It Happened in Monterrey

"It Happened in Monterey"
Sheet music from the 1930 film
Song by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra
Published	1930
Composer(s)	Mabel Wayne
Lyricist(s)	Billy Rose

"It Happened in Monterey" or "It Happened in Monterrey" is a 1930 song composed by Mabel Wayne, with lyrics by Billy Rose and performed by Paul Whiteman and his orchestra. It was written for the 1930 musical film, King of Jazz, and was subsequently covered several different times in short succession including by the Regent Club Orchestra, George Olsen and Ruth Etting. It fell out of popularity until Frank Sinatra re-recorded it for both his 1956 Capitol release Songs for Swingin' Lovers! and his 1957 live album Sinatra '57 in Concert.

"It Happened in Monterey" was written for the 1930 musical film, King of Jazz. The film featured Paul Whiteman and his orchestra, while the song, written in waltz time, was composed by Mabel Wayne, with lyrics by Billy Rose. Though the lyrics refer to the city of Monterrey in "Old Mexico", the song title was misspelled, leading to popular references to the city of Monterey, California. The song was performed by John Boles and Jeanette Loff in the film. The song appears in a sequence of disparate musical performances, each introduced by a caption card, that appear between the two main production numbers.

The Paul Whiteman Orchestra then recorded the song for Columbia Records on March 21, 1930, featuring vocals by Jack Fulton. This recording features significant solos for flute and piccolo performed by Bernie Daly. The recording was a hit. Researcher Joel Whitburn estimates that this record would have charted at number 2 in April 1930.

The song was covered several times following the appearance in King of Jazz, including by George Olsen and Vincent Lopez. Other popular versions were by the Regent Club Orchestra on Brunswick Records, and Ruth Etting.Bing Crosby sang the song with Whiteman's orchestra in a performance at the Seattle Civic Auditorium, which was broadcast nationwide live via the Columbia Broadcasting System in April 1930.Mel Tormé recorded it with his Mel-Tones and Sonny Burke and his orchestra on the Musicraft Records label in 1946.