Send in The Clowns - Recordings

Recordings

The song occurs on over 900 records by hundreds of performers in a wide variety of arrangements. Among these are:

• 1973: Frank Sinatra recorded it on his album Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back.
• 1975: Shirley Bassey recorded Arthur Greenslade's arrangement of the song on the album Good, Bad, but Beautiful.
• 1975: Judy Collins recorded the song on her album Judith (arrangement by Jonathan Tunick).
• 1975: Bing Crosby, at the age of 71, recorded it for his album That's What Life Is All About.
• 1975: Zarah Leander, who played Madame Armfeldt (Desirée's mother) in the German production of A Little Night Music recorded a German version titled "Wo sind die Clowns?"
• 1975: Frida (Anni-Frid Lyngstad) of ABBA recorded a Swedish-language version called "Var är min clown?" (with Swedish lyrics by Mats Paulson) on her solo album "Frida ensam".
• 1976: Lani Hall (wife of Herb Alpert) on her album Sweet Bird.
• 1976: Stan Kenton on his album Kenton '76.
• 1976: Jazz guitarist Pat Martino recorded an instrumental version of the song for We'll be Together Again.
• 1977: Jazz vocalist Lorez Alexandria recorded an uptempo version for her album From Broadway To Hollywood which subsequently became popular on the UK jazz dance and soul scenes, eventually being rereleased as a 7 inch single on Jazzman Records in 2000.
• 1977: Guitarist and educator Ted Greene arranged the song for his Solo Guitar.
• 1977: Grace Jones recorded a disco version of the song for her debut album, Portfolio.
• 1977: Spanish singer Raphael recorded the song in Castilian on the album El Cantor ("The Singer").
• 1977: Elizabeth Taylor, although thitherto not a singer, recorded the song for the film adaptation of A Little Night Music, in which she played Desirée.
• 1977: Mel Tormé recorded an uptempo version for his album The London Sessions, arranged by Christopher Gunning. Taken at a sprightly pace, with a bright, slowly building big band arrangement and a joyous saxophone solo by Phil Woods, it would seem at cross purposes with the material, but Tormé gives a suitably wry reading which highlights the absurdity happening around him.
• 1978: The pop group Brotherhood of Man recorded a largely a cappella version for their album Twenty Greatest.
• 1978: Frankie Laine recorded the song for his British album Life is Beautiful. It was issued on a single in England.
• 1981: Jazz vocalist Carmen McRae recorded this song on her album "Live at Bubba's".
• 1983: Angela Lansbury sings the song live on the CD A Stephen Sondheim Evening, with Sondheim accompanying her on the piano.
• 1983: Elaine Paige recorded a version for her album Stages.
• 1985: Barbra Streisand recorded Jeremy Lubbock's arrangement on The Broadway Album.
• 1989: Roger Whittaker performed the song live at the Tivoli, Copenhagen, Denmark on March 27. This live performance was later released as an album Live and is also available on video.
• 1991: A version was recorded by Bryan Ferry during sessions for his abandoned album Horoscope, but has not been legitimately released. Some bootleg editions of the album contain the song as the final vocal track.
• 1992: Glenn Close performed the song live at Carnegie Hall in the concert Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall. Her performance was seen on the subsequent televised version of this concert, and can be seen on the CD and DVD releases.
• 1993: Krusty the Clown of The Simpsons covered the song on the soundtrack Songs in the Key of Springfield.
• 1994: Renato Russo, a Brazilian singer, recorded it on his solo album called The Stonewall Celebration Concert.
• 1995: Roger Whittaker recorded the song for his album On Broadway.
• 1995: Howard Keel recorded the song and it is available on the album The Best of Howard Keel.
• 1998: Judi Dench performed the song during "Hey! Mr. Producer", an evening celebrating British theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh.
• 1998: This song was covered by Jazz pianist Eric Reed for his album Pure Imagination.
• 1998: Tom Jones recorded the song several times between 1998 and 2005.
• 1998: Megadeth recorded the song live at the Hammersmith Odeon.
• 2000: The song was covered by the Tiger Lillies on their album Circus Songs.
• 2002: Mandy Patinkin performs the song on his album Mandy Patinkin Sings Sondheim.
• 2003: Jean Shy performs a unique version of the song with the JBBO on their album The Other Side Of Blue.
• 2004: Olivia Newton-John's version appears on the album Women of Song.
• 2005: Bobo Stenson & Anders Jormin & Paul Motian Jazz Trio version appears on album Goodbye.
• 2006: Opera Babes performed a classical version of the song on their album Renaissance.
• 2007: Peter Criss on his album One for All.
• 2008: Mark Kozelek recorded this song and released it on his album The Finally LP
• 2008: Patricia Kaas recorded this song in German ("Wo sind die Clowns?") and French ("Faites entrer les clowns") and released it on her album Kabaret. French lyrics by Stephane Laporte.
• 2009: All Angels recorded a four-part version of the song for their third album.
• 2009: Catherine Zeta-Jones performed the song in the role of Desirée in the 2009/2010 Broadway revival of A Little Night Music directed by Trevor Nunn
• 2010: Judi Dench sang the song on BBC Proms for Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday celebrations.
• 2010: The song was the subject-matter of the BBC Radio Four series, "Soul Music".
• 2011: Mathilde Santing recorded this song version for her live album Luck be a Lady.
• 2011 Sandi Patty recorded this song on her album, Broadway Stories.