Meyerson and Ernest Harburg, "[r]hythmically and melodically it sounds like a Jewish chant." An article in Tablet magazine suggested that the melody was similar to Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem. Musical and cover versions The song was first performed by the vaudeville singer Rex Weber as part of the musical Americana, which ran from October to December 1932 and was not a success. Three weeks after Americana opened, the song was covered by crooner Bing Crosby for Brunswick Records; it was also covered by Rudy Vallee shortly thereafter for Columbia Records. Unusually, Vallee's version includes a spoken introduction, in which the narrator states that the song is "a bit out of character" for him. The song became popular through these versions, which were both frequently aired on the radio and competed for listeners. By the end of the year, Al Jolson had also covered the song on his popular show for NBC. The song has been covered by at least 52 artists in the United States including Judy Collins and Tom Waits. In the UK, it was recorded by Harry Roy and his Orchestra (From the Cafe Anglais, London) in 1933 and issued by Parlophone, with vocals by Bill Currie, featuring non-vocal speech by Currie and Roy. A version by Lew Stone and his Band (again at the Cafe Anglais) was recorded the same year for a "Lew Stone Favourites" medley, with vocals by Al Bowlly, and released by Decca. In 1948, a revival of the song by British vocalist Steve Conway was released on Columbia. During the 1970s stagflation and in light of the Watergate scandal, Harburg wrote a parody version for The New York Times: Reception and legacy At the time, reviews of musicals rarely devoted much space to the songs' lyrics and melody. That was not true of the reviews of Americana. In The New York Times, Brooks Atkinson wrote that "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" was "plaintive and thundering" and "the first song of the year that can be sung... Mr. Gorney has expressed the spirit of these times with more heart-breaking anguish than any of the prose bards of the day." Gilbert Gabriel in New York American wrote: "Gorney and Harburg have written something so stirring that it will run away with the whole show". Theater Arts Monthlys review stated that the song "deflates the rolling bombast of our political nightmare with greater effect