Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1939
In a Mellow Tone
Buy In a Mellow Tone now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'In a Mellow Tone'", also known as "'In a Mellotone'", is a 1939 jazz standard composed by Duke Ellington, with lyrics written by Milt Gabler.Douglas Martin, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E7DD1F3AF936A15754C0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print "Milton Gabler, Storekeeper of the Jazz World, Dies at 90"], 'The New York Times', July 25, 2001. The song was based on the 1917 standard "Rose Room" by Art Hickman and Harry Williams,[http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-1/inamellotone.htm "In a Mellotone"] at 'jazzstandards.com'; retrieved 24 May 2009. which Ellington himself had recorded in 1932. Howard Stern used a recording of this song (from Ellington's 'Blues in Orbit' album) as the opening theme to 'The Howard Stern Show' from 1987 to 1994.
Notable recordings
*Red Norvo (1943)
*Erroll Garner - 'Contrasts' (1954)
*Clark Terry - 'Duke with a Difference' (1957)
*Chico Hamilton with Eric Dolphy - 'The Original Ellington Suite' (1958)
*Ella Fitzgerald - 'Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook' (1958)
*Ben Webster (with Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge) - 'Ben Webster and Associates' (1959)
*Count Basie - 'Breakfast Dance and Barbecue' (1959)
*Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross - 'The Hottest New Group in Jazz' (1960)
*Billy May - 'Cha Cha! Billy May' (1960)
*Coleman Hawkins with Eddie Lockjaw Davis - 'Night Hawk' (1960)
*Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington - 'The Great Summit' (1961)
*Harry James - '1964 Live! In The Holiday Ballroom Chicago' (Jazz Hour Compact Classics JH-1001, 1989)
*Oscar Peterson - 'Mellow Mood' (1968)
*Paul Gonsalves - 'Humming Bird' (1970)
*Buddy Rich - "Very Alive at Ronnie Scotts" (1971)
*Joe Pass - 'Portraits of Duke Ellington' (1975)
*Sonny Stitt - 'Sonny Stitt with Strings: A Tribute to Duke Ellington' (1977)
*The Manhattan Transfer - 'Pastiche' (1978)
*Nick Brignola - 'L.A. Bound' (1979)
*Art Pepper and George Cables - 'Goin Home' (1982)
*Maynard Ferguson - "Live from London" (1994)
*Marcus Roberts - 'Plays Ellington' (1995)
*Bob Wilber and Dick Hyman - 'A Perfect Match' (1997)
*Tony Bennett - 'Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot & Cool' (1999)
*Clare Teal - 'Don't Talk' (2004)
*Royce Campbell - 'A Tribute to Charlie Byrd' (2004)
*Bill Wurtz - (2011)
Notes
Category:Songs with music by Duke Ellington
Category:Songs with lyrics by Milt Gabler
Category:1930s jazz standards
Category:1939 songs
Buy In a Mellow Tone now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1939