"Rags to Riches" is a 1953 popular song by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross.
Background
It is based on a famous Russian tune called "Volga Melody" by Yuri Shchetkov sometimes known as "Samara My Lovely Town". The bridge passage or middle 8 was inserted by the composer.
Tony Bennett recording
The best-known version of the song, recorded by Tony Bennett with Percy Faith and his orchestra, was No.1 for eight weeks on the Billboard chart in 1953 and became a gold record. In 2012, he recorded a Spanglish version with bachata singer Romeo Santos for his album Viva Duets.
Other versions
- Later in 1953, a version by David Whitfield reached No.3 in the British charts
- Another version in 1953, by Billy Ward and his Dominoes with Jackie Wilson singing lead made number two on Billboard's Most Played in Juke Boxes chart.
- Later recordings by Sunny & the Sunliners (No. 45 in 1963) and Elvis Presley (No 33 in 1971) also made the Billboard charts.
See also
- List of number-one singles of 1953 (U.S.)