”The original sheet music to ‘I Thought About You’ shows a drawing of the streamliner..., undoubtedly the train Johnny Mercer took from Denver to Chicago when he wrote the tune’s lyrics.”
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- Chris Tyle
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Four top big bands recorded this tune: Will Bradley, Bob Chester, Bob Crosby, and Benny Goodman. Goodman’s 1939 rendition with vocalist Mildred Bailey was the only version to make the charts, rising to #17 in 1940.
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“I Thought About You” was among the first tunes that lyricist Johnny Mercer collaborated on with composer Jimmy Van Heusen. Mercer had just become a partner with Edwin H. Morris and formed Mercer-Morris. In Gene Lees’ biography, Portrait of Johnny: The Life of John Herndon Mercer, the author relates Mercer’s tale of writing the tune. Van Heusen played the melody for Mercer, who was leaving that evening for Chicago to appear on a radio program with Benny Goodman. Unable to sleep, Mercer found inspiration for the song from the train trip, seeing the little towns, the moon and landscape along the way. Mercer admitted his writing style was to paint pictures with lyrics, to “transport people to someplace they don’t know.” The story is a marvelous example of how a fine lyricist like Mercer could find inspiration in something many would consider mundane, a train trip.
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There’s a bit of serendipity that vocalist Mildred Bailey had a hit with “I Thought About You.” In 1933 Mercer’s first big hit was “Lazybones,” a collaboration with Hoagy Carmichael. Although the number was recorded by a number of artists, it was Bailey’s recording that became the big hit. From that, Mercer got a gig with Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra, with whom Mildred had been singing. Mercer considered this a huge stepping-stone in his career.
The original sheet music to “I Thought About You” shows a drawing of the streamliner, the Burlington Route’s Denver Zephyr, undoubtedly the train Johnny Mercer took from Denver to Chicago when he wrote the tune’s lyrics. The short verse (eight bars) is rarely performed, but the lyric is an especially nice set-up to the chorus, telling that the saying “out-of-sight is out-of-mind” doesn’t ring true with a loved one. The chorus tells about a train trip and all the things that remind us of the special person left behind, especially romantic scenes like “shadowy lanes under the stars.”
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Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian
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Musical analysis of “I Thought About You” | | Original Key | Eb major | | Form | A - B1 - A - B2 | | Tonality | Primarily major | | Movement | Arpeggiated ascent followed by chromatic descent during “A”; gradual stepwise descent followed by upward skips during “B.” | Comments (assumed background) | | A beautiful, soaring melody with well-constructed arcs. Good balance of moving passages and sustained notes. The chord progression contains few surprises; although Van Heusen uses some embellishing ii7 chords before secondary dominants, all cadences resolve in the manner one’s ear would expect. | 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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I think
about this song every time I get off the
train at Hoboken and head down into the
PATH to go into the city. Something
about the way that station feels; the
architecture, the fruit stand, the
cafes, etc. “With every stop that we
made, I thought about you.” Anyone
that’s ever left a gig and had to take a
late night train home to Brooklyn,
Jersey, wherever; we’ve all had that
going through our heads, about someone.
It’s one of these collaborations (Van
Heusen/Mercer) where the lyric and
melody seem to have been written by the
same person, because the relationship
between the sentiment of the melody and
the intimacy of the lyric is so
seamless.
Jeff Taylor, vocalist
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Ray Brown Trio
Some of My Best Friends are... the Trumpet Players
2000 Telarc 83495
Original recording 2000
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Guest trumpeter James Morrison joins bassist Ray Brown’s trio for a superb, lyrical reading of the tune. This mellow and eloquent version allows for some engaging dialogue between Brown and Morrison.
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Kenny Burrell/Coleman Hawkins
Bluesy Burrell
1997 Original Jazz Classics 926
Original recording 1963
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The come hither quality of Burrell’s guitar is matched by the breathy romance of Hawkins’ saxophone runs. Moody and heavy-hearted but a delight for the ear.
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Diane Schuur
Love Songs
1993 GRP Records 9713
Original recording 1993
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Sincerely wistful at one point, flirtatious the next, pianist/singer Schuur makes the most of the song to showcase her impressive vocal and emotional range. As a result the song swings with giddy apprehension.
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Johnny Hartman
And I Thought About You
1997 Blue Note Records 57456
Original recording 1959
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In considering the enormous talent of vocalist Johnny Hartman, it is a shame that he was so under-recorded. But his rich, warm voice is heard to advantage on this fine collection of love songs. He delivers the title cut with touching intimacy.
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Guitarist Johnny Smith, a highly-regarded and influential performer for decades, recorded a number of albums for Roost in the 1950s which have now been reissued by Mosaic Records, an independent label dedicated to releasing classic jazz performances. The set is jam-packed with standards, including a first-rate “I Thought about You” (The Complete Roost Johnny Smith Small Group Sessions). Growing up in rural Mississippi (the land of the Delta Blues), pianist/vocalist Mose Allison’s performances reflect his early roots, although his piano playing shows the influence of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. On his first solo outing in 1957 he included a bluesy, sparse version of “I Thought about You.” Trumpeter Miles Davis recorded a studio version of the tune for Columbia in March, 1961 (Someday My Prince Will Come. Sony/Columbia Legacy 65919). Then a month later the label recorded his group live at the Blackhawk in San Francisco. Davis’ version from that session was unissued by Columbia until it appeared in a 2003 Sony set.
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 “I Thought About You” may be found in:
2 pages including the following types of information: anecdotal and lyric analysis.
Includes the following types of information: song lyrics.
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