Rags to Riches (song) recordings by Sunny & the Sunliners (#45 in 1963) and Elvis Presley (#33 in 1971) also made the Billboard charts. Tony Bennett's version was used at the beginning of the film "Goodfellas", just after Henry Hill closes the trunk of the car and says in voice-over, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster." The song was also used in an episode of "Columbo". The opening line of the song was sung regularly and exuberantly by the character Carmine Ragusa on the television series "Laverne & Shirley", typically when he had good news. "Rags
Rags to Riches (song) to Riches" provided the basis for an unusual moment late in Elvis Presley's career. Near the end of a New Year's Eve concert on December 31, 1976, Elvis announced he would sing the song—which his band evidently had not rehearsed and did not know. Playing piano, and giving chord instructions to his surprised band members, Elvis sang a surprisingly strong version, especially considering he had not recorded it since 1971, five years earlier. This rendition earned a loud ovation from the audience in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena. This was the only time Elvis sang the song in live performance. An audience