Fools Rush In
Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread) is the title of a jazz standard that first appeared in the version by Bob Crosby in 1940 .
History of origin
The Jewish-American composer Reuben "Rube" Bloom created an instrumental piece in 1939 under the title Shangri La , for which Johnny Mercer later wrote a text. The title chosen by Mercer Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear to Tread) goes back to a first major work written by the English poet Alexander Pope , “An Essay on Criticism”, which was released on May 15 1711 was initially published anonymously. The line “For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread” appears here.
Bob Crosby (vocals: Marion Mann) was the first to record the music with his orchestra on March 18, 1940 (Decca 3154) and thus could not place in the charts . Four cover versions followed within a few days . Tommy Dorsey (March 29, 1940) landed in 12th place after publication in May 1940, Glenn Miller (vocals: Ray Eberle ; March 31, 1940) had the greatest success of all versions with his version. After publication in April 1940, it reached number 1 on the pop hit parade for a week on July 20, 1940. This was followed by Tony Martin (March 31, 1940) with rank 14 as the highest ranking, while Mildred Bailey (April 2, 1940) and Billy Eckstine (recorded as B-side of Blue Moon on October 9, 1947; published in November 1948) missed the charts. By Anne Shelton with the orchestra of Bert Ambrose the song in 1940 in the UK was a hit.
In the 1950s, at least a dozen other versions appeared, including Tony Bennett's ballad (published July 28, 1958) or the Doo-Wop version of the Cadets (November 1956).
Frank Sinatra and other cover versions
Frank Sinatra had just switched to Tommy Dorsey in January 1940 and first recorded the piece for RCA Victor on March 29 and 30, 1940 (midnight). After several radio versions, Sinatra took up the piece as a soloist on October 31, 1947 for Columbia Records . On March 1, 1960, Nelson Riddle arranged a ballad version for Capitol Records for the album Nice'n Easy , released in July 1960 , which is one of Sinatra's most successful albums. However, Sinatra did not manage to reach the charts with the many versions.
At the beginning of the sixties, three versions reached the middle ranks of the pop hit parade. Brook Benton (November 1960; 5th place in the Rhythm & Blues charts), Etta James (September 1962; 87th place) and Rick Nelson (September 1963, recorded on Western Recorders ; 12th place) brought out very different arrangements. Dean Martin followed suit with a version published on August 4, 1964, but missed the charts.
In 1963 Peter Beil launched a German version under the pseudonym Die Ricky Boys under the title Must be , which missed the German hit parade. Elvis Presley recorded the song on May 18, 1971 in Nashville for the album Elvis Now, which was released in February 1972, in a samba rhythm. The ASCAP indicate that there are more than 60 versions of Fools Rush In .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism , verses 622-625; German: "Fools are drawn to where angels prefer not to set foot."
- ↑ Billboard Magazine, December 4, 1948, p. 27
- ↑ ASCAP entry from Fools Rush in