Songs You Might Not Know Were Covers Vol. 9: Dream a Little Dream of Me (#10)

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FREEDOM!!! There’s nothing as rewarding as hearing “you’re done” from the physical therapist!! Makes you wanna have lunch at your favorite Tex-Mex restaurant and sing!! You don’t want to hear me sing, so I’ll leave it to the professionals. Here’s a song you might remember from a big hit version and not known it was a cover. #10: Dream a Little Dream of Me Age has its privileges. One of those privileges centers around music. Like the t-shirt (and meme) says, I may be old but I got to see all the cool bands. That includes the Mamas and the Papas. DANG, could Mama Cass sing. That was so evident on this departure from folk rock hit from 1968, where she turned on the charm like she was singing a 30s song. You know what? She was singing a 30s song. This song goes back to Ozzie. No, not OZZY, the bat-eater, but Ozzie Nelson. If you’ve ever seen (or heard of) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and wondered just who those two people were, here’s your answer. Ozzie Nelson started his long career in show biz as a band leader in the late 1920s. His “orchestra” (what most pop bands were called then, hardly a real orchestra) was very popular during the 30s. In 1931 Ozzie Nelson gave us the first recording of “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” That was ten years before Cass Elliot was born. Just goes to show that good music doesn’t have an expiration date. And, for the record, this is one of those cases where the cover blows the original out of the water! Dream a Little Dream of Me Written by Fabian Andre, Wilbur Schwandt, and Gus Kahn Originally recorded by Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra, 1931 Famously covered by the Mamas & the Papas, 1968 The original from 1931, with Ricky Nelson’s dad on vocals: