"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" is a popularVaudevillesong. The music is credited to Harry Carroll, but the melody is adapted from Fantaisie-Impromptu by Frédéric Chopin. The lyrics were written by Joseph McCarthy, and the song was published in 1917. It was introduced in the Broadway showOh, Look! which opened in March 1918. The song was sung in the show by the Dolly Sisters. Judy Garland sang it in the 1941 filmZiegfeld Girl. It was subsequently sung by Jack Oakie in the 1944 film The Merry Monahans and was again featured in the 1945 filmThe Dolly Sisters, where it was sung by John Payne. It was also included for part of the run of the 1973 revival of Irene. The song is a true popular standard, recorded by many artists over the years.
The biggest hit versions in the 1946 revival were by Perry Como, by Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes, and by Harry James's Orchestra with a vocal by Buddy DeVito. There was also a recording by Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians, with a vocal by Erno Rapee, which had a degree of popularity that year. Perry Como's recording was made October 17, 1945, and released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-1788, with the flip side “You Won't Be Satisfied”. It first reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on January 24, 1946 and lasted 4 weeks on the chart, peaking at #7; it was re-released by RCA Victor as catalog number 20-2663, with the flip side “If We Can't Be the Same Old Sweethearts” The recording by Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes was made on November 1, 1945, and released by Decca Records as catalog number 23472, with the flip side “Tomorrow Is Forever”. It reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on January 31, 1946 at #10, its only week on the chart. The recording by Harry James and his orchestra was made on November 7, 1945, released by Columbia Records as catalog number 36899, with the flip side “Baby What You Do to Me” and as catalog number 38434, with the flip side “I'm Beginning to See the Light” The recording by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians was released by Decca Records as catalog number 3586, with the flip side “Tea for Two” and as catalog number 18789A, with the flip side “Make Believe”)
Russ Conway on his 1973 album "Playing the Great Piano Hits"
Harrison Craig
Bing Crosby
Sammy Davis Jr.
Alice Faye for film Rose of Washington Square, a thinly veiled biography of Fanny Brice
Paul Fenoulhet with The Skyrockets Dance Orchestra Voc.: Doreen Lundy. Recorded in London on January 16, 1946. It was released by EMI on the HMV Records label as catalogue number BD 5920.
The band Skinny sampled a line from Tony Bennett's version for their song 'Failure'.
The first two verses are used as the opening in the pilot for the webseries Hazbin Hotel. It is sung by the protagonist and princess of hell, Charlie, singing voiced by Elsie Lovelock.
