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 former Warner Bros. publisher Buddy Morris.[1] The other two were called "Blue Rain" and "Make with the Kisses". "I Thought About You" was by far the most popular of the songs. The lyrics were inspired by Mercer's train trip to Chicago.[2] Mercer said about the song:
"I can remember the afternoon that we wrote it. He [Van Heusen] played me the melody. I didn't have any idea, but I had to go to Chicago that night. I think I was on the Benny Goodman program. And I got to thinking about it on the train. I was awake, I couldn't sleep. The tune was running through my mind, and that's when I wrote the song. On the train, really going to Chicago."[1]
Mercer wrote other songs about trains, including "Blues in the Night" (1940) and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" (1946).[3]
Other recordings[]
- Bob Berg – In the Shadows[4]
- Kenny Burrell with Coleman Hawkins – Bluesy Burrell (1962)[4]
- Uri Caine – Live at the Village Vanguard (2003)[4]
- Miles Davis – Someday My Prince Will Come (1961)[4]
- Stan Getz with Kenny Barron – Voyage[4]
- Benny Goodman with Mildred Bailey – 1939[4]
- Johnny Hartman - And I Thought About You (1959)[5]
- Billie Holiday with Bobby Tucker – Recital (1954)[4]
- Shirley Horn - I Thought About You (1987)[6]
- Branford Marsalis with Kenny Kirkland – Random Abstract[4]
- Carmen McRae – The Great American Songbook (1972)[7]
- Diane Schuur and Johnny Smith[8]
- Frank Sinatra – Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956)[4]
- David Bowie – "I Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship" from Heathen (2002)
References[]
- ^ a b Lees, Gene (2006). Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer. Hal Leonard. pp. 112–113. ISBN 0-634-09929-9.
- ^ "Music USA #7881-A, Interview with Johnny Mercer". 28 July 1976.
- ^ Furia, Philip; Lasser, Michael L. (2006). America's songs: The Stories Behind the Songs of Broadway, Hollywood, and Tin Pan Alley. CRC Press. p. 159. ISBN 0-415-97246-9.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.
- ^ Yanow, Scott. "And I Thought About You". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- ^ Yanow, Scott. "I Thought About You". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- ^ Yanow, Scott. "The Great American Songbook, Vol. 1". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- ^ "I Thought About You" at jazzstandards.com - retrieved on 24 May 2009
See also[]
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- 1939 songs
- 1930s jazz standards
- Songs with lyrics by Johnny Mercer
- Songs with music by Jimmy Van Heusen
- Mildred Bailey songs