I LET A SONG GO OUT OF MY HEART
Music: Duke Ellington – Lyrics: Irving Mills, Henry Nemo, John Redmond
Year: 1938
Origin of the song
Duke Ellington, during an interview by the Canadian presenter Jack Cullen in 1962, said that he wrote the melody of ‘I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart’ in a hotel in Memphis (Tennessee) when in tour with his band. When he came back to New York, Ellington asked Henry Nemo to write the lyrics of the song with the intention of including it in the Cotton Club show of 1938. According to Irving Mills, Ellington composed thirteen performances for the show but, as he was superstitious, he did not include the thirteenth composition ‘I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart’. Other sources say that it was Mills and not Ellington who deleted that song from the show.
On 3 March 1938, Ellington recorded the song instrumentally for the Brunswick label. The disc reached the top of the charts and remained there for three weeks. A little later, on 28 March 1938, he included in the disc a vocal version with a little band, Johnny Hodged & His Orchestra, and the singer Mary McHugh.
Henry Nemo is the author of the music and the lyrics of ‘Don’t Take Your Love from Me’ (1941) and ‘‘Tis Autumn’ (1941).
Versions in the top charts
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
DAY OF ENTRANCE |
PERMANENCE WEEKS |
HIGH POSITION REACHED |
|
|
1938.03.03 |
1938.03.26 |
19 |
1 |
Instrumental |
|
|
Mildred Bailey |
1938.04.19 |
1938.05.21 |
6 |
8 |
Mildred Bailey (voc), Red Norvo Orchestra |
|
Benny Goodman Orchestra |
1938.04.22 |
1938.05.14 |
9 |
1 |
Martha Tilton (voc) |
|
Hot Lips Page & His Band |
1938.04.27 |
1938.05.28 |
4 |
9 |
Instrumental |
|
Connee Boswell |
1938.06.15 |
1938.07.16 |
5 |
5 |
Connee Boswell (voc), Ray Sinatra Orchestra |
Jazz. Outstanding performances
Instrumental
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE
OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
Duke Ellington Famous Orchestra |
1938.03.03 |
Duke Ellington (p, dir), Rex Stewart (cnt), Freddy Jenkins, Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams (tp), Lawrence Brown, Herb Fleming, Joe Nanton (tb), Barney Bigard (cl), Johnny Hodges (cl, ss, as), Otto Hardwick (as), Harry Carney (cl, as, bars), Fred Guy (g), Hayes Alvis, Billy Taylor (b), Sonny Greer (d) |
|
1938.04.27 |
Hot Lips Page (tp, dir), Bob Moore, Ed Mullens (tp); George Stevenson, Harry White (tb); Ben Smith (cl, as); Ulysses Scott (as); Benny Waters, Ernie Powell (ts); James Reynolds (p); Connie Wainwright (g); Abe Bolar (b); Alfred Taylor (d) |
|
|
1949.09.08 |
Erroll Garner (p), Leonard Gaskin (b), Charlie Smith (d) |
|
|
1953.12.09 |
Dizzy Gillespie (tp), Stan Getz (ts), Oscar Peterson (p), Herb Ellis (g), Ray Brown (b), Max Roach (d) |
|
|
1955.07.27 |
Thelonious Monk (p), Oscar Pettiford (b), Kenny Clarke (d) |
|
|
Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davies- Shirley Scott |
1958.09.12 |
Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis (ts), Shirley Scott (org), George Duvivier (b), Arthur Edgehill (d) |
|
Kenny Barron, Ron Carter & Ben Riley |
1976.05.?? |
Kenny Barron (p), Ron Carter (b), Ben Riley (d) |
Vocal
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1938.03.28 |
Johnny Hodges (as, ss), Cootie Williams (tp), Lawrence Brown (tb), Otto Hardwick (as), Harry Carney (bars), Duke Ellington (p), Fred Guy (g), Billy Taylor (b), Sonny Greer (d), Mary McHugh (voc) |
|
|
1938.04.19 |
Mildred Bailey (voc), Red Norvo Orchestra |
|
|
1938.06.15 |
Connee Boswell (voc), Ray Sinatra Orchestra |
|
|
1938.04.22 |
Benny Goodman (cl, dir), Harry James, Ziggy Elman, Gordon Griffin (tp), Red Ballard, Vemon Brown (tb), Dave Matthews, Noni Bernardi (as), Bud Freeman, Arthur Rollini (ts), Jess Stacy (p), Ben Heller (g), Harry Goodman (b), Dave Tough (d), Martha Tilton (voc) |
|
|
1945.05.15 |
Duke Ellington (p, dir), Rex Stewart (cnt), Cat Anderson, Shelton Hemphill, Taft Jordan (tp), Ray Nance (tp, vn), Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton (tb), Claude Jones (vtb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Johnny Hodges (as), Otto Hardwick (as, cl), Al Sears (ts), Harry Carney (bars, cl), Fred Guy (g), Sid Weiss (b), Sonny Greer (d), Joya Sherrill (voc) |
|
|
1949.04.04 |
Peggy Lee (voc), Dave Barbour, George Van Eps (g), Hal Schaefer (p, cel), Phil Stephens (b), Nick Fatool (d) |
|
|
Dinah Washington
|
1954.06.15 |
Dinah Washington (voc), Clark Terry (tp), Gus Chappel (tb), Rick Henderson (as), Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis (ts), Junior Mance (p), Keter Betts (b), Ed Thigpen (d) |
|
1956.01.27 |
Rosemary Clooney (voc), Duke Ellington (p, dir), Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ray Nance, Cootie Williams (tp), Quentin Jackson, Britt Wooodman (tb), John Sanders (vtb), Russell Procope (as, cl), Johnny Hodges (as), Jimmy Hamilton (ts, cl), Paul Gonsalves (ts), Harry Carney (bars), Jimmy Woode (b), Sam Woodyard (d) |
|
|
|
1956.09.04 |
Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Ben Webster (ts), Stuff Smith (vn), Paul Smith (p), Barney Kessel (g), Joe Mondragon (b), Alvin Stoller (d) |
|
1957.11.01 |
Mel Tormé (voc), Marty Paich (p, dir), Don
Fagerquist (tp), Vincent DeRosa (tpa), Hymie Gunkler (cl, as), Bob Enevoldsen (cl, ts), Ronnie Lang (cl, as, bars), Stella Castellucci (arp), Bill Pitman (g), Joe Mondragon (b),
Mel Lewis (d), string section |
|
|
1958.01.17 |
Joe Newman (tp, voc), Shirley Scott (org), Eddie Jones (b), Charlie Persip (d) |
|
|
Irene Kral |
1958.11.?? |
Irene Kral (voc), Herb Pomeroy (tp, dir), Lenny Johnson, Augie Ferretti, Nick Capezuto, Bill Berry (tp), Gene DiStasio, Bill Legan, Joe Ciavardone (tb), Dave Chapman, Charlie Mariano (as), Varty Haroutunian, Joe Carusso (ts), Jimmy Mosher (sax), Ray Santisi (p), John Neves (b), Jimmy Zitano (d) |
|
Jeanne Lee |
1994.05.26 |
Jeanne Lee (voc), Mal Waldron (p) |
|
Andy Bey |
1995.05.19 |
Andy Bey (voc, p) |
On cinemas
The song 'I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:
|
ORIGINAL
TITLE |
TITLE IN
SPAIN |
YEAR OF
PRODUCTION |
PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM |
|
Melinda and Melinda |
Melinda y Melinda |
2004 |
Duke Ellington Orchestra; Dick Hyman |