"Without a Song" is a popular song composed by Vincent Youmans with lyrics later added by Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu, published in 1929. It was included in the musical play, Great Day. The play only ran for 36 performances but contained two songs which became famous, "Without a Song" and "Great Day". Background and initial recordings Canadian singer, Gilbert Burgess Holland introduced “Without A Song” in the show Great Day accompanied by Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, in the pit of the famous Park Theatre, NYC. Gilbert is the son of Reverend John Christie Holland. One of the earliest recordings of the song was by Paul Whiteman's orchestra featuring Bing Crosby on October 9, 1929 and this reached the charts of the day. "Without a Song" was recorded in March 1946 in New York by Billy Eckstine, who later rerecorded the song live on 30 August 1960 at the Cloud Nine Lounge of the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas for his album No Cover, No Minimum. "Without a Song" also was recorded twice by Perry Como: the first time on January 11, 1951 and the second time in June 1970 at a live performance at the International Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada. The 1951 recording was issued as a 78 rpm single in the United States by RCA Victor Records (catalog number 20-4033) and in the United Kingdom by HMV (catalog number B-10093). It was also included in a 1957 album, Dream Along With Me (RCA Camden catalog number CAL-403). The 1970 recording was issued on albums by RCA and its United Kingdom, Netherlands, and Japan subsidiaries, but not as a single. [[Bob Dylan has called Como's version "...just downright incredible. There is nothing small you can say about it. The orchestration alone can knock you off your feet." Other notable recordings Lawrence Tibbett, Nelson Eddy and Frank Sinatra recorded versions of the song with what appears to be the original lyrics, including the line, "A darkie's born, but he's no good no how, without a song." In subsequent recordings, Sinatra didn't use the term "darkie", and later recorded versions included the altered text "a man is born, but he's no good no how, without a song." The original was played in error on BBC Radio 4's 'PM' program on the 9th April 2020, prompting an apology on the same program four days later. In addition to popular artists like Bing