As Time Goes By (song) - History

History

Herman Hupfeld wrote "As Time Goes By" for the 1931 Broadway musical Everybody's Welcome. In the original show, it was sung by Frances Williams. It was recorded that year by several artists, including Rudy Vallee and Binnie Hale, as well as orchestra recordings by Jacques Renard and Fred Rich. In terms of popularity at the time, it was a modest hit.

The song was re-introduced in 1942 in the film Casablanca, sung by Dooley Wilson accompanied by pianist Elliot Carpenter and heard throughout the film as a leitmotif. Wilson was unable to record his version of the song at the time due to a musicians' strike, leading Brunswick to reissue the Jacques Renard's 1931 recording, as well as Victor to re-issue Vallee's 1931 recording and giving Vallee a number one hit in 1942.

The famous opening line, "You must remember this...", is actually the start of the chorus as the song was originally written and performed. Wilson did not sing the preceding verse in Casablanca, however, and most subsequent recordings have followed the film's lead in omitting it, leading to its being virtually unknown to most listeners.

In addition to the American Film Institute including it as number two in their list of the 100 best songs in film, National Public Radio included it in their NPR 100, the 1999 list of the most important American musical works of the 20th century as compiled by their music editors.

Hupfeld lived his whole life in Montclair, New Jersey and spent many hours at a watering hole built in 1922 on Valley Road which was then part of Upper Montclair, now the Valley Regency. This location, previously known as the Robin Hood Inn, is the location where Hupfeld spent many hours at their piano and wrote several of his songs. A plaque located at the Valley Regency Catering Facility on Valley Road in Clifton, New Jersey commemorates the writing of the song by Hupfeld. Although the building was extensively renovated in 2000–2003, the owners, seeing the value of the plaque retained it and left it where it was, on the second floor of the facility.