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The Shadow of Your Smile

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"The Shadow of Your Smile", also known as "Love Theme from The Sandpiper", is a popular song. The music was written by Johnny Mandel with the lyrics written by Paul Francis Webster. The song was introduced in the 1965 film The Sandpiper, with a trumpet solo by Jack Sheldon and later became a minor hit for Tony Bennett (Johnny Mandel arranged and conducted his version as well). It won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2004 the song finished at #77 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs poll of the top tunes in American cinema.

Versions

Well-known versions of the song were recorded by Barbra Streisand (on her 1965 album My Name Is Barbra, Two...), by Johnny Mathis (on his 1966 album with the same title), singer Shirley Bassey (on her 1966 album I've Got a Song for You), Andy Williams, Chris Montez, Percy Faith, Rita Reys, Al Martino, Perry Como, Nancy Sinatra, Astrud Gilberto, Peggy Lee, Sammy Davis, Jr., Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra. Connie Francis recorded the song in English, Spanish (La sombra de tu sonrisa), Portuguese (À sombra do teu sorriso) and in Italian (Castelli di sabbia). Trini Lopez included it on his Reprise Records album (Trini). Lill Lindfors recorded it in Swedish as Din skugga stannar kvar for her 1967 album Du är den ende. Elda Viler (sl) recorded a Slovenian rendering entitled "Senca Tvojega Nasmeha". Marvin Gaye recorded several versions of the song. One can be found on Romantically Yours, another on Vulnerable, and a live version on Marvin Gaye: Live at the Copa. Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass recorded an instrumental version for their 1966 album, What Now My Love. The Italian singer MINA sang this song in 1968 on television and was later released on a CD called Le canzonissime. German singer Udo Lindenberg included a more rock-oriented cover of the song on his 1986 single "Germans". In 2006, The Central Band of the Royal British Legion recorded an album with "The Shadow Of Your Smile" as the lead title track.

Other notable versions include Nancy Ames singing a Spanish version ("La Sombra De Tu Sonrisa") on her 1966 album Latin Pulse. Pepe Jaramillo recorded a Latin dance version on his 1971 EMI album Tequila Cocktail. Sergio Franchi recorded the song on his 1967 RCA Victor album, From Sergio - With Love. A version by Engelbert Humperdinck is available on YouTube.

The Bobby Darin album, Bobby Darin Sings The Shadow of Your Smile, was notable in that the album's first side contained all of the songs nominated for the 1965 Academy Award for Best Original Song.

It is the title piece in the Astrud Gilberto album of the same name, released in October, 1965.

Jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris recorded it in 1965. There are many other jazz versions, notably by Ella Fitzgerald, Wes Montgomery, Oscar Peterson, Oliver Nelson and Bill Evans.

The 1966 single by Johnny Mathis reached #117 in the US publication Record World.

Al Hirt released a version of the song as the B-side to his single "The Silence (Il Silenzio)".

Harry James recorded a live version in 1966 on his album Live At The Riverboat (Dot DLP 3728 and DLP 25728)

Bobby Vinton covered it in Bobby Vinton Sings the Newest Hits in 1967.

Organist Brother Jack McDuff recorded a purely instrumental cover of the song in his 1967 album Tobacco Road. The same year, composer/arranger/keyboardist Clare Fischer was the featured soloist on a version included in his LP Songs for Rainy Day Lovers, supported by his own string arrangement. Likewise, Nashville sax man Boots Randolph offered a version on his LP Boots With Strings.

Tommy McCook, a Cuban-Jamaican rocksteady, ska, reggae saxophonist, recorded a version of this theme, which appears in the Trojan Records compilation Down On Bond Street with the Supersonics and other musicians.

In 1983, the R&B group D-Train had a significant dance hit with their version from the 12" single "The Shadow of Your Smile" / "Keep Giving Me Love".

In 1983, instrumental group Pieces of a Dream covered the song from their album Imagine This.

Tony Bennett re-recorded this song for his album Duets: An American Classic with Colombian-rock singer Juanes in a "Spanglish" version. This marked the first time that Juanes sang in English and Tony Bennett in Spanish.

A José Carreras recording of the song appears on his 1997 album, What a Wonderful World.

Vytautas Juozapaitis, a soloist of Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre recorded a Lithuanian version entitled "Kai Tu Toli" on his debut album, Negaliu Nemyleti (Can't Help Falling In Love) released in 2004.

Ken (L'Arc~en~Ciel) solo work 1st. single [Speed] [26.08.2006]

Carly Smithson performed "The Shadow of Your Smile" on Season 7 of American Idol during the top 24 performances. It was released for download from the iTunes Store on February 21, 2008.

Singer Amel Larrieux recorded "Shadow of Your Smile" on her 2007 jazz standard album, Lovely Standards.

Saxophonist Dave Koz recorded two versions from his standards album, At the Movies. The first song featured Johnny Mathis on vocals, and Chris Botti on trumpet. The second, an instrumental, features Botti again and guitarist Norman Brown.

Baden Powell, Brazilian guitarist and composer, included "The Shadow of Your Smile" on his 1971 Columbia album Solitude on Guitar.

Gina Hayes recorded a fresh, updated/jazzy version of the song on her 2014 album Montage.

Roberta Gambarini recorded a jazz interpretation on her 2013 album The Shadow of Your Smile - Homage to Japan.

British singer Shirley Bassey recorded the song on her 1966 album I've Got a Song for You.

Added versions of famous artists are those of Rosemary Clooney, Brenda Lee, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Glenn Frey, Lou Rawls, Dean Martin, Matt Monro, Jack Jones, Tom Jones, Jose Feliciano, Chris Montez, Kenny G, and Filipino songstresses Merci Molina and Pilita Corrales.

References

The Shadow of Your Smile Wikipedia