"'Blue Moon's' second incarnation was as the title track for Manhattan Melodrama. Before the film's release, however, the title was changed yet again to 'The Bad in Every Man.'"
- JW
Rodgers and Hart's "Blue Moon" was originally written as "Prayer" for Jean Harlow in the MGM film, The Hollywood Revue of 1933. According to Richard Rodgers in his autobiography, Musical Stages: An Autobiography, Harlow's prayer was to become a movie star, and the lyrics started out as "Oh, Lord, if you're not busy up there, I ask for help with a prayer/ So Please don't give me the air..." Unfortunately, because of a series of production personnel changes, the revue was scaled down to a spoof starring Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, and Jimmy Durante. There was no Harlow and no "Prayer."
The Rodgers and Hart song's next incarnation was as the title track for the 1934 film, Manhattan Melodrama, starring Clark Gable, William Powell, and Myrna Loy. Before the film's release, however, the title was changed yet again, this time to "The Bad in Every Man," and it was sung by Shirley Ross.
It was not long after this that music publisher Jack Robbins offered a "deal" to the songwriting team: If Hart would write a more commercial lyric, Robbins would "plug it from one end of the country to the other." Robbins suggested the song should be one of those Tin Pan Alley love songs with the words June, moon, and spoon. Just to show he could do it, and with a large measure of cynicism, Hart wrote the lyrics to "Blue Moon." Although he did not personally like the song, it soon became a number one hit, a million-seller in sheet music sales, and, in the end, his most popular song.
In its final form, "Blue Moon" was for Rodgers and Hart their only hit not associated with a Broadway show or a Hollywood film. While its success and popularity are both irrefutable, because of the simplicity of its construction it is not critically ranked among the top Rodgers and Hart compositions.
Like many other songwriters, Rodgers and Hart moved west to Hollywood as Broadway began to feel the effects of the 1929 depression. Their three-year stay proved an unpleasant experience for Rodgers as he disliked the impersonal Hollywood system and felt unproductive between movies. Hart, on the other hand, reveled in the Hollywood life enjoying the money, the free time, and the parties until dawn. The good life, however, was not without its cost. To appease producers Hart found himself writing the same types of watered-down, sentimental lyrics he had scoffed at years before, and he, too, became disgusted with the assignments.
On the pop charts, "Blue Moon" has had repeated success:
Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra (1935, Kenny Sargent, vocal, #1)
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra (1935, Helen Ward, vocal, #2)
Ray Noble's Orchestra (1935, Al Bowlly, vocal, #5)
Mel Torme (1949, with Pete Rugolo and His Orchestra, #20)
Billy Eckstine (1949, with Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra, #21)
The Marcels (1961, #1 selling over 2.5 million copies)
"Blue Moon" became Mel Torme's signature song and was also the theme music for the 1930's radio series Hollywood Hotel.
The phrase "blue moon" originated in the 1800's. It is a cropped version of "till a blue moon" which basically means "never" or, as it also might be expressed, "until hell freezes over." Over the past two hundred years the phrase has changed meaning several times but has come to mean two full moons in one month, a phenomenon which occurs about every 32 months.
More information on this tune...
Richard Rodgers, Mary Rodgers Musical Stages: An Autobiography Da Capo Press Paperback: 384 pages
(The composer gives us the history of the song in his autobiography.)
See the Reading and Research page for this tune for additional references.
- Jeremy Wilson
This section suggests definitive or otherwise significant recordings that will help jazz students get acquainted with "Blue Moon." These recordings have been selected from the Jazz History and CD Recommendations sections.
"Blue Moon" (The Velvet Fog) is closely identified with Mel Torme. He recorded the tune several times, but his original recording from 1949 is still standard-bearer. Billie Holiday's 1952 performance (The Complete Verve Studio Master Takes) is also significant both for her own reading of the tune and for the work of her stellar supporting cast. Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, meanwhile, is responsible for a definitive instrumental rendition of the tune with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (Three Blind Mice, Vol. 1).
Noah Baerman - Jazz Pianist and Educator
Music and Lyrics Analysis
Just as there are songs structured on the chord changes of "I Got Rhythm" (rhythm changes), there are songs structured on the chord progressions of "Blue Moon" ("ice cream changes" or "Blue Moon changes.") Notable among these are many of the 1950's doo-wop ballads, such as "Earth Angel." Because so many '50s ballads use the same harmonic structure, oldies groups are able to seamlessly string together medleys of doo-wop classics.
- JW
Musical analysis of "Blue Moon"
Original Key
Eb major; brief modulations to Gb major and Bb major in the last half of the bridge
Form
A – A – B – A
Tonality
Primarily major
Movement
"A" is essentially a three-note major arpeggio downward from the fifth scale degree, each note being sustained and embellished by upper and lower neighbor tones; "B" consists of a three-pitch motif of an upward second, followed by a downward third, with pitches repeated to accomodate the lyrics, and ending with an upward arppegio based on a first-inversion V chord.
Comments (assumed background)
The harmonic progression here – I – vi – ii7 – V7—is reminiscent of ("Heart And Soul," "Perfidia," "These Foolish Things," "Shangri-La," the first four measures of "I Got Rhythm," et. al., etc.) It is one of the most (ab) used chord progressions in history (one even hears it in at least two Mozart symphonies – the first movement of K.29 in A Major and the fourth movement of K.36 ["Linz"] in C Major).
The beauty is in the rarely heard verse (which has a descending minor progression with a modulation into the relative major that is the epitome of subtlety) and in the "B" section of the chorus. The first eight measures of "B" are simply ii – V7 – I, although the melody note actually makes the V7 a V13. Then, the composer surprises us with a iv chord, moving the progression into another ii – V7 – I in the bIII key (Gb in the original). In context, this is quite exotic and refreshing to hear. Rodgers follows this with a direct common tone modulation to the V of the original tonic (this chord is Bb in the original version), but the listener actually hears this as a I chord in Bb. This "I chord of the moment" is followed by its own V7 (F7 in the original), which turns minor and adds the 11th, thus becoming the pivot chord for the original tonic key (Eb) at the last possible moment.
It is at this point that the Marcels demonstrated a complete lack of musical sophistication, as their version completely changes these last eight measures. Instead of going to iv as Rodgers composed it, they chose to repeat the ii – V7 – I progression an additional time, then used a II7 – V7 turnaround leading into the last "A". If one listens to the recording carefully, one can almost hear the slightest hesitation at this point –the awkwardness of uncertainty. This sort of modulation to a distant key is often difficult for the novice. The best strategy is to listen carefully for the harmonic direction and that of the inner voices – and trust one's ear.
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com
Frankie Trumbauer was the mentor of tenor saxophonist Lester Young. Trumbauer played C melody saxophone (an instrument pitched between the alto and tenor), enabling the player to read the melody from piano music without transposing.
A member of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra with cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, Trumbauer had a symbiotic relationship with Beiderbecke, but after Bix's death in 1931 Trumbauer's playing tended to be lackluster. His recording of "Blue Moon" in 1934 is the tune's first jazz recording, and the highpoint of the record is the fine trumpet playing of Bunny Berigan.
On the other hand, Coleman Hawkins, a saxophonist whose playing was always superb, recorded a beautiful, sentimental version of "Blue Moon" in Paris a few months after Trumbauer's.
Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian
Additional information for "Blue Moon" may be found in:
David Ewen Great Men of American Popular Song Prentice-Hall; Rev. and enl. ed edition Unknown Binding: 404 pages
(1 paragraph including the following types of information: history.)
Thomas S. Hischak The Tin Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia Greenwood Press Hardcover: 552 pages
(1 paragraph including the following types of information: film productions, history and performers.)
Robert Gottlieb, Robert Kimball Reading Lyrics Pantheon Hardcover: 736 pages
(Includes the following types of information: song lyrics.)
Richard Rodgers, Mary Rodgers Musical Stages: An Autobiography Da Capo Press Paperback: 384 pages
(3 paragraphs including the following types of information: history.)
"Blue Moon" was included in these films:
The Marx Brothers' At the Circus (1939, harp solo by Harpo Marx)
Words and Music (1948, Mel Torme)
Malaya (1950, Valentina Cortesa)
East Side, West Side (1950)
With a Song in My Heart (1952, Susan Hayward dubbed by Jane Froman)
Beloved Infidel (1959)
New York, New York (1977, Robert De Niro and Mary Kay Place)
Grease (1978, Sha-Na-Na)
An American Werewolf In London (1981, Three versions: The Marcels, Bobby Vinton and Sam Cooke)
Arthur (1981, Dudley Moore, Piano)
The Remains Of The Day (1993)
Apollo 13 (1995, The Mavericks)
Babe (1995)
Cet Amour-La (2001, Billie Holiday)
Comment Policy
Your comments are welcome, including why you like this tune, any musical challenges it presents, or additional background information.
Jazz musicians, fans, and students of all ages use this website as an educational resource. As such, off-topic, off-color, unduly negative, and patently promotional comments will be removed.
Once submitted, all comments become property of JazzStandards.com. By posting, you give JazzStandards.com permission to republish or otherwise distribute your comments in any format or other medium. JazzStandards.com reserves the right to edit or remove any comments at its sole discretion.
Richard Rodgers, Mary Rodgers
David Ewen
Thomas S. Hischak
Robert Gottlieb, Robert Kimball
0 Response to "Blue Moon Glen Gray Benny Goodman"
Post a Comment