The Very Thought of You
The Very Thought of You is a song in the Great American Songbook , written by Ray Noble (music and lyrics) in 1934 and topped the charts in the United States that same year. It developed into the jazz standard .
Features of the song
The Very Thought of You is a song in the song form AB'AB ", which was written consistently in A major .
Gary Giddins described the song as Noble's best work; "A perfectly formed melody that goes well with the bass-baritone crooners ," as Arthur Prysock proved. Giddins called the definitive version of the title that of Tony Bennett with Bobby Hackett on the album A Time for Love .
First shot
The song was first recorded by the singer Al Bowlly ; he published it in 1934 in two different versions. On the first recording he was accompanied on the piano by Monia Liter, on the second by the Ray Nobles orchestra. This version became a number 1 hit on the US charts that same year. The success led the Englishman Noble to continue his career in the United States.
More shots
In the following years, The Very Thought of You experienced numerous cover versions . Bing Crosby had already recorded the song in 1934 ; it reached # 11 on the charts. Another commercial success was with the song Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra (1944, # 19). An instrumental version was played in the film Casablanca . In 1950 Doris Day sang the ballad in the biographical film The Man of Her Dreams .
The Very Thought of You was recorded by both jazz and middle-of-the-road pop artists. One of the most notable versions is that of the singer Billie Holiday from 1938. Also Art Farmer / Hank Jones ( Portrait of Art Farmer , 1958), Pee Wee Russell (1960), Sarah Vaughan (1962), Sonny Rollins (1980) and Sheila Jordan / Harvie Swartz (1988), Charlie Haden / Kenny Barron (1996) and Roy Hargrove (2000) interpreted the song. Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole (1958), Liberace and Rick Nelson (1964) made it the theme song on their LPs. Recordings also exist by Ruby Braff , Benny Carter , Harry Sweets Edison , Digby Fairweather , Tal Farlow , Ella Fitzgerald , Red Garland , Gene Krupa and His Orchestra , Joe Pass , Zoot Sims , Art Tatum and Allan Vaché .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d song portrait at Jazzstandards.com
- ^ Gary Giddins: Weather Bird: Jazz on the Dawn of its Second Century. Oxford University Press, Oxford, etc. 2004, ISBN 0195304497 . P. 17
- ^ McFarland: Hit songs, 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era. , P. 203
- ^ Bielefeld catalog 1985