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"Lullaby of Birdland" is a 1952 popular song with music by George Shearing and lyrics by George David Weiss under the pseudonym "B. Y. Forster" in order to circumvent the rule that ASCAP and BMI composers could not collaborate. The title refers to Charlie "Bird" Parker and the Birdland jazz club named after him. The song has been recorded by many vocal and instrumental performers, including Ella Fitzgerald (her version being a 1954 chart record), the Blue Stars of France, Chris Connor, Sarah Vaughan, Chaka Khan, Mel Tormé, Nikki Yanofsky, pianist Friedrich Gulda, Korean singer Insooni, Finnish singer Olavi Virta (in Finnish) and Italian singer Mina. In Stan Freberg's comic version of "The Great Pretender", the jazz pianist ad libs the first six notes of "Lullaby of Birdland", before the singer angrily shouts "WATCH IT!!"
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