A hit version by iconic crooner Bing Crosby with Les Paul and His Trio[3] (recorded on July 12, 1945)[4] debuted the same week as James's record, which it replaced at number one in the chart dated December 8, 1945.[5]Sammy Kaye's "Chickery Chick" then returned to number one, only to be replaced by the Harry James recording, which reclaimed the top spot (for one final week) in the chart dated December 22. James's and Crosby's hits remained on the chart for 17 and 16 weeks, respectively. Both versions reached number one[3] on Billboard's Records Most-Played on the Air chart and its Most-Played Juke Box Records chart.
Two other recordings of "It's Been a Long, Long Time" charted in America in late 1945: Charlie Spivak and His Orchestra with vocal by Irene Daye (US no. 4)[6] and Stan Kenton and His Orchestra with vocal by June Christy (US no. 6).[7]
"It's Been a Long, Long Time" topped Billboard's composite Honor Roll of Hits chart for the last seven weeks of 1945.
Les Paul recalled in an interview for Mojo magazine that "Bing was a sucker for guitar and that particular song was a case of you don't have to play a lot of notes, you just have to play the right notes."[8]
The Harry James and Kitty Kallen recording features briefly in the beginning of the movie Red Tails (2012), which is about an all African-American team of fighter pilots during World War II.
The Bing Crosby and Les Paul recording was used throughout the Ken Burns documentary miniseries The War (2007).
It was first used in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is hiding in Steve's apartment after an assassination attempt by HYDRA agents in the streets of Washington DC, before being shot by the Winter Soldier; representing the first instance in which Steve Rogers is reunited with his childhood best friend and companion Bucky Barnes since their separation during World War II (despite the identities of both men not being known to the other).
The song is used again at the end of Avengers: Endgame (2019) when Steve travels back in time and chooses to live out his life with Peggy. The two share a slow dance to the song – a reference to the dance date Rogers promised Carter right before he was lost in ice for 70 years in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).[11][12]
The song is featured in What If... Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?, the fifth episode of the second season of the Disney+ animated series What If...?. In the episode, which is this universe's substitute for the events of The Winter Soldier, an alternate version of Carter, called Captain Carter and an alternate version of Rogers, who is in a suit of armor called the Hydra Stomper, are reunited after 70 years apart, and have a moment as the song plays in the background.
In addition, a composition heavily inspired by the song is featured in the 2016 video game Lego Marvel's Avengers, which adapts several MCU films, during a playable section based on a scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) where the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) makes Rogers hallucinate a dance with Carter.
