"Misty" is a

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive l ...

written in 1954 by pianist

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 ...

. He composed it as an instrumental in the traditional 32-bar format, and recorded it for the album '' Contrasts''. Lyrics were added later by Johnny Burke. It appeared on

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

' 1959 album '' Heavenly'', and this recording reached number 12 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart later that year. It has since become the

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

of Mathis. The song has been recorded by many other artists, including versions by

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 ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

, Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan. Recordings by both Mathis and Garner have been inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

. It was ranked number 174 in the list of the

Songs of the Century The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America's musical and ...

compiled by

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

and

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federa ...

Composition

Erroll Garner was inspired to write "Misty" on a flight from San Francisco to Chicago which passed through a thunderstorm: as the plane descended into O'Hare, Garner looked through the window to see a rainbow glowing through a haze, and was moved to begin composing "Misty" on the spot, striking imaginary piano keys on his knees as he hummed the notes he imagined (causing his neighboring passenger to summon a flight attendant to assist the apparently ill Garner). The lyrics were added later by Johnny Burke. Burke was initially reluctant to write for the song, but was persuaded to do so at the insistence of his pianist Herb Mesick, who knew Garner and was fond of the tune. It was said that Mesick would play the tune every time Burke came into the room, until Burke said: "Alright, give me the damn music, and I'll do it." Burke wrote the lyrics in two to three hours in the bedroom.

Early recordings

Garner first recorded his rendition of "Misty" on piano in 1954, accompanied by Wyatt Ruther on bass and Fats Heard on drums. The recording was first released in October 1954 credited to Errol Garner Trio, and it was included in Garner's album '' Contrasts'' released in December 1954. Garner later re-recorded the song with an orchestral arrangement by

Mitch Miller Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor a ...

for his album ''Other Voices'' in 1957. Instrumental versions were also recorded by

Georgie Auld Georgie Auld (May 19, 1919 – January 8, 1990) was a jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. Early years Auld was born John Altwerger in Toronto, Canada, and moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1929. Before the family left Canada, Auld ...

and Johnny Costa in 1955. Garner's original recording was ranked No. 174 in the list of the

compiled by

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

and NEA. After lyrics were written for "Misty",

Dakota Staton Dakota Staton (June 3, 1930 – April 10, 2007) was an American jazz vocalist who found international acclaim with the 1957 No. 4 hit "The Late, Late Show". She was also known by the Muslim name Aliyah Rabia for a period due to her conversion t ...

was the first to record the song in 1957. A number of artists also recorded the song, but it was the recording by Sarah Vaughan that drew greater attention to the song. Vaughan recorded the song in a 1958 Paris session, with an arrangement by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

for her album '' Vaughan and Violins''. It was released backed with " Broken Hearted Melody", and it reached No. 6 on the

Bubbling Under Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart in July 1959. Those who recorded the song after Vaughn included

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and th ...

, and most notably Johnny Mathis who created the best-known version of the song.

Johnny Mathis version

Background

Mathis first heard Garner play the tune when he was a teenager, and told him that he would love to sing it if Garner had lyrics for it. A few years later, having heard Vaughan's version of the song, he chose "Misty" as one of the possible songs for his 1959 album '' Heavenly'', and informed Garner that he would record the song. Accounts differ as to whether it was Garner or Garner's business manager, Martha Glaser, who was in attendance when Mathis later recorded the song; at the recording session, it was originally scheduled that Mathis should record a show tune, but Mathis insisted on recording "Misty" when Garner or Glaser turned up expectedly at the recording session.

Glenn Osser Abraham Arthur "Glenn" Osser (August 28, 1914 – April 29, 2014) was an American musician, musical arranger, orchestra leader, and songwriter. His birthname was Abraham (Abe), but much of his work was under the name Glenn; he can be found with re ...

arranged the song at short notice, with Andy Ackers playing the piano. Mathis revealed that, on the high-pitched note when he first started singing "On my own" after the instrumental break, he used a technique of standing a distance from the microphone and then walked slowly toward it to create a fade in effect. Mathis said that "Misty" was the song he was most proud of, because he recorded the song the way he wanted to, rather than relying on the producer

. The song was initially released as a back-to-back single together with Garner's version intended only for those in the broadcasting industry, but due to heavy demand Columbia released Mathis' recording as a commercial single in September 1959. It reached No. 12 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Although the song is not Mathis' highest charting song, it became his signature song. Mathis received his first Grammy nomination for the song at the

3rd Annual Grammy Awards The 3rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on April 13, 1961, at Los Angeles and New York. They recognized musical accomplishments by the performers for the year 1960. Ray Charles won four awards and Bob Newhart and Henry Mancini each won three awards ...

in the

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

category. Both Mathis' and Garner's recordings were inducted into the

, Garner in 1991 and Mathis in 2002.

Chart performance

Weekly singles

''Play Misty for Me''

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' D ...

used the instrumental version in his 1971 film ''

Play Misty for Me ''Play Misty for Me'' is a 1971 American psychological thriller film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, his List of directorial debuts, directorial debut. Jessica Walter and Donna Mills co-star. The screenplay, written by regular Eastwood co ...

'', a low-budget film that proved to be a box-office success. Eastwood was said to have paid Garner a $25,000 fee for the right to use the tune in his film.

Ray Stevens version

Background and release

In 1975, singer

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty ...

released an up-tempo

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

rendition of this song. It is the title track of his twelfth studio album. Stevens recounted that the song was recorded on the second take when experimenting in the studio. His version won a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in the category of Music Arrangement of the Year. This version peaked at No. 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached No. 2 in the United Kingdom.

Chart performance

Weekly singles

Year-end charts

Other notable versions

, '' Dance Along with Basie'' (1959) *

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

recorded the song in 1961 for use on his

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...

, and it was included on the album ''With All My Heart'' (2012) *

, Yeah!!! (1965) *

Groove Holmes Richard Arnold "Groove" Holmes (May 2, 1931 – June 29, 1991) was an American jazz organist who performed in the hard bop and soul jazz genre. He is best known for his 1965 recording of "Misty". Career Holmes's first album, on Pacific Ja ...

hit the Hot 100 with his version (1966) *Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio – 1974 – "Misty" – Three Blind Mice

References

External links

"Misty" at jazzstandards.com

Misty chord/melody and solo studies for guitar
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Misty (song) 1954 songs 1959 singles 1963 singles 1975 singles 1950s jazz standards Songs with lyrics by Johnny Burke (lyricist) Ella Fitzgerald songs Frank Sinatra songs Lloyd Price songs Ray Stevens songs Johnny Mathis songs Lesley Gore songs Little Willie Littlefield songs Sarah Vaughan songs Andy Williams songs Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Jazz compositions in E-flat major Columbia Records singles