"I Thought About You" is a 1939 popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer.
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] The first line is literally: "I took a trip on a train." 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]
James Van Heusen was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song.
John Francis Burke was an American lyricist, successful and prolific between the 1920s and 1950s. His work is considered part of the Great American Songbook.
Herman Riley was a jazz saxophonist who was a studio musician in Los Angeles. He worked with Gene Ammons, Lorez Alexandria, Count Basie, Bobby Bryant, Donald Byrd, Benny Carter, Quincy Jones, Shelly Manne, Blue Mitchell, and Joe Williams. He died of heart failure in Los Angeles at the age of 73.
At the Opera House is a 1958 live album by Ella Fitzgerald. The album presents a recording of the 1957 Jazz at the Philharmonic Concerts. This series of live jazz concerts was devised by Fitzgerald's manager Norman Granz; they ran from 1944 to 1983. Featured on this occasion, in 1957, are Fitzgerald and the leading jazz players of the day in an onstage jam session. The first half of the 1990 CD edition includes a performance that was recorded on September 29, 1957, at the Chicago Opera House, whilst the second half highlights the concert recorded on October 7, 1957, at the Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles. The original LP obviously included only the mono tracks (#10-18).
Like Someone in Love is a 1957 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra arranged and conducted by Frank DeVol. This album represents a fine example of Ella's singing from this period, recorded at the same time as her albums with Louis Armstrong.
Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter is a 1986 album by the American singer Billy Eckstine, accompanied by the alto saxophonist Benny Carter. The singer Helen Merrill appears in duet with Eckstine on the first and last songs of the album. This was Eckstine's only LP released on Verve Records, and marked his final album recordings.
Live at Donte's is a live album by American jazz guitarist Joe Pass recorded in 1974 but first released in 1981 on Pablo Records as a double album. After spending over ten years playing in relative obscurity, Pass released the critically acclaimed solo-guitar Virtuoso and also played on two Ella Fitzgerald albums.
Lady Sings the Blues is an album by American jazz vocalist Billie Holiday released in December 1956. It was Holiday's last album released on Clef Records; the following year, the label would be absorbed by Verve Records. Lady Sings the Blues was taken from sessions taped during 1954 and 1956. It was released simultaneously with her ghostwritten autobiography of the same name.
Bluesy Burrell is an album by guitarist Kenny Burrell with saxophonist Coleman Hawkins recorded in 1962 and originally released on the Moodsville label.
Soul Call is an album by guitarist Kenny Burrell recorded in 1964 and released on the Prestige label.
A Generation Ago Today is an album by guitarist Kenny Burrell featuring standards associated with the Benny Goodman Sextet and Charlie Christian recorded in 1966 and 1967 and released on the Verve label.
Red Garland Revisited! is an album by pianist Red Garland featuring tracks recorded in 1957 which were first released on the Prestige label in 1969.
Love Is...The Tender Trap is a 1999 studio album by Stacey Kent.
Random Abstract is a jazz album by saxophonist Branford Marsalis recorded August 12–13, 1987 at Sound City Studios in Tokyo, Japan. It peaked at number 6 on the Top Jazz Albums chart. It was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1988, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist and Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group.
People Time: The Complete Recordings is a set of seven CDs of music by saxophonist Stan Getz and pianist Kenny Barron which was recorded in March 1991 at Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was released in 2009.
The Great American Songbook is a 1972 live album by Carmen McRae, accompanied by a jazz quartet including Jimmy Rowles and Joe Pass. McRae was a great fan of Rowles and described him in the liner notes to the album as "the guy every girl singer in her right mind would like to work with". Rowles's humorous country and western song, "The Ballad of Thelonious Monk", is featured on the album.
Anniversary! is a live album by saxophonist Stan Getz which was recorded at the Jazzhus Montmartre in 1987 and released on the EmArcy label in 1989.
And I Thought About You is a studio album by American jazz singer Johnny Hartman, released in 1959 by Roost Records. Teddy Reig, owner of Roost, served as producer, and Rudy Traylor did the arrangements. It was the only album Hartman managed to record between December 1956 and his session with John Coltrane in March 1963.
Songbook is an album by American saxophonist and composer Benny Carter, released in 1996 by MusicMasters Records.