At Last

Infobox Single
Name = At Last!


Artist = Etta James
from Album = At Last!
B-side = "I Just Want to Make Love to You"
Released = 1961
Format = 45 rpm
Recorded = 1960
Genre = Soul blues
Length = 2:57
Label = Argo
Writer = Mack Gordon, Harry Warren
Producer = Phil Chess, Leonard Chess
Last single = "Spoonful"
(1960)
This single = "At Last"
(1961)
Next single = "Don't Cry Baby"
(1961)Infobox Single
Name = At Last


Artist = Céline Dion
from Album = A New Day Has Come
Released = December 9 2002
Format = Radio single
Recorded = Studio Piccolo, Bananaboat Studios
Genre = Pop
Length = 4:16 (Album/Single Version)
Label = Columbia, Epic
Writer = Mack Gordon, Harry Warren
Producer = Humberto Gatica, Guy Roche
Last single = "Goodbye's (The Saddest Word)"
(2002)
This single = "At Last"
(2002)
Next single = "I Drove All Night"
(2003)

"At Last!" is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film Orchestra Wives, starring George Montgomery and Ann Rutherford. It was first performed in the film and on record by Glenn Miller and his orchestra, vocal by Ray Eberle & Pat Friday. The song was a major hit for Miller, and it soon became a standard. Nat King Cole recorded it in 1957 on his number one album "Love Is the Thing." In 1960, it was covered by blues singer Etta James in a performance that improvised on Warren's melody. James was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 for her rendition of the song. [ [http://www.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/Awards/Hall_Of_Fame/ Grammy Hall of Fame Database] ]

The song was a favorite of Warren's and he would occasionally draw the melody of the first two bars of the song when signing an autograph.

The song became James's signature song and was the third in a string of successful songs from her Chess Records debut album "At Last!". Upon the song's release in April 1961, it became her second number-two R&B hit and crossed over to pop radio, reaching number forty-seven on the "Billboard" Hot 100. Despite its rather low pop chart standing, the song is well-known and is still played regularly on oldies radio stations.

In the decades since its release it has been covered by a number of artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Phoebe Snow, Miles Davis, Céline Dion, Lou Rawls, Eva Cassidy, Christina Aguilera, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Norah Jones, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Scott, The Manhattan Rhythm Kings,Cyndi Lauper, and Beyonce Knowles. The Etta James version is perhaps the most famous, and is known to performed at weddings and wedding receptions because of its romantic lyrics and sweeping orchestration.

Etta James version

Céline Dion version

"At Last" was recorded by Céline Dion and included on her 2002 album "A New Day Has Come". [ [http://www.celinedion.com/celinedion/english/music.cgi?album_id=16 A New Day Has Come] . Retrieved March 22, 2002.] Her version was produced by Humberto Gatica and Guy Roche, and released as a promotional single in the United States on December 9 2002. However, there was no music video made for the song. It was also the last single released from the "A New Day Has Come" album.

"At Last" peaked at number 16 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks.

A live version of this song was included on the "A New Day... Live in Las Vegas" album in 2004, as Dion performed it for four years during her "A New Day..." show in Las Vegas.

Formats and track listings

U.S. promotional CD single
#"At Last" – 4:16

Charts

References