Polka Dots and Moonbeams

Last updated

"Polka Dots and Moonbeams" is a popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke, published in 1940. It was Frank Sinatra's first hit recorded with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The song is one of the top 100 most-frequently recorded jazz standards with arrangements by Gil Evans and others and notable recordings by Bill Evans, Chet Baker, Blue Mitchell, [1] Wes Montgomery, Sarah Vaughan (for the 1957 album Swingin' Easy ), Bud Powell, Lester Young, Gerry Mulligan, Lou Donaldson, Dexter Gordon and many others [2] American songwriter and guitarist John Denver also covered the song on his 1976 Spirit album. Bob Dylan covered this song in his 2016 album Fallen Angels .

During the song's first year, a fashion designer even created a "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" fabric print as part of a series of prints inspired by popular music. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Joplin</span> American composer, music teacher, and pianist (1868–1917)

Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became the genre's first and most influential hit, later being recognized as the quintessential rag.

Blue-eyed soul is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly black Motown and Stax record labels. Though many R&B radio stations in the United States in that period would only play music by black musicians, some began to play music by white acts considered to have "soul feeling"; their music was then described as "blue-eyed soul."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polka dot</span> Pattern consisting of an array of large filled circles of same size

Polka dot is a pattern consisting of an array of large filled circles of the same size.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">To Each His Own (Jay Livingston and Ray Evans song)</span> 1946 song by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans

"To Each His Own" is a popular song with music written by Jay Livingston and lyrics by Ray Evans. It is the title song of the movie of the same name and was published in 1946 by Paramount Music. The duo were assigned to write this song after film composer Victor Young turned it down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini</span> Original song written and composed by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss

"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" is a novelty song telling the story of a shy girl wearing a revealing polka dot bikini at the beach. It was written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss and first released in June 1960 by Brian Hyland, with an orchestra conducted by John Dixon. The Hyland version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, selling a million copies in the US, and was a worldwide hit. The song has been adapted into French as "Itsy bitsy petit bikini" and into German as "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Honolulu-Strand-Bikini", reaching number one on national charts in both languages. Several versions of the song have proved successful in various European countries. In 1990 a version by British pop band Bombalurina, titled "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Entertainer (rag)</span> Piano rag by Scott Joplin

"The Entertainer" is a 1902 classic piano rag written by Scott Joplin.

<i>I Remember Tommy</i> 1961 studio album by Frank Sinatra

I Remember Tommy... is an album by Frank Sinatra, released in 1961. It was recorded as a tribute to bandleader Tommy Dorsey, and consists of re-recorded versions of songs that Sinatra had first performed or recorded with Dorsey earlier in his career. Fellow Dorsey alumnus Sy Oliver arranged and conducted the sessions.

John Francis Oscar Arpin was a Canadian composer, recording artist and entertainer, best known for his work as a virtuoso ragtime pianist.

Dreamsville is a studio album by jazz singer Stacey Kent. It was released in 2001 by Candid Records.

<i>Blue Skies</i> (Cassandra Wilson album) 1988 studio album by Cassandra Wilson

Blue Skies is the third studio album by American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. It was released on the JMT label in 1988 and features Wilson performing ten jazz standards accompanied by Mulgrew Miller on piano, Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, and Lonnie Plaxico on bass.

<i>Moon Beams</i> 1962 studio album by The Bill Evans Trio

Moon Beams is a 1962 album by jazz musician Bill Evans, and the first trio album recorded by Evans after the death of bassist Scott LaFaro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">My Prayer</span> 1956 single by The Platters

"My Prayer" is a 1939 popular song with music by salon violinist Georges Boulanger and lyrics by Carlos Gomez Barrera and Jimmy Kennedy. It was originally written by Boulanger with the title Avant de mourir 1926. The lyrics for this version were added by Kennedy in 1939.

<i>Solo Sessions</i> (Chet Atkins album) 2003 studio album by Chet Atkins

Solo Sessions is the fifty-eighth and final studio album by Chet Atkins, released in 2003. It is his first posthumous release of solo guitar recordings after his death in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Miller discography</span>

Between 1938 and 1944, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra released 266 singles on the monaural ten-inch shellac 78 rpm format. Their studio output comprised a variety of musical styles inside of the Swing genre, including ballads, band chants, dance instrumentals, novelty tracks, songs adapted from motion pictures, and, as the Second World War approached, patriotic music.

<i>The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 2</i> 1954 studio album by Bud Powell

The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 2 is a studio album by jazz pianist Bud Powell, released on Blue Note Records in 1954, featuring a session Powell recorded with George Duvivier on bass and Art Taylor on drums at the WOR Studios in New York, on August 14, 1953. It was remastered in 2001 by Rudy Van Gelder and reissued as part of Blue Note's RVG Edition series. Prior to this, on all releases bar the first, the album also contained a number of tracks from sessions originally on The Amazing Bud Powell, Vol. 1. The version of the album included on the second disc of The Complete Blue Note and Roost Recordings, a 4 disc box set, is that from the first CD release in 1989.

<i>Jazzhouse</i> 1987 live album by Bill Evans

Jazzhouse is a live album by jazz pianist Bill Evans with Eddie Gómez and Marty Morell recorded at the Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen in 1969 but not released until the 1980s on the Milestone label. The same concert also produced the album You're Gonna Hear From Me.

<i>Consecration: The Final Recordings Part 2</i> 2002 live album by Bill Evans

Consecration: The Final Recordings Part 2 is an 8-CD box set live album by jazz pianist Bill Evans with Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera recorded during a nine night residency at Keystone Korner in San Francisco in 1980 and released on the Milestone label in 2002. Additional recordings from this concert series were released as The Last Waltz: The Final Recordings in 2000.

<i>Arrival</i> (Horace Parlan album) 1974 studio album by Horace Parlan

Arrival is an album by Horace Parlan featuring performances recorded in 1973 and released on the SteepleChase label. It was Parlan's first album for the label and his first recording as a leader for a decade following the end of his association with the Blue Note label.

<i>Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings</i> 1996 live album by Bill Evans

Turn Out the Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings is a six-CD box set live album by jazz pianist Bill Evans with Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera recorded over four nights at the Village Vanguard in New York City in 1980 and released on CD on the Warner Bros. label in 1996. A concurrent LP release was made on Mosaic.

<i>Chet Baker in New York</i> 1959 studio album by Chet Baker

Chet Baker in New York is an album by trumpeter Chet Baker recorded in 1958 and released on the Riverside label early the following year. The album includes a Benny Golson composition, "Fair Weather", that is not to be confused with a Kenny Dorham song of the same name that Baker recorded in 1986 for the Round Midnight sountrack album.

References

  1. Dave Gregg. "Off the record" (music review column), Joplin Globe (Joplin, MO), May 21, 1967, Showtime magazine section, page 9: "... Blue can play with tenderness without slopping over into mawkish sentimentality. Just listen to his treatment of the gorgeous ballad, 'Polka Dots and Moonbeams.' " .
  2. "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" at jazzstandards.com. Accessed 2009 January.
  3. (No author.) "Song hit dress patterns for music as you walk," Winnipeg Free Press, June 22, 1940, Magazine section, page 8. Accessed June 27, 2013.