"Laura" is a 1945 popular song. The music, composed by

David Raksin David Raksin (August 4, 1912 – August 9, 2004) was an American composer who was noted for his work in film and television. With more than 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit, he became known as the "Grandfather of Film Music ...

for the 1944 movie ''

Laura Laura may refer to: People * Laura (given name) * Laura, the British code name for the World War I Belgian spy Marthe Cnockaert Places Australia * Laura, Queensland, a town on the Cape York Peninsula * Laura, South Australia * Laura Bay, a bay on ...

,'' which starred Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews, is heard frequently in the movie. The film's director,

Otto Preminger Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor. He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...

, had originally wanted to use

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

's " Sophisticated Lady" as the theme, but Raksin was not convinced that it was suitable. Angered, Preminger gave Raksin one weekend to compose an alternative melody. Raksin later said, and maintained for the rest of his days, that when, over that weekend, his wife sent him a "Dear John" letter, the haunting theme seemed to write itself. The lyrics were written by

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallich ...

after the film made the tune popular, so he had to title the song "Laura". According to Mercer, he had not yet seen the movie when he wrote the lyrics but was aware that it was a romantic, somewhat haunting story. :''Laura is the face in the misty light, footsteps that you hear down the hall'' :''The laugh that floats on the summer night that you can never quite recall'' :''And you see Laura on a train that is passing through, those eyes how familiar they seem'' :''She gave your very first kiss to you, that was Laura but she's only a dream'' The song became a jazz standard and has been recorded over 400 times. Some of the best-known versions are by Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck, Johnny Johnston, Emil Newman, David Rose, Billy Eckstine,

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

, J. J. Johnson, Carly Simon, Frank Sinatra,

Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...

and Julie London (included on her 1955 debut album ''Julie Is Her Name, Vol. 1''). The first 10 notes of the song are sometimes "quoted" during jazz solos, especially since Dizzy Gillespie did it during his "Perdido" solo at the Massey Hall concert in May 1953.

Some notable recordings

* Emil Newman (first performance, 11 Oct. 1944) *

Erroll Garner Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad " Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first rec ...

(1945) * Don Byas (1945) * Woody Herman – "Laura" / "I Wonder" (shellac, 1945) * Johnny Johnston (1945) * Eric Winstone and His Band Song: Alan Lane. Recorded in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on June 6, 1945. It was released by EMI on the HMV Records label as catalogue number BD 5893 *

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though Ke ...

(1946) *

Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important Solo (music), soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His ...

(1947) * David Rose (1947) * Frank Sinatra (1947) * Dave Brubeck (trio, 1949) *

– '' Charlie Parker with Strings'' (1950) *

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

- ''Penthouse Serenade'' (1952) *Dave Brubeck – ''

Jazz at the College of the Pacific ''Jazz at the College of the Pacific'' is a live album by Dave Brubeck Quartet. It was recorded and released in December 1953 on Fantasy Records as F 3223. The cover was designed by Ed Colker and drawn by Arnold Roth. Critic Nat Hentoff wrote in ' ...

'' (quartet, 1953) * Clifford Brown – '' Clifford Brown with Strings'' (1955) * Lenny Dee - ''

Dee-Lightful! ''Dee-Lightful'' is a studio album released by Lenny Dee in 1955 on Decca LP record DL 8114 and 45rpm Extended Play set ED-735. Background Organist Dee had an instrumental hit single in February 1955 with his composition ''Plantation Boogie.'' ...

'' (1955) * Julie London - '' Julie Is Her Name'' (1955) *

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians an ...

- ''

Mingus Three ''Mingus Three'' (also referred to as ''Trio'') is an album by American bassist, composer and bandleader Charles Mingus with pianist Hampton Hawes and drummer Dannie Richmond which was recorded in 1957 and first released on the Jubilee label.

'' (1957) *

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

- ''

The Hawk Flies High ''The Hawk Flies High'' is a 1957 album by jazz tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. Apart from Barry Galbraith and Jo Jones on guitar and drums, the line-up of his accompanying sextet had a bebop background, namely J.J. Johnson on trombone, Idrees ...

'' (1957) *Frank Sinatra – '' Where Are You?'' (1957) *

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his bir ...

- ''

To My Wonderful One ''To My Wonderful One'' is an album by American singer Tony Bennett. It was originally recorded in 1959 and released in 1960 on Columbia as CL 1429. Track listing #"Wonderful One" – (Paul Whiteman, Ferde Grofé, Theodora Morse, Marshall Neil ...

'' (1960) * Dorothy Ashby - '' Soft Winds'' (1961) *

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to ...

– From ''In Europe, Vol. 2'' (1961) *

Percy Faith Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listeni ...

– orchestral version from the album ''A Summer Place'' (1961) *

Al Hirt Alois Maxwell "Al" Hirt (November 7, 1922 – April 27, 1999) was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java" and the accompanying album '' Honey in the Horn'' (1963), and for the them ...

– '' He's the King and His Band'' (1961) * Sergio Franchi – ''Women in My Life'' (1964) * Jeanne Lee and Ran Blake – '' The Newest Sound Around'' (1962) *

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, i ...

– ''

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook Ella may refer to: * Ella (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Places United States * Ella, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Ella, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Ella, Pennsylvania, an unincorporate ...

'' (1964) *

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

– '' The Academy Award-Winning "Call Me Irresponsible" and Other Hit Songs from the Movies'' (1964) * Trini Lopez – From his album ''The Love Album'' (1965) *

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

– ''

A Simple Matter of Conviction ''A Simple Matter of Conviction'' is an album by jazz pianist Bill Evans, released in 1967 on Verve. It's the second and last collaboration between Evans and Shelly Manne after their 1962 Empathy album. Reception Writing for Allmusic, music cr ...

'' (1966) *

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

- ''Laura'' (

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howev ...

HS 11326, 1969) *David Raksin with the New Philharmonia Orchestra (1975) *

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...

– '' Sophisticated Giant'' (1977) * Rosemary Clooney - '' Sings The Lyrics Of Johnny Mercer (1987) *

– ''Thank You Music Lovers!'' (1960) * Royce Campbell – ''The Art Of Chord Solo Guitar'' (1994) * Billy Eckstine – ''

Everything I Have Is Yours (album) ''Everything I Have Is Yours'' is a 1991 compilation album of songs by Billy Eckstine, subtitled "The Best of the M-G-M Years". It was released by Verve Records as a double LP. Reception The editors of AllMusic awarded the album a full five star ...

'' (1995) *

The Four Freshmen The Four Freshmen is an American male vocal quartet that blends open-harmonic jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires, The Pied Pipers, and The Mel-Tones, founded in the barbershop tradition. The singers acc ...

- Great Gentlemen of Song / Spotlight On The Four Freshmen (1995) * Dick Haymes – ''The Very Best of Dick Haymes'' (1997) * Carly Simon – ''

Film Noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

'' (1998) * Mina – L'allieva (2005) *

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming p ...

Gilad Atzmon Gilad Atzmon ( he, גלעד עצמון, ; born 9 June 1963) is a British jazz saxophonist, novelist, political activist, and writer. As a musician, he is best known as a saxophonist and bandleader. His instruments include the saxophone, acco ...

/ Ros Stephen] – ''......... For the Ghosts Within'' (2010) *

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and '' The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creato ...

– '' Music Is Better Than Words'' (2011) *

Earl Klugh Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy award and thirteen nominations. Klugh was awarded the “1977” Best Recording Award For Performance and Sound” for his album “Fing ...

– '' Late Night Guitar'' (1980)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laura (1945 song) Film theme songs 1945 songs Songs with music by David Raksin Songs with lyrics by Johnny Mercer Songs written for films Ella Fitzgerald songs Trini Lopez songs Frank Sinatra songs Al Hirt songs Andy Williams songs Songs about fictional female characters