I’m doing something different for this week’s Friday Cocktail Hour. There’s been enough gloom and doom for one week so I decided to ditch the torch songs for a happy tune. Anyone object? I thought not.

I’m Putting All My Eggs In One Basket was written in 1936 by Irving Berlin for the Astaire-Rogers movie, Follow The Fleet. It’s a film so cheerful that it makes one say “hey sailor” over and over again.

We begin this eggy journey with the man for whom the song was written. This 1953 version comes from The Astaire Story an album Fred recorded with some of the best jazz musicians in the world: Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Barney Kessell, Alvin Stoller, Charlie Shavers, and Flip Phillips.

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong recorded a lively duet of Berlin’s song featuring Oscar Peterson again. Oscar sure did get around:

Carmen McRae put all her eggs in a big band basket:

Finally, Bob Willis and his Texas Playboys:

That’s it for this week. After the election, we all need a drink.  It’s what Bogie, Betty, and Frank would want. Never argue with them.