Pop Songs (CD Reviews 2008)

This famous song had lyrics by Jack Norworth (1879-1959) and
music by Albert Von Tilzer (1878-1956)

The story goes that Norworth wrote his lyrics after seeing a sign that read:

"Baseball Today - Polo Grounds"

He then gave his lyrics to Albert Von Tilzer who set it to music. The song was copyrighted on May 2, 1908. The song was first sung by Jack Norworth's wife, Nora Bayes. He later wrote different verses for the song in 1927.

Vintage Recordings

One of the first recordings of the song was made in October of that year by Edison's National Phonograph Company. The song is actually in waltz tempo and was sung by Edison staff announcer, Edward Meeker.

You can hear this rare cylinder recording at this link:

"Take Me Out To The Ball Game"

There was a recording made by songwriter Albert Von Tilzer singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" with the original 1908 lyrics at a special ASCAP concert in San Francisco available on this CD set:

Carousel of American Music: The Fabled 24 September 1940 San Francisco Concerts

Modern Recordings

"In selecting the musical tracks we have tried to capture the essence of our film series, to recapitulate and distill the progression from traditional folk music to 1990's rock and roll that the film celebrates, and to honor two of our country's treasures -- our music and our national game." -- Ken Burns and Lynn Novick

From the acclaimed PBS TV series is this CD with numerous versions
of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame":

BASEBALL: A Film by Ken Burns - Original Soundtrack Recording

Hollywood Musical

There was a popular 1949 MGM musical using the 1927 lyrics by Norworth
starring Esther Williams, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra with the same song title:

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME (2000 DVD)

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME (2008 DVD)

About the Song

You can read the background about the song in this recommended new book:

Baseball's Greatest Hit: The Story of Take Me Out to the Ball Game
by Robert Thompson, Tim Wiles, Andy Strasberg

Return to top of page