July 4th: Hail Caesar

Lyricist Irving Caesar was born on this day in 1889. Caesar wrote the words to many standards, including Sometimes I'm Happy, Crazy Rhythm and I Want to Be Happy. In 1925, he teamed up with Otto Harbach to write Tea for Two for the musical No No Nanette, with music by Vincent Youmans (Sometimes I'm Happy was from the same show). To celebrate the Fourth, here are three sublime vocal versions of Caesar's love song:

Here's Anita O'Day in Tokyo in 1963...



Here's Keely Smith and Louis Prima...



And here's Blossom Dearie...