First recorded (as “Toot Tweet (It’s Really Love)”) by Tutti’s Trumpets (1959).
Also recorded (as “It’s Really Love”) by Annette Funicello (1960).
Best-known recording/s by The Tonight Show Band (1962).
From the wiki: “‘Johnny’s Theme’, performed as the theme song of ‘The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson’ for 30 years, began life as ‘Toot Sweet’, a pop instrumental composed in 1959 by Paul Anka and recorded that same year by Tutti’s Trumpets as the B-side to The Camarata Strings’ single ‘Lost In a Fog’ released on Disney’s Buena Vista label. Salvatore ‘Tutti’ Camarata, the ‘Tutti’ of Tutti’s Trumpets and bandleader of the Camarata Strings, was Annette Funicello’s producer at the time. He asked Anka to contribute some songs for Funicello’s first album to follow her work on The Mickey Mouse Club. Anka added lyrics to ‘Toot Sweet’ and published them under the title ‘It’s Really Love’.
“Camarata had first been hired by Walt Disney in 1956 to form Disneyland Records, doubling up as the music director and producer for the label. Camarata suggested that Disney build his own recording studio, but Disney declined and instead encouraged Camarata to build his own. In 1958 Camarata purchased the first building, an old auto repair shop on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, that would become the location of Sunset Sound Recorders. He produced over three hundred albums there during his 16-year association with Disney.
“By the early 1960s, Sunset Sound Recorders had become one of the largest independent recording studios in the industry. Clients over the years have included the Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Miles Davis, The Doors, James Taylor, Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, and the Beach Boys.”
“When Johnny Carson, a fan of jazz music, was preparing to take over as the permanent host of The Tonight Show in October 1962, he recognized that he would need a theme song. Carson and Anka had worked together in England on the television special, An Evening with Paul Anka, in 1961; when they happened to meet up again in New York City the following year, Carson’s manager Al Bruno mentioned needing a theme. Anka created a new instrumental arrangement for ‘It’s Really Love’ and sent a demo to Carson and Ed McMahon, who were in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, making preparations for the show. McMahon said ‘it was the first time either one of us heard [the song] — and magic.’
“As the song’s original composer, Anka was paid each time the song was broadcast – earning him an average of about US$200,000 per year.”
Annette Funicello, “It’s Really Love” (1960):
The Tonight Show Band, “The Tonight Show Theme” (1962):