The company became a subsidiary of the giant conglomerate American Power and Light in 1925, but became an independent company once again in 1945. In 1949, it merged with Northern Arizona Power and Light. In 1952, it merged with Arizona Edison and changed its name to Arizona Public Service.
The song was written to commemorate the November 10, 1975 sinking of the American Great Lakes freighter the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior. Lightfoot talks about how he managed to get his hit on top 20 radio. âWe had to nip [The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald] a little bit to get it in top 20 radio. But we did it with the instrumentals, we found a way to do it and shorten it down. Four and half minutes or they wouldnât play on FM in LA. They said, âIf you want it to be on top 20, you better edit it boys.â And thatâs what we did.â. The 75-year-old Songwriterâs Hall of Famer also shares what led him to write a song about the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
The song was sung and recorded by Billie Holiday many times, from the mid-1930s onwards. It was sung by Irene Dunne in the movie A Guy Named Joe with Spencer Tracy (MGM, 1943).The song was revived to even greater success in 1944, when the 1940 recording by Harry James (Dick Haymes vocal) was re-released (during the 1942â44 musicians' strike, which prevented recording of new material) (Billboard #1).ack Jones for his 1965 album Dear Heart, Al Hirt on his 1965 album They're Playing Our Song, and Sun Ra in 1973 and 1977 in his posthumous album Some Blues But Not The Kind That's Blue. A version was also recorded by Ben Bernie And His Orchestra, which was featured at the end of the Woody Allen film Zelig.