“It’s Been a Long, Long Time” is a big band-era song that was a hit at the end of World War II, with music by Julie Styne and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a person welcoming home their spouse at the end of the war. The most popular recording, by trumpeter Harry James and His Orchestra with vocalist Kitty Kallen, debuted in October 1945 on Billboard’s Best Selling Popular Retail Records chart and reached number one in the chart at the end of November – the last of Harry James’s nine US number ones. The record features a solo by alto saxophonist Willie Smith.
A hit version by iconic crooner Bing Crosby with Les Paul and His Trio] (recorded in July 1945) debuted the same week as James’s record, which it replaced at number one in the chart in December 1945. Sammy Kaye’s “Chickery Chick” then returned to number one, only to be replaced by the Harry James recording, which reclaimed the top spot (for one final week) in the chart at the end of December. James’s and Crosby’s hits remained on the chart for 17 and 16 weeks, respectively. Both versions reached number one on Billboard’s Records Most-Played on the Air chart and its Most-Played Juke Box Records chart.
Two other recordings of “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” charted in America in late 1945: Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra with vocal by Irene Daye (US no. 4) and Stan Kenton and His Orchestra with vocal by June Christy (US no. 6).”It’s Been a Long, Long Time” topped Billboard’s composite Honour Roll of Hits chart for the last seven weeks of 1945.Les Paul recalled in an interview for Mojo magazine that “Bing was a sucker for guitar and that particular song was a case of you don’t have to play a lot of notes, you just have to play the right notes.”
The song became a standard with versions recorded by The DeMarco Sisters (1945), June Haver and Dan Dailey (1950), Perry Como (1956), Peggy Lee (1959), Louis Armstrong (1964), and Tom Jones (1966). In 1945 Frank Sinatra sang a version on the radio show Your Hit Parade, and this recording has appeared on many compilation albums. Harry James and His Orchestra re-recorded the song with singer Helen Forrest.
The Harry James and Kitty Kallen recording features in multiple projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, notable as a tragically ironic piece of music representing Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) and his best friend James ‘Bucky’ Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and later with love interest Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) being torn apart by time.
