''And I Thought About You'' is a studio album by American jazz singer
Johnny Hartman
John Maurice Hartman (July 3, 1923 – September 15, 1983) was an American jazz singer who specialized in ballads. He sang and recorded with Earl Hines' and Dizzy Gillespie's big bands and with Erroll Garner. Hartman is best remembered for his ...
, released in 1959 by
Roost Records
Roost Records (also known as Royal Roost Records) was a jazz record label established in 1949 by music producer Teddy Reig in New York City. The label was named after a club in New York City. Saxophonist Stan Getz, early in his career, recorded ...
.
Teddy Reig
Theodore Samuel Reig (November 23, 1918 – September 29, 1984) was a self-described "jazz hustler" who worked as a record producer, A&R man, promoter, and artist manager from the 1940s through the 1970s. As a record producer, he captured the wor ...
, owner of Roost, served as
producer, and Rudy Traylor did the
arrangements
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...
. It was the only album Hartman managed to record between December 1956 and
his session with
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.
Born and raise ...
in March 1963.
Reception
Scott Yanow, reviewing the album at
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
, calls Hartman "one of the warmest ballad singers of this century" and says, "his deep baritone voice is well showcased on this 1958 date, which emphasizes slower tempos." Yanow highlights the tracks "
To Each His Own," "
Little Girl Blue" and "
There's a Lull in My Life," stating that Hartman is in "fine form."
[
Hartman biographer Gregg Akkerman calls ''And I Thought About You'' "an exquisite album" and claims "it contained some of Hartman's best work." Though the album prominently features ]ballads
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
, Akkerman states that "The take of ' After You've Gone' serves as a reminder that the jazz saxophone section is one of the greatest American contributions to world music and proof that Hartman was capable of swinging with the best." Akkerman also notes that "Little Girl Blue" was "a song Hartman thoroughly enjoyed, as it stayed on his working set list the rest of his life."[
When the album was released in 1959, ]Billboard magazine
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...
wrote, "Warm, rich baritone by Hartman on a set of standards with romantic rchestralsupport.... The artist has a distinctive sound."
Track listing
Side 1
# "Mam'selle "Mam'selle" is a bittersweet song about a ''rendez-vous'' with a "mam'selle" ('' mademoiselle'') in a small café. The music was written by Edmund Goulding, the lyrics by Mack Gordon.
The song originally appeared in the movie, ''The Razor's Edge' ...
" (Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film '' Three Live Ghosts'' alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwi ...
, Mack Gordon
Mack Gordon (born Morris Gittler; June 21, 1904 – February 28, 1959) was an American composer and lyricist for the stage and film. He was nominated for the best original song Oscar nine times in 11 years, including five consecutive years betwee ...
) - 2:33
# " To Each His Own" ( Jay Livingston, Ray Evans) - 2:50
# " Sunday" (Chester Conn Chester Conn ''(né'' Master Chester Cohn; April 14, 1894 in San Francisco, California – April 4, 1973 in Flushing, Queens) was an American composer of popular music and music publisher.
Early life and career
Chester was born to David Cohn and ...
, Benny Krueger
Benny Krueger (June 17, 1899 – April 29, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist.
After a short stint with Ross Gorman's band, Krueger's joined the Acme Sextette in New York, which included Miff Mole on trombone, Ernie Holst on violin, and Edw ...
, Ned Miller
Henry Ned Miller (April 12, 1925 – March 18, 2016) was an American country music singer-songwriter. Active as a recording artist from 1956 to 1970, he is known primarily for his hit single " From a Jack to a King", a crossover hit in 1962 whi ...
, Jule Styne) - 2:15
# " Alone" (Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was an American lyricist and Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for '' An American in Paris'' and in 1958 for '' Gigi''. Both films were musicals. ...
, Nacio Herb Brown
Ignacio Herbert "Nacio Herb" Brown (February 22, 1896 – September 28, 1964) was an American writer of popular songs, movie scores and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s. Amongst his most enduring work is the scor ...
) - 2:22
# " Long Ago and Far Away" (Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in ove ...
, Ira Gershwin) - 2:47
# "I Should Care
"I Should Care" is a popular song with music by Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston and lyrics by Sammy Cahn, published in 1944. Cahn said that the title came to him by the time they played the first 4 bars. It first appeared in the MGM film '' Thrill ...
" ( Axel Stordahl
Axel Stordahl (August 8, 1913 – August 30, 1963) was an American arranger who was active from the late 1930s through the 1950s. He is perhaps best known for his work with Frank Sinatra in the 1940s at Columbia Records. With his sophisticat ...
, Paul Weston
Paul Weston (born Paul Wetstein; March 12, 1912 – September 20, 1996) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor who worked in music and television from the 1930s to the 1970s, pioneering mood music and becoming known as "the ...
, Sammy Cahn
Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premi ...
) - 3:15
Side 2
# " Little Girl Blue" ( Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) -3:03
# " But Beautiful" ( Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke) - 3:30
# " After You've Gone" (Turner Layton
Turner Layton (July 2, 1894 – February 6, 1978), born John Turner Layton, Jr., was an African American songwriter, singer and pianist. He frequently worked with Henry Creamer.
Life
Born in Washington, D.C., United States, in 1894, he was the s ...
, Henry Creamer
Henry Sterling Creamer (June 21, 1879 – October 14, 1930) was an African American popular song lyricist and theater producer. He was born in Richmond, Virginia and died in New York. He co-wrote many popular songs in the years from 1900 to 1929, ...
) - 2:06
# " There's a Lull in My Life" (Harry Revel
Harry Revel ( Glaser; 21 December 1905 – 3 November 1958) was a British-born American composer, mostly of musical theatre, working with various lyricists, notably Mack Gordon. He is also seen as a pioneer of " space age pop".
Early life and c ...
, Gordon) - 3:13
# "How Long Has This Been Going On?
"How Long Has This Been Going On?" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin, for the musical '' Funny Face'' in 1927.
History
According to Ira Gershwin in his book ''Lyrics on Several Occasions'', after the premiere of ...
" (George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
, I. Gershwin) - 2:42
# "I Thought About You
"I Thought About You" is a 1939 popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer.
Background
It was one of three collaborations Van Heusen and Mercer wrote for the Mercer-Morris publishing company started by Mercer and f ...
" (Van Heusen, Johnny Mercer) - 3:10
Personnel
*Johnny Hartman
John Maurice Hartman (July 3, 1923 – September 15, 1983) was an American jazz singer who specialized in ballads. He sang and recorded with Earl Hines' and Dizzy Gillespie's big bands and with Erroll Garner. Hartman is best remembered for his ...
- vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
*Rudy Traylor - arranger
*Teddy Reig
Theodore Samuel Reig (November 23, 1918 – September 29, 1984) was a self-described "jazz hustler" who worked as a record producer, A&R man, promoter, and artist manager from the 1940s through the 1970s. As a record producer, he captured the wor ...
- producer
References
{{Authority control
1959 albums
Johnny Hartman albums