“You could grow very tired and very poor trying to obtain all the cover versions of Over the Rainbow.'” —JD Doyle.

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For a straight man, Harold Arlen had an uncanny gift for writing songs our community embraced, as OutSmart music contributor Gregg Shapiro has observed. After all, Arlen composed the music for "Get Happy," "A Sleepin' Bee," "Stormy Weather," "Come Rain or Come Shine," and many other queer favorites. Tops among these is "Over the Rainbow," the short, wistful song Judy Garland made a classic in The Wizard of Oz. In honor of the centenary of Arlen's birth, we present a selection of much-loved versions of "Rainbow" from a number of local musical minds.

The first is a 1959 version on Capitol Records Label by Gene Vincent . I really dig this one because it reminds me of a lot of the old standards that the Beatles did very early in their career (pre 1963). Nice "oldies" tune.

My second, just because it kicks ass, is the version by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes from 1999 on the Fat Wreck Chords Label. I about rolled off my chair the first time I heard it.

Cindy Pruitt and her band Fluff the Kat were featured in our August issue ("In Tune in Houston").
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Collin McClure
It's Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole 's Hawaiian version of the combined "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World." Most other versions sound a little depressing to me. IZ's rendition is a happy, tropical, Hawaiian trip that makes me smile and just plain happy.

Other cool versions include Norah Jones 's version of IZ's version of the original, which sounds a little child-like and has an innocence about it. There's also a Guns N Roses version, believe it or not--instrumental, of course.

McClure is a producer at KRBE and a writer for www.104krbe.com. He is also a frequent OutSmart contributor.
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Ernie Manouse
In 1962, the woman who would becoming the world's largest-selling female recording artist, Nana Mouskouri, came to America to record her first English language album. In New York, she was teamed with a young producer named Quincy Jones to record the album The Girl from Greece Sings, made up of pop standards.

This year, as Nana conducts her world-wide farewell tour (which will be coming to the U.S. this spring), Universal Music released a compilation album entitled I'll Remember You containing new, rare and un-issued tracks. One of those tracks was a never before heard recording of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from those original 1962 Quincy Jones sessions.

Manouse hosts InnerViews and The After Party on KUHT, the Houston PBS station.
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Zip and Barbara Short-Morgan

In 1965, Patti Labelle and her group--known then as Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles --turned the standard "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" into a hit. To this day, LaBelle's version of the song remains a staple in her live show and is mythical for its ability to prompt goose bumps and tears. It makes you believe that anything is possible. And Patti is known for her GLBT affections and makes sure she announces it at every concert she does, I've been to quite a few of her shows. She is my #1 choice for that song.

Zip and Barbara Short-Morgan own the club Bartini.
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Ron Jones
Aside from Judy's, my two favorite renditions of "Over the Rainbow" are by Harry Connick, Jr. and Eva Cassidy. Oddly enough, both have a blues influence.

Connick's version is on his album, Songs I Heard . His lyrical, resonant voice is totally endearing for this song. It starts off with the sounds of thunder and driving rain--so appropriate, I think, for the rainbow image. But he sings the song with the innocence of a little boy. It is lovely and magical.

Cassidy sings the song on her Songbird album. Her blues styling and rich, textured voice are in direct contrast to Connick's version. While his is childlike, hers bears the weight of a weary world traveler. The album, not released until two years after she died of cancer, went to the top of the blues charts and made her a posthumous star!

Jones is artistic director of the drama department at Cy-Fair Community College
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Brett Cullum
I collect strange covers, so I'm all about this topic!

My favorite has to be Tony Bennett 's version, which was on Here's To The Ladies from Sony. It's a jazzy up-tempo take on the song with a guy singing it. Bennett restores all the original bridges, and keeps the song from being sappy or too much of a tearjerker.

Willie Nelson does a country acoustic version that is near heartbreaking on another Sony release called Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

Chet Baker did a nice trumpet version you can find on another Somewhere Over The Rainbow CD from RCA. Sarah Vaughn also did a great cover, but it's only available as an import.

A techno band from Germany called Cosmic Gate covered the song for the disco dance crowd, which can be found through EMI. It's a trippy house version if you want an Oz-themed circuit party.

Brett Cullum is fondly remembered as one of the well-exposed performers in the Bienvenue Theatre production of Naked Boys Singing.
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Rob Seible
Actually, one of my favorites is a choral arrangement by Audrey Snyder. I, in turn, did it as an a cappella piece to use on the Bering Memorial United Methodist Church choir's last European concert tour in 2003. At every concert, the audiences hummed or sang along! We have a recording of this on the CD we produced following that tour called MusicalItalia. In addition, I am planning to write my own arrangement for use on our European concert tour in June 2006.

Seible is music director at Bering.
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Rick Comeaux
Add Atwood and Comeaux to the list of the tens of thousands of musicians who've performed "Over The Rainbow" over the years. Jerry and I put it in our show from our very beginnings in 1984 through to today, and I can't recall it ever not being genuinely well received and loved.

Especially in my early years, I made a point of trying to find as many different versions of this song as I could. There are so many to choose from. But I have to tell you, my absolute hands down favorite is a live performance (available on video) that Judy Garland sang on a Bob Hope radio show for U.S. servicemen during WWII. This is a must own for Garland/"Rainbow" fans.

She is young and beautiful in this video and to watch and hear her sing it live on a stage in front of a microphone broadcasting it to the U.S. troops in Europe is truly special (especially with what's going on on the world today). And on top of it all,, she sings it the best I've ever heard from her or anyone else!!

Comeaux and longtime musical partner Jerry Atwood reunited for two benefit performances earlier in the year.
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Joey Guerra
Here are three that I love, all different:

Kimberley Locke (from One Love, Curb, 2004). I think this is one of the best modern updates of "Over the Rainbow." Kimberley Locke has an amazing voice, and she did a great job with it on American Idol. She wisely included a new version on her debut album and nails it with class, soul, and yearning.

Linda Eder (from By Myself, Angel, 2005). Understatement isn't something always associated with this song, but Eder's version is a mastery of precision and control. Plus it sounds gloriously natural, and her endnotes soar quietly to the heavens, both on record and onstage. Beautiful.

Doris Day (from Hooray for Hollywood, Vol. 1, Sony, 1958). I think Doris Day is one of the century's most underrated vocal interpreters. Here, she melds her own gauzy style with the Ella Fitzgerald sound that influenced her early recordings. It's easy and edgy at the same time.

Guerra is an entertainment writer and pop music critic for the Houston Chronicle
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JD Doyle
You could grow very tired and very poor trying to obtain all the cover versions of "Over the Rainbow." And while I have a number of them in my collection, I by no means am trying to collect them. Still, I have acquired a number of versions that I am quite fond of, both gay and straight.

First the straight...I like the versions by Patti LaBelle (of course), Barbra Streisand, Livingston Taylor, Willie Nelson, Reba McGuire, Bernadette Peters, Viola Wills, and Meco --and more obscurely, the doo-wop group The Demensions and 70s folkie Don Potter .

Versions by gay artists that stand out to me are by Sam Harris, Marcus Hutcheson, and English comedian Julian Clary. And while a number of gay/lesbian choruses have done the song, to me the notable version is by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus.

And, for "strange" versions, mostly straight, try the punk group Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Tiny Tim, and there's an odd version from the very rare Dutch musical soundtrack for Rocky Over the Rainbow, which is Rocky Horror Picture Show visiting Oz.

Doyle is producer and host of the Queer Music Heritage segment on the Queer Voice, the weekly KPFT program. He airs his annual holiday shows this month (see GrooveOut, "Holidays in the Air").
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Abel Rodriguez
There is a Tejano Mexican-American artist by the name of David Marez who did a bi-lingual version of "Over the Rainbow" on a 2004 release on BMI Latin.

When i first heard of this version, i ran out to purchase the CD right away just to hear how it might sound. I was not let down at all. It's great.

Rodriguez is president of GALLO, the new GLBT Latino organization.
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Rodney Waters
Actually, there is an unbelievable piano piece by composer William Hirtz called "Fantasy on Wizard of Oz" that was written for Jon Kimura Parker, a phenomenal pianist who teaches at Rice University. He performed it on [the Public Radio International program] St. Paul Sunday Morning, and it's included in a compilation CD.

Waters is artistic director of the Mukuru Arts for AIDS concert series, which next presents the Chiara Quartet on January 17.
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Philip Mayard
Chet Baker, jazz trumpet. The album is The Italian Sessions.

I have very strong emotional ties to "Over the Rainbow." It was my corps song when I performed with the Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps as a teenager. More recently, when my dad (an amazing jazz musician) passed away in August, our family arranged to have his favorite CDs playing at his memorial service. As the service came to an end, Chet Baker's melancholy cover of "Over the Rainbow" began to play. I truly felt as though my dad was telling me it was OK for me to go on living life to its fullest.

Mayard is publications/website manager at the Alley Theatre.

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The lyrics by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg include the opening stanza not heard in the 1939 movie.

When all the world is a hopeless jumble
And the raindrops tumble all around
Heaven opens a magic lane
When all the clouds darken up the skyway
There's a rainbow highway to be found
Leading from your window pane
To a place behind the sun
Just a step beyond the rain

Somewhere over the rainbow way up high
There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby
Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true

Some day I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then, oh why can't I?
If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow
Why oh why can't I?