The song has been recorded many times. It was featured prominently in a solo song-and-dance sequence done by
James Cagney in his
Oscar-winning performance in the 1942 film about Cohan's life,
Yankee Doodle Dandy. It has also been performed by
Jimmy Roselli,
Judy Garland, and
Patti LuPone. Another popular version of the song was recorded by
Al Jolson for the film
Jolson Sings Again (1949), the sequel to the earlier film
The Jolson Story (1946), both starring
Larry Parks as Jolson, and
William Demarest as Steve Martin.
Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album
Join Bing and Sing Along (1959). In 1999,
National Public Radio included this song in the "NPR 100", in which NPR's music editors sought to compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century. The song was included in the 1968 musical
George M!, which was based on Cohan's life. Tony Award-winning actor
Joel Grey played Cohan in the original Broadway cast and performed the song for the original cast album. One of its earliest recordings was by
Billy Murray. His recording's short instrumental interludes contain the two closing lines of the chorus to
The Yankee Doodle Boy, which was the other famous song from
Little Johnny Jones:
Verse 1 :Did you ever see two
Yankees part upon a foreign shore :When the good ship's just about to start for Old
New York once more? :With a tear-dimmed eye they say goodbye, they're friends without a doubt; :When the man on the pier shouts loud and clear, as the ship strikes out...
Verse 2 :Say hello to dear old
Coney Isle, if there you chance to be, :When you're at the
Waldorf have a "smile" and charge it up to me; :Mention my name ev'ry place you go, as 'round the town you roam; :Wish you'd call on my gal, now remember, old pal, when you get back home...
Chorus :Give my regards to
Broadway, remember me to
Herald Square, :Tell all the gang at
Forty-Second Street, that I will soon be there; :Whisper of how I'm yearning to mingle with the old time throng; :Give my regards to old Broadway and say that I'll be there ere long. ==In popular culture==