1928 sheet music cover, illustration by Sydney Leff
In 1944 the song achieved its biggest success with a version by Harry James and His Orchestra featuring vocalist Dick Haymes – an April 1941 recording re-released owing to a stipulation by the 1942–44 musicians' strike that prevented recording of new material.[2] The single debuted in April 1944 on Billboard's National Best Selling Retail Records chart and reached number one in the chart dated June 10, 1944 – the seventh of Harry James's nine US number ones; it stayed at number one for four non-consecutive weeks. The single topped Billboard's Most Played Juke Box Records chart for six weeks.
A recording by The Ink Spots featuring tenor Bill Kenny also reached Billboard's Top Ten in 1944. A version by the King Sisters peaked at no. 12. The song featured in the Variety chart 10 Best Sellers on Coin-Machines in the week dated June 21, 1944.[3] The song was also placed in the year-end 1944 Top Ten of Lucky Strike's Your hit Parade.[4] "I'll Get By" ranked third in a 1944 Billboard poll of the best-selling sheet music among GIs stationed in training camps and in Europe.[5]
1973 Birds of Prey – a TV movie starring David Janssen as an aging helicopter pilot chasing airborne criminals. The song, sung by an unknown artist in slow Big-Band fashion, serves to frame the character's reminiscences of his glory days as a World War II aviator. CBS later removed the song in DVD reincarnations of the film due to issues of royalty payments, in the same manner they later replaced John Denver's "Looking for Space" in episodes of Magnum, P.I. and The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin" in the Season One finale of Wiseguy.
Note: A frequent claim that Billie Holiday's version of "I’ll Get By" was used for the 1973 TV movie Birds of Prey is unverifiable. Comparisons of the movie soundtrack vs. Holiday's surviving recordings show that the vocals and orchestrations do not match. The film's singer, still unknown and uncredited, had a much deeper voice than Holiday, and the orchestra and arrangement were noticeably more modern than any of Holiday's recordings. Readers can verify this by playing the URL recording of the original movie version (posted to one of the IMDb reviews of the movie), then listening to any of Holiday's recordings on the Apple ITunes Store, which are noticeably different in all respects. It is very unlikely a Holiday version was used.
This song was interpreted by Marilyn Monroe during one of her lessons in the Actors Studio. According to some, Monroe's performance caused a member of the audience to cry, which convinced some observers of her acting ability.[citation needed]
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