Welcome to Week 20 of The Definitive Version, a regular feature of my website. You can read more about the project here and read all past entries here.
Song: “Emily” (1964)
Composer: Johnny Mandel
Lyricist: Johnny Mercer
Form: ABA’C
Standard Key: C Major.
Johnny Mandel, born in 1925, was and is a prolific composer and arranger in a wide range of genres. He has won the Academy Award and a Grammy for his songs, and is equally recognized as an orchestral arranger without peer.
His collaborator, Johnny Mercer, was a generation his senior (born 1909) and was among the greatest lyricists of the 20th Century. He collaborated with so many greats, including Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Van Heusen, Henry Mancini, Duke Ellington, and more. He won 4 Academy Awards for best song and was nominated 19 times. His lyrics were so celebrated that Ella Fitzgerald made his work the subject of one of her Songbook albums–the only one dedicated to a lyricist, rather than a composer.
“Emily” was written in 1964 – well beyond the composition date of most jazz standards. It was composed for a movie, though since it wasn’t performed in The Americanization of Emily so it wasn’t eligible for an Academy Award.
“Emily” typically played as a ballad or jazz waltz. It is harmonically fairly conventional, following circle of fifths patterns with some variation. The standout for me is the melodic pattern in the opening of the A section – a leap up of a fifth, followed by a downward third. The fragment repeats exactly, three times, on the word “Emily” as the chords shift underneath, so that the melody goes from chord tones to color notes, with ever-increasing harmonic sophistication. I like that this is then reversed in the B section, with a downward fifth, and then is repeated again at the very end, bringing the tune full circle.
Definitive Version: The Singers Unlimited (1973, from A Capella)
Form: Intro | Full chorus homophonic || Half chorus wordless || Half chorus various timbres
Feel: ballad
Key: B-flat Major / A-flat Major / C Major
Instrumentation: a cappella
I am breaking my self-imposed rule to only consider solo vocal versions of these jazz standards in choosing the Definitive Version. However, in support, I offer this anecdote from the great lyricist and author Gene Lees:
“One day I was sitting at the piano, working out the chord changes to [Emily]. There’s a harmonic sequence toward the end that I couldn’t figure out, so I shrugged, picked up the phone, and called Johnny Mandel. He decayed the harmony over the phone, and then said, “Have you got that?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Good,” he said. “Now throw it out and get the recording by The Singers Unlimited and use Gene Puerling’s changes.”
– Gene Lees, in the liner notes to Sentimental Journey by The Singers Unlimited
I think you’ll agree with the composer that Gene Puerling finds truly remarkable harmonic ideas in this song, and they are delivered powerfully by the four amazing singers that comprise The Singers Unlimited.
The interpretation is romantic, heartfelt, with a healthy sense of the rubato that any solo singer would seek. That they do it as an ensemble makes it all the more remarkable.
It’s fitting to bend my rule to celebrate this remarkable work on March 31, which would have been the 90th birthday of Gene Puerling, one of the most important vocal writers of the 20th Century.
Also Recommended:
- Tony Bennett (1966 from The Movie Songs Album) Tony’s broad, romantic approach fits perfectly for the style of this song.
- Frank Sinatra (1964, from Softly As I Leave You) Orchestra and a slow waltz underneath Sinatra’s crooning. This isn’t one of Sinatra’s greatest recordings, but it’s still a masterclass in song delivery – listen to his careful, intentional diction.
- Stan Getz & Bill Evans (1974, live in Belgium) Stan Getz interprets like a singer, and Bill Evans had a long-term relationship with this beautiful song (he made a number of recordings over the years).
- Tierney Sutton (2004, from Dancing in the Dark) Modern jazz interpretations of select Sinatra-associated songs, including her version of Emily. It would have fit equally well on her album of Bill Evans songs, of course.