My Greatest Mistake

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"My Greatest Mistake" is a popular song written in 1940 by Jack Fulton and Jack "Bones" O'Brien.^[1]

KeyE♭ major

Written1940

Quick facts Key, Genre ...

"My Greatest Mistake"
Song by Jack Fulton (w&m) and Jack O'Brien (w&m)
Key	E♭ major
Genre	Popular, torch song
Form	AABA
Written	1940
Meter	Moderately slow (with expression)
Time	⁴ ₄
Publisher	Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc.

Comments

The original piano and vocal score is in E♭ major. The song was Jack Fulton's first hit. Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc., of New York was the publisher. J. R. Lafleur & Son, Ltd. (Boosey & Hawkes), of London was the sole selling agent for the British Empire, except Canada, Newfoundland, and Australia. J. Albert & Son of Sydney was the selling agent for Australia.

ASCAP boycott

"My Greatest Mistake" was one of some 1,250,000 songs under an ASCAP license. In 1940, ASCAP attempted to double its fees to broadcasters for the airing of licensed songs. For ten months – January 1, 1941, to October 29, 1941 – radio broadcasters, namely NBC and CBS, banned all music licensed by ASCAP. Given the timing of the launch of "My Greatest Mistake," the ASCAP boycott, according to O'Brien, stunted the momentum of the song's rise in popularity for 13 recordings that were released before the boycott.

Selected discography

Pre-ASCAP ban

Larry Clinton's Bluebird Orchestra
1. Bluebird 10784-A
  Terry Allen (vocalist)
  Recorded June 24, 1940, New York^[a]
  Side A matrix: 051556-1
  OCLC 77628941
  (audio at Internet Archive)
Orrin Tucker and His Orchestra
1. Columbia 35622
  Orrin Tucker (vocalist)
  Matrix: WCO 28040
  Recorded July 24, 1940, New York
  OCLC 768494360
Frankie Masters
1. Okeh 5658
  Marion Francis (vocalist)
  (née Marion Francis Charlesworth; 1917–2011)
  Matrix: 26957
  Recorded June 25, 1940^[b]
Duke Ellington
1. Victor 26719-A
  Matrix 054624-1
  Also released as His Master's Voice B. 9129
  Matrix OA. 054624-1
  (no vocal)
  Recorded July 24, 1940, New York^[c]
  OCLC 956509404
  (Audio on YouTube)
2. Jazz Supreme (It)JS704
  NBC Red broadcast (local station WMAQ)
  Panther Room, basement of the Hotel Sherman, Chicago
  September 10, 1940^[d]
Harry Roy
1. Regal Zonophone
  MR 3392
  Matrix (on label): CAR 5906
  Recorded November 1940, London
London Piano-Accordion Band
1. Regal Zonophone
  MR 3423
  Matrix (on label): CAR 5949
Harry James
Dick Haymes (vocalist on all three recordings)
1. Radio Broadcast, Eastwood Gardens, Detroit, June 30, 1940
2. Varsity 8389
  Side A matrix 1889
  Also released as Hit 7064
  Side A matrix 1889
  Recorded August 12, 1940, New York
  (audio on YouTube)
3. Hep (E)88
  Radio Broadcast
  Dancing Campus, Liberty Lake, World's Fair, New York^{[Note 1]}
  September 6, 1940
  OCLC 919190428
  LCCN 2015-625696
Dick Todd
1. Bluebird 10822
  Matrix BS 051591-1
  Recorded August 6, 1940, New York
  (audio on YouTube)
Dick Robertson
1. Decca 3378-A
  Dick Robertson (vocalist)
  Matrix: 68015A
  New York, August 27, 1940, New York
  OCLC 173216584, 173216607, 80746185

The Ink Spots
1. Brunswick 03081-B (catalog number) (1940)
  Matrix (label – Side B): 67990
  Matrix (runout, stamped – Side B): 67990A 1 TT
  Also released as Decca 3379-A
  Matrix (label – Side A): 67990
  Recorded August 20, 1940, New York^[2]
  OCLC 173216607, 171137901
  (audio on YouTube)
  (audio at Internet Archive)

Post-ASCAP ban

The Ink Spots
1. Decca 25237 (matrix / runout)
  3379 A (catalog number)
  Released Aug 1947
  In a compilation album:
  Ink Spots, Volume II
  Decca A-594
  OCLC 48384290
2. Verve MGV2039
  Recorded September 25, 1956, Los Angeles
Willard McDaniel
1. Crown 129
  Matrix: JB-427
  Recorded 1954, Los Angeles
Ben Webster
With the Ralph Burns Orchestra
1. Norgan EPN 142
  Recorded September 9, 1955, New York^[e]
  (audio on YouTube)
Daniel Romano
From the album:
Workin' For The Music Man (2012)
1. You've Changed (label) YC-006
  OCLC 676770797
  (audio on YouTube)

Copyrights

"My Greatest Mistake"
Jack Fulton (w&m)
Jack O'Brien (w&m)
© 26 July 1940
Class E (published) 85979
Bregman, Vocco & Conn, Inc., New York^[i]
Renewal 415380; 4 August 1967^[ii]
(copyright expires 4 August 2034)

Library holdings

OCLC 222508119, 47206681

Publisher plates

H. 15250

Arrangements

Arrangement by Charles E. Hathaway, Jr. (1901–1966)
George Manning Swing Band Collection
Box 5/55; No. 353 A, page 13, year 1940
Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
OCLC 880173015

Lyrics

I've done a lot of things that we're right
and though they brought regret
There's only one thing that I'm sorry for
And that's the day we met

My greatest mistake was falling in love
Falling in love with you
My greatest mistake was dreaming of you
And thinking my dreams would come true

It was easy to see
You never loved me
Though I hoped and I prayed
Someday it could be

My greatest mistake
My greatest heartache
Was falling in love with you

Darlin', you know my greatest mistake was falling in love
And I mean falling in love with a beautiful gal like you, mmm
You know I made another mistake, just dreaming of you
And being foolish enough to think that all my dreams was bound to come true

You know, shoulda been easy for me to see
That, honey child, you never loved me
Course, I hoped and I prayed
That maybe someday, it could be

My greatest mistake
My greatest heartache
Was falling in love with you

Notes and references

Notes

[1]
Mike Todd, a theatrical producer and impresario, ran the four largest and most popular attractions at the 1939 New York World's Fair, three of which were cabarets. The first, he took over George Jessel's Old New York and transformed it into Gay New Orleans – a three-acre park; the second he converted the Hall of Music into the Streets of Paris; the third he created the Old Time Op'ry House on the midway; the fourth, he built the Dancing Campus, reportedly the world's biggest outdoor dance arena, featuring big bands nightly with a floor large enough for 12,000 dancing patrons.

Recording personnel

[a]
Larry Clinton Band: June 24, 1940, New York: Larry Clinton (trumpet, tuba, trombone, arranger, leader); Bob Alexy (né Robert James Alexy; 1910–1985), Ivor Lloyd (né Ivor Mark Lloyd; 1911–1988), Jack Palmer (né Joseph J. Palmieri; 1912–2000) (trumpets); George Mazza, Al George (né Alfred A. George; 1910–1977), Jimmy Curry (trombones); Steve Benoric (1912–1976), Ben Feman (né Benjamin C. Feman; 1908–1994) (clarinets, alto saxes); Frank Ludwig (né Francis Ludwig Reudelhuber; 1915–1988), Don Hammond (né William Don Hammond; 1914–1964) (clarinets, tenor saxes); Bill Straub (piano); George Rose (né George August Rose; 1909–1978) (guitar); Hank Wayland (double bass); Charlie Blake (drums); Terry Allen (vocalist)
[b]
Frankie Masters Band (partial list): Frankie Masters (director, trombone); "Bud" Shiffman (later "Buddy Shaw;" né Herman Shiffman; 1912–2010) (lead alto sax); Vincent Claude Ferrini (1914–2013) (alto sax); Carl C. Bean (1909–1969) (tenor sax); Howard John Barkell (1903–1971) (bari sax, piano, guitar, drums, bass); Marion Francis (vocals); The Masters Voices (vocals)
[c]
Duke Ellington Band: July 24, 1940, RCA-Victor, New York, recording session at Studio 2, 155 East 24th Street, Manhattan: Rex Stewart (conductor); Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams (trumpets); Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton (trombones); Juan Tizol (valve trombone); Barney Bigard (clarinet); Johnny Hodges (alto & soprano sax); Otto Hardwick (alto sax, clarinet); Ben Webster (tenor sax); Harry Carney (baritone & alto sax, clarinet); Duke Ellington (piano); Fred Guy (guitar); Jimmie Blanton (bass); Sonny Greer (drums)
("A Duke Ellington Panorama: 1940 Discography", The Duke Ellington Society, Washington, D.C.)
[d]
Duke Ellington Band: September 10, 1940, NBC Blue broadcast, Hotel Sherman, Panther Room: (same personnel as Ellington's July 24, 1940, session at RCA-Victor Studio 2 in New York)
[e]
Ben Webster with the Ralph Burns Orchestra: September 9, 1955, New York: Danny Bank (flute, clarinet); Albert Epstein (1921–2016; clarinet, English horn, bass clarinet); Ben Webster (tenor sax); Hank Jones (piano); Harold Coletta, Martin Donegan, Leo Kruczek (1908–1977), Harry Lookofsky, Gene Orloff, Tosha Samaroff (aka Zama Dworman; né Salmon Dworman; 1906–2005), Paul Winter (violins); Burt Fisch (viola); Abe Borodkin, George Ricci (brother of Ruggiero Ricci), Lucien Schmit (cellos); Chet Amsterdam (né Chester G. Amsterdam; 1926–2010), Wendell Marshall (bass); Osie Johnson (drums); Ralph Burns (arranger; conductor)

Copyrights

[i]
Original copyright: Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 3 Musical Compositions, New Series, Library of Congress, Copyright Office
Vol. 35, Part 2, July 1940, No. 7 (1941), p. 1030
[ii]
Copyright renewal: Catalog of Copyright Entries, Music: Current and Renewal Registrations, Third Series, Library of Congress, Copyright Office
Vol. 21, Part 5, No. 2, Sec. 1, July-December 1967 (1968), p. 2357

References

[1]
"O'Brien, Jack (John Roger O'Brien)," ASCAP Biographical Dictionary of Composers, Authors and Publishers, p. 374
[2]
Decca Labels: A Discography, compiled by Michel Ruppli, Greenwood Press (1996); OCLC 36344113
(originally published in hardcover by Greenwood Press, now an imprint of ABC-CLIO)

ASCAP boycott

Pre-ASCAP ban

Post-ASCAP ban

Library holdings

Publisher plates

Arrangements

Notes

Recording personnel

Copyrights

References

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