Saturday, April 26, 2014

Saturday afternoon tunes: I'm sorry now I ever went away (Part 2)

The album notes (this was when most listeners bought music in albums, and they had notes on the cover; a different day, not likely to be seen again) for Herbie Mann's Best of Herbie Mann album briefly mention that jazz standards singer/composer Mel Tormé had done a cover of the Mann classic Comin' Home Baby – managing to make the cover sound like more of a novelty recording than a serious interpretation.

And it is a little odd; I can't really deny it. However unusual it might seem among the interpretations of Mann's work, it certainly sticks out in Tormé's catalog, even though it was a  successful recording for him. It keeps the slimmed-down instrumental trio for most of the recording (until the organ appears for the break), it gives the signature flute melody to the women singing back-up, leaving Tormé to fill the breaks in each line with semi-improvised semi-scat lyrics.

See what you think:




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