Almost Like Being In Love

"Almost Like Being in Love" is a popular standard composed by Frederick Loewe with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner for the 1947 Broadway musical Brigadoon. The song was introduced by David Brooks and Marion Bell at the Ziegfeld Theatre when the show opened on March 13, 1947. Brigadoon went on to run for 581 performances and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical, with this number emerging as its most enduring song. Notably, choreographer Agnes de Mille initially urged Lerner and Loewe to cut the piece from the show. The song found commercial success almost immediately. Frank Sinatra's recording reached number twenty on the charts in 1947, while versions by Mildred Bailey and Mary Martin also charted that year. Loewe, who had trained at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin under Ferruccio Busoni, brought a sophisticated harmonic sensibility to the composition, with passing diminished chords and key modulations that made it particularly attractive to jazz improvisers. Charlie Parker recorded it in 1952, the same year Lester Young cut a memorable version with the Oscar Peterson Trio. Sonny Rollins recorded it with the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker explored it alongside Lee Konitz. Nat King Cole's 1953 rendition, arranged by Nelson Riddle, later gained renewed attention through the 1993 film Groundhog Day. The tune has continued to attract interpreters across generations, with recordings by Diana Krall and James Taylor appearing as recently as 2020.