MISTY
Music: Erroll Garner- Lyrics: Johnny Burke
Year: 1954
Origin of the song
On 27 July 1954, Erroll Garner recorded the instrumental version of ‘Misty’, which was published on the album Contrasts. One year later, Johnny Burke wrote the lyrics. The song remained practically unknown until Johnny Mathis made it popular in 1959; its record got into the hit charts on October 5 that year and reached twelfth position.
There are different versions of the origin of ‘Misty’ going around. One is that Erroll Garner wrote it while sitting on a plane that was about to take off and saw a rainbow between the fog through the window; other is that he wrote it while he was flying from Chicago to New York; and there is a third one which says it came up on a plane thinking about his wife. In any of those cases, as he didn’t know how to read nor write music, he hummed the melody to himself a couple of times until he came home and played it on the piano.
‘Misty’ has become in Garner’s most popular composition. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers has named it as one of the most performed twenty five standards of the 20th century, and there is no song published from 1954 on that has been recorded more times by jazz artists, except for ‘Satin Doll’.
Versions in the top charts
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
DAY OF
ENTRANCE |
PERMANENCES WEEKS |
HIGH POSITION REACHED |
|
|
Error Garner Trio |
1954.07.27 |
1954.10.23 |
1 |
30 |
Instrumental |
|
1959.04.?? |
1959.10.05 |
17 |
10 |
Johnny Mathis (voc), Glenn Osser Orchestra
Rhythm & Blues
charts |
|
|
Lloyd Price |
1963.03.?? |
1963.10.05 |
9 |
11 |
Lloyd Price (voc)
Rhythm & Blues
charts |
|
Richard Holmes Trio |
1965.08.03 |
1966.06.25 |
11 |
12 |
Instrumental
Rhythm & Blues
charts |
|
Ray Stevens |
1975.02.?? |
1975.03.22 |
17 |
3
|
Ray Stevens, Toni Wine, Lisa Silver (voc)
Country & Western charts |
Jazz. Outstandings performances
Instrumental
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1954.07.27 |
Erroll Garner (p), Wyatt Ruther (b), Eugene Heard (d) |
|
|
1959.11.05 |
Ray Bryant (p), Tommy Bryant (b), Oliver Jackson (d) |
|
|
1960.06.03 |
Roy Eldridge (tp), Ronnie Ball (p), Ben Moten (b), Eddie Locke (d) |
|
|
1961.09.25 |
Lou Donaldson (as), Jack McDuff (org), Grant Green (g), Joe Dukes (d) |
|
|
1965.07.08 |
Dexter Gordon (ts), Kenny Drew (p), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (b), Alex Riel (d) |
|
|
1965.08.03 |
Richard 'Groove' Holmes (org), Gene Edwards (g), Jimmie Smith (d) |
|
|
1976.09.14 |
Joe Pass (g) |
|
|
Red Garland Trio |
1982.04.13 |
Red Garland (p), Jamil Nasser (b), Frank Gant (d) |
|
1983.06.13 |
Freddie Hubbard (tp), Lew Tabackin (ts), Joanne Brackeen (p), Eddie Gómez (b), Roy Haynes (d) |
|
|
Jessica Williams |
2000.09.?? |
Jessica Williams (p) |
Vocal
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
1957.02.28 |
Dakota Staton (voc), Hank Jones (p), Van Alexander Orchestra |
|
|
1958.07.07 |
Sarah Vaughan (voc), Zoot Sims (ts), Ronnell Bright (p), Richard Davis (b), Kenny Clarke (d), Quincy Jones Orchestra |
|
|
1960.08.30 |
Billy Eckstine (voc, tp), Bobby Tucker Orchestra |
|
|
1961.11.21 |
Frank Sinatra (voc), Don Costa Orchestra |
|
|
1963.04.?? |
June Christy (voc), Al Viola (g) |
|
|
1963.07.18 |
Sarah Vaughan (voc), Kirk Stuart (p), Charles Williams (b), George Hughes (d) |
|
|
1986.11.24 |
Dee Dee Bridgewater (voc), Hervé Sellin (p), Antoine Bonfils (b), André Ceccarelli (d) |
|
|
1988.05.09 |
Dianne Reeves (voc), Mulgrew Miller (p), Charnett Moffett (b), Terri Lyne Carrington (d) |
|
|
2007.??.?? |
Rita Edmond (voc), Ricky Woodard (ts), Joel Scott (p), James Leary (b), Quentin Dennard (d) |
On cinemas
The song 'Misty' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:
|
ORIGINAL TITLE |
TITLE IN SPAIN |
YEAR OF PRODUCTION |
PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM |
|
Play Misty For Me |
Escalofrío en la noche |
1971 |
Erroll Garner Trio |
|
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael |
Aquí te pillo, aquí te mato |
1990 |
Johnny Mathis |
|
Defending Your Life |
El cielo... proximamente |
1991 |
Erroll Garner Trio |
|
The Super |
El súper |
1991 |
|
|
Manhattan Murder Mistery |
Misterioso asesinato en Manhattan |
1993 |
Erroll Garner Trio |
|
The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult |
Agárralo como puedas 33 1/3: El insulto final |
1994 |
Johnny Mathis |
|
Ocean’s Eleven |
Hagan juego |
2001 |
Liberace |
|
Silver Linings Playbook |
El lado bueno de las cosas |
2012 |
Johnny Mathis |