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“Vocalist
Reeves delivers a crisp,
romantic reading of the
song...” |
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- Ben
Maycock
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The
introduction of “You Go
to My Head” is almost universally
credited to
Glen Gray and the Casa
Loma Orchestra. A recording
by
Teddy Wilson and His
Orchestra, however, was
a hit eight weeks before
Gray’s.
On the pop charts the
song appeared by:
-
Teddy Wilson (1938,
Nan Wynn, vocal,
#20) (charted on June
18)
- Larry Clinton and
His Orchestra (1938,
Bea Wain, vocal, #3)
(charted on July 23)
-
Glen Gray and the
Casa Loma Orchestra
(1938, Kenny Sargent,
vocal, #9) (charted
on August 13)
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From 1935 to 1938 the
Teddy Wilson Orchestra
enjoyed dozens of successful
recordings, but “You Go
to My Head” would be their
last major hit before the
band broke up in 1940. In
his book
The Big Bands, George
T. Simon suggests “Perhaps
the band remained too polite…”
Wilson continued his career,
working with small groups.
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Critics marvel over “You
Go to My Head.” Praise for
its composer, J. Fred Coots,
is not as complimentary,
most often characterizing
him as a one-hit wonder.
William Zinsser in
Easy to Remember: The Great
American Songwriters and
Their Songs includes
“You Go to My Head” in a
group of songs he calls
“…the great shots that came
from out of nowhere.”American
Popular Song: The Great
Innovators, 1900-1950
author Alec Wilder calls
the song “a minor masterpiece.”
When discussing the song
“Gone
With the Wind,” Wilder
comments that Allie Wrubel
“…never wrote a song nearly
like it, any more than J.
Fred Coots ever wrote another
song like “You Go to My
Head.” And Wilder goes on
further to express surprise
that “You Go to My Head”
was written by a “competent
but unexceptional” writer
such as Coots.
What then is the attraction
of this song that has the
critics relegating poor
Coots to a goose that laid
one golden egg? It certainly
is not mass appeal; Coots
had bigger hits, including
(with Gillespie) “Santa
Claus is Comin’ to Town,”
a song that easily outranks
“You Go to My Head” in sales
and popularity. It is, instead,
the harmonic composition,
which is surprisingly sophisticated
for a “pop” song. And those
harmonies are showcased
by a melody with an alarming
number of repeated notes.
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The song’s level of compositional
sophistication is rare for
the “pop” genre, that is,
songs written outside the
spheres of jazz or theater.
Though Coots is usually
associated with his Tin
Pan Alley hits, his background
was also in vaudeville and
the theater where he worked
under contract for the Shubert
Organization, a theatrical
production company where
he co-composed with
Sigmund Romberg.
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Haven Gillespie’s urbane lyrics are well
suited to the music, likening a romance
to the effervescence of an alcoholic beverage.
The song has an A1-A1-B-A2 form with a 10-bar
extension. Gillespie starts out each A section
with “You go to my head…” then describes
through simile just how. Apparently Gillespie
did not want to start or end the song with
alcoholic comparisons so instead he sandwiches
“bubbles in a glass of champagne,” “sparkling
Burgundy brew,” and “kicker in a julep or
two” between “haunting refrain” and “summer
with a thousand Julys.” -JW
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Musical analysis
of “You Go to My Head”
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Original Key |
Eb
major; brief false key change to
“G” at the end of the bridge |
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Form |
A1
– A1 – B – A2 – C |
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Tonality |
Primarily
major |
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Movement |
After
an opening upward octave leap, the
“A” section descends mainly leap-wise.
“B” starts with two upward leaps
and an arpeggiated figure which
outlines the notes of the harmony
descending and ascending. This is
followed by two measures of a repeated
note that drops an octave to repeat
for another eight beats before returning
to the third “A.” “C” starts with
a downward octave leap that ascends
three steps and a skip before arpeggiating
upwards to rest on the fifth scale
degree where it remains until the
end. |
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Comments
(assumed
background)
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The aural interest here lies not
in the almost static melody but
in the lush and exotic harmonic
progression. Initially, this ascends
I – ii – iii with one change per
beat (not difficult at the traditional
tempo of approximately 60 b.p.m.).
Then, instead of IV, it lands on
the minor “iv,” becoming a “ii7”
of the bIII chord (Gb in the original
key of Eb). Before the new tonality
can become established, however,
it drops a half step to form a II7
leading to the V7 of the original
key. It resolves to the original
tonic but in parallel minor. There
is then an interesting i – vi –
iib5 – V7+ sequence that returns
to the major in resolution.
“B” starts in the “IV” key (Ab
in the original), going through
a very traditional IV - #iv˚7 –
I6/4 (second inversion, fifth degree
in the bass) and brief I – IV –
I (or “amen”). It then changes to
III (G major in the original) by
means of a tri-tone jump to the
#iv7(b5) where it settles until
the end of the “B” section. In order
to get back to the original key,
the harmonic progression drops two
half-steps to form the original
ii7 chord (actually a m6 if the
melody note is taken into consideration),
leading to V7 – I.
Another traditional harmonic
progression that gets turned on
its head underlies the “C” section.
A IV chord becomes minor, followed
by the I which ascends diatonically
to iii – biii˚7 – ii. This ii is
briefly decorated by a lower, neighboring
vii˚7 chord (in the original, Fm7
– E˚7 – Fm), then to V7. But final
resolution to I is delayed when
the bass line moves down to the
flatted third scale degree (Gb in
the original key), creating a bIII
chord resolving to bVI (called an
“augmented sixth” in theory books–B
major in the key of Eb). Since the
melody note at this point is the
major seventh of the penultimate
chord, it is “common” with the root
tone of the V7 which follows, resolving
at last back to I. (The melody,
however, remains on the fifth degree.)
Generally, this is a complex
and unusual, but lovely, harmonic
progression that must be heard to
be appreciated. It does not lend
itself well to a casual “jam” or
impromptu improvisation.
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K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com
Check out K. J. McElrath's book of Jazz Standards Guide Tone Lines at his web site (www.bardicle.com). |
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 “You Go to
My Head” has a dreamy movement that is complemented
well by Haven Gillespie’s lyrics. I recorded
it with a bolero beat to maximize this effect.
Also, I enjoy the very evocative references
to booze. I haven’t had a drink in more
than 16 years, but I can sit at the bar
and live vicariously through the song. Thank
you, Mr. Gillespie. I’ll have a double.
Janis Mann, Jazz Vocalist
www.janismann.com
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you a published Vocalist or Instrumentalist?
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“You Go to My Head”
was included in these films:
- Laura (1944, instrumental)
- Swing Kids (1993)
- Corrina, Corrina (1994,
Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson)
- Playing by Heart (1999,
Chet Baker)
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Click on a CD for more
details at Amazon.com
Lee Konitz
The Real Lee Konitz
32 Jazz Records
Original recording, 1961, Collectables
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| You can hear a pin drop
on this live recording. The alto
saxophonist mesmerizes the audience
with his sensitivity and originality. |
Roy Hargrove
Moment to Moment
2000, Verve 314543540
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| Hargrove kicks off this
album with a superbly romantic version
of the ballad. Backed by strings,
the trumpeter weaves hypnotically
through this lush arrangement. |
Dianne Reeves
A Little Moonlight
2003, Blue Note 80252
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| Vocalist Reeves delivers
a crisp, romantic reading of the
song featuring a wonderful dialogue
between her and the trumpet of Nicholas
Payton. This album was the 2004
Grammy winner for Best Jazz Vocal
Album. |
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Although
Teddy Wilson recorded this tune with
his band in 1937, he revisited the tune
in a solo piano version in 1945. The following
year tenor saxophonist Don Byas, a master
of up-tempo material and ballads, stretched
his ballad “chops” on his recording. In
1947, the man whom many considered to be
the “master” of the tenor sax, Coleman Hawkins,
laid down his rendition with a band of future
all-stars: Fats Navarro on trumpet, J.J.
Johnson on trombone, Milt Jackson on vibes,
Hank Jones on piano, and Max Roach on drums.
To close out the decade, there were sides
made by ex-Benny
Goodman pianist Mel Powell (on solo
piano) and young and upcoming tenor sax
player Gene Ammons.
Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian
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| This section shows the
jazz standards written by the same writing
team. Click on a name to see all
of a writer's jazz standards.
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Additional
information on “You Go to My Head” may be
found in:
2 pages including the
following types of information: history
and lyric analysis.
1 paragraph including
the following types of information:
history and performers.
1 page including the
following types of information: music
analysis.
1 paragraph including
the following types of information:
history and performers.
1 paragraph including
the following types of information:
history, lyric analysis, music analysis
and performers.
Includes the following
types of information: song lyrics.
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