Moonlight Cocktail

Moonlight Cocktail
1941 sheet music cover for "Moonlight Cocktail", "Introduced and Recorded by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra", Jewel Music Publishing Co., New York.

"Moonlight Cocktail" is a big band song popular during World War II. It was composed by Luckey Roberts with lyrics by Kim Gannon. The song was originally recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra on December 8, 1941,[1] the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The song had its first public performance in January 1942 on KABC radio in New York City.[2] The 78 rpm disc was released by Bluebird Records as #11401. Vocals were by Ray Eberle and The Modernaires. "Happy in Love" was on the B-side. It was the best-selling record in the United States for ten weeks, from February 28, 1942 to May 2, 1942, and was the number two record for that year after Bing Crosby's White Christmas.

Contents

Music

The music originated three decades earlier as a 1912 ragtime composition by Charles Luckeyeth Roberts called "Ripples of the Nile", described as "a syncopated tune that baffled the arrangers of the day".[2] Roberts, known by his nickname of "Luckey" or "Lucky", was a composer with a career that lasted many decades. "Ripples of the Nile" was a musical challenge: "a fast number with right hand figuration of the greatest technical difficulty, and none of Luckey's pupils, including the James P. Johnson, could execute it perfectly. Subsequently, he found it necessary to score it as a slow number, and publish it as 'Moonlight Cocktail'".[3]

Lyrics

The lyrics were written by New York attorney James Kimball Gannon, who had dabbled with songwriting and poetry for years, before becoming a full-time songwriter when about 40 years old.[4] Gannon, who wrote under the nickname "Kim", compared the development of a romantic relationship to the mixing of an alcoholic beverage in "Moonlight Cocktail". The following year, he wrote the lyrics to an even more enduring hit song, "I'll Be Home For Christmas".

Critical reception

Billboard called the song a "smash hit" and wrote "It's one of the smoothest, danceable discs we've reviewed in many a moon. A rippling piano and tenor sax feature the orchestral arrangement and Ray Eberle and the Modernaires take care of the vocal".[5] In a later issue, Billboard wrote that the song was "imaginative and colorful" and featured a "sweet harmony with a dish of romance".[6]

During World War II, the BBC initiated a program called "Victory Through Harmony" that sought to use musical radio broadcasts to maintain wartime morale and increase weapons production.[7] Some types of music were seen as a hindrance to such goals. Along with many other popular songs of the era, "Moonlight Cocktail" was banned by the BBC as "sentimental slush" in August 1942[8]

Cover versions

Mary Martin sang the song on the radio for the troops.[2] Within six months, cover versions were recorded by Bing Crosby,[2] Horace Heidt,[2] Tommy Tucker,[2] Dolly Dawn and her Dawn Patrol,[2] Glen Gray,[9] and Joe Reichman and his Orchestra.[10]

Chico Marx performed the music on piano in the Marx Brothers 1946 film, A Night in Casablanca.[11]

The song was later covered by Mel Tormé[12] and Stanley Black.[13]

Nearly sixty years later, Andrea Marcovicci performed the song in her cabaret show "Double Old Fashioned", described as "piercing nostalgia leavened with humor".[14]

References

  1. ^ Flower, John (1972). Moonlight serenade: a bio-discography of the Glenn Miller civilian band. Arlington House Publishers. http://books.google.com/books?id=pLo4AQAAIAAJ&dq=Moonlight+Serenade+%28A+bio-discography+of+the+Glenn+Miller+Civilian+Band%29&hl=en&ei=AjDGTfzkBpO4sAOk1pi8AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAA. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Schuyler, George S. (June 1942). "America Caught Up With Him". The Crisis (NAACP) 49 (6). http://books.google.com/books?id=BlsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA194&dq=%22Moonlight+Cocktail%22&hl=en&ei=GMLCTbX0J83QiAKN7d2DAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&sqi=2&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22Moonlight%20Cocktail%22&f=false. Retrieved May 5, 2011. 
  3. ^ Wheeldin, Herbert L. (January 1963). "Jazz Elder Statesman". Negro Digest (Chicago): 33–35. http://books.google.com/books?id=VzoDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35&dq=%22Moonlight+Cocktail%22&hl=en&ei=fHvDTbKPOI2asAOysdnFAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=%22Moonlight%20Cocktail%22&f=false. 
  4. ^ Hinckley, David (December 19, 2005). "In Dreams. Wartime Christmas Weeper, 1943". New York Daily News (New York City). http://articles.nydailynews.com/2005-12-19/news/18310398_1_white-christmas-popular-song. 
  5. ^ "ON THE RECORDS: Reviewing the New Discs". St. Petersburg Times (St. Petersburg, Florida). February 22, 1942. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_C5PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aU0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5066,4069598&dq=moonlight-cocktail&hl=en. Retrieved May 4, 2011. 
  6. ^ Orodenker, M. H. (January 10, 2942). "On The Records". Billboard 54 (2): 14. http://books.google.com/books?id=NwwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT13&dq=%22Moonlight+Cocktail%22&hl=en&ei=73jDTaOmG5C4sQOVrKW8AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22Moonlight%20Cocktail%22&f=true. Retrieved May 5, 2011. 
  7. ^ Baade, Christina L. (2011). Victory Through Harmony: The BBC and Popular Music in World War II. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195372014. http://books.google.com/books?id=FafwtgAACAAJ&dq=%22Victory+through+harmony%22+BBC&hl=en&ei=3X_ETdT0L5TCsAPp9fCfAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA. 
  8. ^ "Popular Songs Banned As 'Sentimental Slush'". Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa): pp. 27. August 8, 1942. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1RwvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4tsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2111,1386704&dq=sentimental-slush&hl=en. Retrieved May 6, 2011. 
  9. ^ Orodenker, M. H. (January 24, 1942). "On The Records". Billboard 54 (4): 12. http://books.google.com/books?id=IAwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT11&dq=%22Moonlight+Cocktail%22&hl=en&ei=73jDTaOmG5C4sQOVrKW8AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22Moonlight%20Cocktail%22&f=false. Retrieved May 6, 2011. 
  10. ^ Orodenker, M. H. (March 28, 1942). "On The Records". Billboard 54 (13): 112. http://books.google.com/books?id=FgwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT111&dq=%22Moonlight+Cocktail%22&hl=en&ei=fHvDTbKPOI2asAOysdnFAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=%22Moonlight%20Cocktail%22&f=false. Retrieved May 6, 2011. 
  11. ^ Grudens, Richard (2004). Chattanooga Choo Choo: The Life and Times of the World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra. Celebrity Profiles Publishing. ISBN 9781575792774. http://books.google.com/books?id=_Y0yJS0SWdcC&pg=PA201&dq=%22Moonlight+Cocktail%22&hl=en&ei=U37DTY2oAYP4sAOLzuTqAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDoQ6AEwBDge#v=onepage&q=%22Moonlight%20Cocktail%22&f=false. 
  12. ^ "Moonlight Cocktail by Mel Tormé". Yahoo! Music. http://new.music.yahoo.com/mel-torme/tracks/moonlight-cocktail--23010997. Retrieved May 7, 2011. 
  13. ^ "Moonlight Cocktail/Sophisticat in Cuba by Stanley Black". Yahoo! Music. http://new.music.yahoo.com/stanley-black/albums/moonlight-cocktail-sophisticat-in-cuba--159686626. Retrieved May 7, 2011. 
  14. ^ Holden, Stephen (June 1, 2001). "CABARET GUIDE: ANDREA MARCOVICCI". New York Times (New York City). http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/01/movies/cabaret-guide.html. Retrieved May 6, 2011. 

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