26
432:References
379:Doctor Who
324:Ike Quebec
250:Singers -
166:Voor Nancy
126:Connie Kay
118:Bill Evans
551:0190-8286
298:ââ (1975)
493:Archived
424:in 1981.
416:), with
390:Jo Grant
345:Sopranos
224:(1996),
69:Bob Hope
45:daughter
580:YouTube
575:Excerpt
342:In the
189:Ballads
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320:(2022)
308:(1981)
288:(1961)
276:(1963)
264:(1975)
254:(1962)
243:(1962)
231:(1998)
214:(1961)
212:Softly
204:(2009)
192:(1962)
180:(1961)
168:(1971)
158:(1992)
146:(2001)
134:(1961)
110:(1991)
59:Origin
414:Nancy
547:ISSN
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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