Rags to Riches (1953 song)

"Rags to Riches" is a 1953 popular song by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross.

Background

It is based on a famous Russian tune called "Volga Melody" by Yuri Shchetkov sometimes known as "Samara My Lovely Town". The bridge passage or middle 8 was inserted by the composer.

Tony Bennett recording

The best-known version of the song, recorded by Tony Bennett with Percy Faith and his orchestra, was No.1 for eight weeks on the Billboard chart in 1953 and became a gold record. In 2012, he recorded a Spanglish version with bachata singer Romeo Santos for his album Viva Duets.

Other versions

• Later in 1953, a version by David Whitfield reached No.3 in the British charts
• Another version in 1953, by Billy Ward and his Dominoes with Jackie Wilson singing lead made number two on Billboard's Most Played in Juke Boxes chart.
• Later recordings by Sunny & the Sunliners (No. 45 in 1963) and Elvis Presley (No 33 in 1971) also made the Billboard charts.

See also

• List of number-one singles of 1953 (U.S.)

References