Miller and Murden wrote the song in 1965 as a slow ballad, and passed it around various singers so that it could be tried out and refined. Among those who, it is said, heard and performed the song in about 1966 – but did not record it – are Jo Thompson, a club singer in Detroit; Sherry Kaye, who may have performed it in a musical revue at the Gem Theater;
Jean DuShon Jean DuShon was one of the singers who was originally tapped by Ron Miller to
demo the song as he was fine-tuning the composition. Miller was impressed by DuShon's rendition, and her version, produced by
Esmond Edwards, was issued as a single on
Chess Records' Cadet label in October 1966. It was chosen "Pick Hit of the Week" by Detroit's
WXYZ radio. Although the record label gave the sole songwriting credit to Murden, Motown CEO
Berry Gordy discovered that Miller – who was contracted to
Motown – had co-written the song, and reportedly asked Chess not to promote the single. DuShon dropped "For Once in My Life" from her nightclub act and later said: "It was a very big disappointment in my life. I stopped singing it ‘cause I didn’t have the song. I didn’t have anything. It wasn’t mine anymore."
Connie Haines Connie Haines was a contracted singer signed to Motown in 1965 and as indicated by the Motown session logs and tape information, she recorded the first version of the song at the label in July 1965. and backed up by a symphony orchestra and produced by
Frank Wilson. Some sources suggest that the song was originally written for McNair; others that
Gordy, hearing the song, insisted that she record it. In later years, McNair re-recorded the song with a faster tempo.
Other Motown recordings Singer
Jack Soo claimed that he was the first
male artist to record a version of the song, after he joined Motown in 1965 as one of their first non-African American artists. The record was never released and was permanently shelved in the Motown archives.
The Four Tops recorded the song on their album
4 Tops on Broadway, released in March 1967 and, like McNair's recording, produced as a slow ballad by Frank Wilson.
The Temptations also recorded the song for their pop standards based album
The Temptations in a Mellow Mood, released in July 1967.
Baritone singer
Paul Williams sings the lead vocal on the song, and it subsequently became his showcase number in the Temptations' live shows. Williams' most famous performance of the number was during
the Supremes and Temptations'
TCB television special in 1968, a performance cited as the apex of Williams' career. The song also made its way into the 1998 made-for-television
miniseries on
NBC,
The Temptations. After celebrating the Temptations' (and Motown's) first Grammy Award win for "
Cloud Nine", the actor who portrays Paul Williams (
Christian Payton) sings the slow ballad version.
Diana Ross & the Supremes recorded a mid-tempo bossa nova inspired version in early 1969 that wasn't discovered until the 2010s and not released until 2019. The song would become the most covered song in the Motown catalog by fellow Motown artists:
Billy Eckstine (1966),
Martha & the Vandellas (1967),
Soupy Sales (1968),
Jonah Jones (1968),
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1969), Blinky (1969),
Kiki Dee (1969),
Sammy Davis Jr. (1969),
Joe Harnell (1969), the Ding Dongs (1970),
Gladys Knight & the Pips (1973)
Tony Bennett Also in 1967,
Tony Bennett's recording of the song peaked at number 91 on the
Billboard Pop Singles chart (number 8 on the Easy Listening survey) and was the title track of his album
For Once in My Life. "For Once in My Life" remained in Bennett's concert repertoire into the 2000s. In 2006, Bennett teamed up with Stevie Wonder to record a ballad tempo version for his
Duets: An American Classic album, for which Bennett and Wonder received a
Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Bennett also performed it on the grand finale of
the sixth season of American Idol and in the Grammy Award-sponsored tribute
Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life – An All-Star Salute, which aired February 16, 2015, on
CBS.
Frank Sinatra version Frank Sinatra's version was released in March 1969, composed by
Ron Miller and
Orlando Murden, and it was part of his album,
My Way. ==Stevie Wonder version==