Autumn Leaves (1945 song)
{{Short description|Song by Joseph Kosma}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Les Feuilles mortes
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| type = song
| artist = Jacques Prévert and Joseph Kosma, English lyrics by Johnny Mercer
| album =
| EP =
| English_title = "Autumn Leaves"
| written = 1945
| published =
| released = 1946 by Enoch & Cie ({{ill|Enoch (édition musicale)|fr|vertical-align=sup}})
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| writer =
| composer = Joseph Kosma
| lyricist = Jacques Prévert (French), Johnny Mercer (English)
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}}
"Autumn Leaves" is the English-language version of the French song "Les Feuilles mortes" ("The Dead Leaves") composed by Joseph Kosma in 1945. The original lyrics were written by Jacques Prévert in French, and the English lyrics were by Johnny Mercer. An instrumental recording by pianist Roger Williams was a number one best-seller in the US Billboard charts of 1955.
Since its introduction "Autumn Leaves" has become a jazz standard, and it is one of the most recorded songs by jazz musicians. More than a thousand commercial recordings are known to have been released by mainstream jazz and pop musicians.{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/search/all/autumn%2520leaves |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712021846/https://www.allmusic.com/search/all/autumn%2520leaves |archive-date=July 12, 2019 |title=Autumn Leaves |website=AllMusic}}
Background
Kosma was a native of Hungary who was introduced to Prévert in Paris, and they collaborated on the song "Les Feuilles mortes". The song was legally deposited in 1945, and published in 1947.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3cU2J-2hw5UC&pg=PA110|title=Eurojazzland: Jazz and European Sources, Dynamics, and Contexts|date=2012|editor1=Franz Kerschbaumer|editor2= Laurent Cugny|editor3= Luca Cerchiari |pages=110–117|isbn=9781584658641 |publisher=Northeastern University Press }} The song has its origin in the ballet music written by Kosma for Le Rendez-vous by Roland Petit, performed in Paris at the end of the Second World War. Large parts of the melodies are exactly the same as the ballet music,{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIxAgEGk5wc |title=EXTRAIT] LE RENDEZ-VOUS by Roland Petit (Alice Renavand & Mathieu Ganio) |work=Opéra national de Paris|date=3 June 2021 |via=YouTube }} which was itself partially similar to "Poème d'octobre No. 4" by Jules Massenet.{{cite book|last=Massin|first=Brigitte|author-link=Brigitte Massin|title=Les Joachim: Une famille de musiciens|date=1999|publisher=Fayard|location=Paris|isbn=978-2213604183}} This portion of the tune has also been noted to be near-identical to a passage in Tchaikovsky's 1888 composition Hamlet Overture-Fantasia, Op. 67.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TX0_EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire|first= Ted |last=Gioia |date= 2021 |pages=30–31|isbn=9780190087173 |publisher=Oxford University Press }}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPL76G_pxlg&t=461s |title=Tchaikovsky: Hamlet, Overture-Fantasia, Op. 67 |work=Leonard Bernstein|date=24 November 2018 |via=YouTube }} Marcel Carné used "Les Feuilles mortes" for the 1946 film Les Portes de la nuit (Gates of the Night), where it was sung/hummed in parts by Irène Joachim and Yves Montand.{{cite book|last=Gioia|first=Ted|author-link=Ted Gioia|title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire|date=2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-19-993739-4|pages=24–26}}
The most successful commercial recording of "Les Feuilles mortes" was by Yves Montand (Columbia) in 1949, which sold a million copies within 5 years.{{cite web |url=https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb37939760g.public |title=Les Feuilles mortes; Yves Montand |publisher=Bibliothèque nationale de France |year=1950}} Cora Vaucaire recorded it (1947 or 1948),{{cite web |url=https://www.epmmusique.fr/fr/cd-chanson-francaise/1817-cora-vaucaire-ses-plus-jolies-chansons-cora-vaucaire-3540139869071.html |title=Cora Vaucaire / Ses Plus Jolies Chansons |publisher=EPM}} as did Juliette Gréco who first recorded a version in 1949.
In 1950, Johnny Mercer wrote the English lyric and gave it the title "Autumn Leaves". The English lyrics are significantly shorter than the French version, consisting of only two verses. In the French original, the crucial line "C'est une chanson" starts at the 13th bar, while in English the line "the autumn leaves" starts at bar 1. Mercer was a founder and partner in Capitol Records at the time, and he selected Capitol recording artist Jo Stafford to make the first English-language recording in July, 1950.
Structure and chord progression
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Autumleaves evacassidy.ogg|title="Autumn Leaves"
|description=Sample of a recording of "Autumn Leaves" by Eva Cassidy from the album Live at Blues Alley (1996)}}
The song is in AABC form.Spitzer, Peter (2001). Jazz Theory Handbook, p. 81. {{ISBN|0-7866-5328-0}}. "Autumn Leaves" offers a popular way for beginning jazz musicians to become acquainted with jazz harmony as the chord progression consists almost solely of ii–V–I and ii–V sequences which are typical of jazz. Although it is mostly played in G minor, the original key of the composition was A minor.{{Cite web|last=Baudoin|first=Philippe|date=2012-07-01|title=History and Analysis of 'Autumn Leaves'|url=https://www.crj-online.org/v4/CRJ-AutumnLeaves.php|access-date=2021-12-14|website=www.crj-online.org}}
The song's iv7–bVII7–bIIImaj7–bVImaj7–iiø–V7–i chord progression is an example of the circle-of-fifths progression.{{cite book|last1=Kostka|first1=Stefan|author1-link=Stefan Kostka|first2=Dorothy|last2=Payne|first3=Byron|last3=Almén|title=Tonal Harmony with an Introduction to Twentieth-century Music|edition=7th|year=2013|location=New York|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-131828-0|pages=46, 238}}
:
\relative c' {
\partial 2.
<<
\new ChordNames {
\set chordChanges = ##t
\chordmode { r2. c1:m7 f:7 bes:maj7 ees:maj7 a:m7.5- d:7 g:m}
}
\new Staff {
\tempo "Medium jazz"
\key g \minor
g'4 a bes | ees1~ | ees4 f, g a | d2 d2~ | d4 ees, f g | c1~ | c4 d, e fis bes1
}
>>
}
Roger Williams' recording
{{Infobox song
| name = Autumn Leaves
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Roger Williams
| album = Autumn Leaves
| B-side = Take Care
| released = 1955
| format =
| recorded =
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| genre = Pop
| length = 2:59
| label = Kapp
| lyricist = Jacques Prévert, Johnny Mercer
| composer = Joseph Kosma
| producer =
| next_title = Wanting You
| next_year = 1955
}}
Roger Williams was signed by Dave Kapp of Kapp Records when he heard Williams playing in a hotel lounge. He was asked to change his birth name Louis Jacob Weertz to Roger Williams. Williams released an album The Boy Next Door, which failed to make an impact, and then the song "Autumn Leaves". "Autumn Leaves" was recorded at the suggestion of Kapp one Friday, and Williams, who had previously thought that the song was titled "Falling Leaves", said: "The first thing that came to mind was to play all those runs down the keyboard, I tried to make it sound like falling leaves."{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-xpm-2011-oct-09-la-me-williamsroger-20111009-story.html|title=Roger Williams dies at 87; 'Autumn Leaves' pop pianist found commercial success|first= Valerie J. |last=Nelson |work=Los Angeles Times|date=October 9, 2011 }} He created the arrangement that Friday and the following Saturday night, and recorded the song on Monday. Williams played the tune with descending arpeggios its dominant feature, backed by an orchestra conducted by Glenn Osser. The first recording was just over 3 minutes long, and Kapp suggested that it be sped up to keep it under 3 minutes, which Williams duly did.
The song became a number-one hit in the U.S. in 1955, the first piano instrumental to reach number one.{{cite web |url=http://www.nebrocks.org/bands.asp?band=84 |title=Roger Williams |publisher=Nebraska Music Hall of Fame |author=Anonymous |access-date=2006-11-07 |archive-date=2015-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907203141/http://www.nebrocks.org/bands.asp?band=84 |url-status=dead }} It stayed at No. 1 for four weeks in the bestsellers chart. The song is said to have sold two million copies around the world,{{cite book | first= Joseph | last= Murrells | year= 1978 | title= The Book of Golden Discs | edition= 2nd | publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd | location= London | pages= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/77 77–78] | isbn= 0-214-20512-6 | url-access= registration | url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/77 }} and it remains the best-selling piano record of all time.{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/famed-pianist-roger-williams-dies-at-age-87-466361/ |title=Famed Pianist Roger Williams Dies at Age 87 |date=October 9, 2011 |agency=Associated Press|via=Billboard }}
Williams re-recorded the tune for Kapp, in stereo and with choral and orchestral backings, to celebrate its 10th anniversary in 1965.{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HCkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16 |title=Kapp Launches Williams Push |magazine=Billboard |date=September 25, 1965 |page=16}}
=Charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1955)
!Peak |
|---|
| US Best Seller in Stores (Billboard){{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30|title=Best Sellers in Store|magazine=Billboard |page=30|date=September 29, 1955 }}
|style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| US Cash Box{{Cite web|url=https://tropicalglen.com/Archives/50s_files/19551029.html|title=The Cash Box Best-Selling Singles: Week ending October 29, 1955|website=Tropicalglen.com }}
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
Other versions
The song was recorded steadily throughout the 1950s by leading pop vocalists including Steve Conway (1950),{{Cite book|last=Henson|first=Brian|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/19389211|title=First hits, 1946–1959|date=1989|publisher=Boxtree|others=Colin Morgan|isbn=1-85283-268-1|location=London|oclc=19389211}} Bing Crosby (1950), Nat King Cole (included in the 1955 album re-release of Nat King Cole Sings for Two in Love, and used in the 1956 film Autumn Leaves whose title was inspired by the song), Doris Day (1956), and Frank Sinatra (1957). It was also used in the 1959 film Hey Boy! Hey Girl! performed by Louis Prima and Keely Smith.
Following the success of Roger Williams' version of the tune, competing pop versions were released late in 1955 by Steve Allen, the Ray Charles Singers, Jackie Gleason, Mitch Miller, and Victor Young, with only Allen's reaching the Billboard Top 40.{{cite web|url=https://thjkoc.net/2019/11/05/moments-to-remember/|title=Moments to Remember|website=The Hits Just Keep On Comin'|date=November 5, 2019|access-date=October 15, 2024}}
A half-French half-English version was released by Édith Piaf in 1951.
The song was also quickly adopted by many instrumental jazz artists, including Artie Shaw (1950); Stan Getz (1952); Cal Tjader in his 1954 album "Mambo with Tjader" with Cal Tjader's Modern Mambo Quintet;{{Cite web|url=https://www.jazzdisco.org/fantasy-records/discography-1953-1954/|title=Fantasy Records Discography: 1953-1954|website=www.jazzdisco.org}} Ahmad Jamal (1955); Erroll Garner in his 1955 album Concert by the Sea, Duke Ellington (1957, Ellington Indigos); Cannonball Adderley in his 1958 album Somethin' Else featuring Miles Davis who also recorded it live for Miles Davis in Europe in 1964; Vince Guaraldi (1958); Bill Evans (1959, Portrait in Jazz); John Coltrane (1962); and Ryo Fukui (1976). It became the signature tune of Ben Webster in his later career. A few jazz vocalists have also recorded the song, including Sarah Vaughan in her 1982 album Crazy and Mixed Up.
Composer Terry Riley has written a contrafact of the song (1965), using the same principle of small repetitive cells of melody and rhythm first put in use in his breakthrough piece, In C (1964).{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xXaFqd5W9X4C&pg=PA72 |title=Terry Riley's In C|first= Robert|last= Carl |date=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199717132 |page=72}}
Saxophonist Vincent Herring recorded the song on his 1992 album Secret Love.
American artist Diamanda Galás recorded the song for her 2008 live album Guilty Guilty Guilty.
In 2012, jazz historian Philippe Baudoin called the song "the most important non-American standard" and noted that "it has been recorded about 1400 times by mainstream and modern jazz musicians alone and is the eighth most-recorded tune by jazzmen."
The song is the official corps song of the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps.{{Cite web |date=2022-12-15 |title=Bluecoats remain fan favorite after nearly 30 years |url=https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/canton/2016/07/28/bluecoats-remain-fan-favorite-after/27419879007/ |access-date=2023-11-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215080752/https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/local/canton/2016/07/28/bluecoats-remain-fan-favorite-after/27419879007/ |archive-date=2022-12-15 }}
References
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External links
- [http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/autumnleaves.htm "Autumn Leaves"] at jazzstandards.com
{{Jacques Prévert}}
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Category:Compositions by Joseph Kosma
Category:Jerry Lee Lewis songs
Category:Little Willie John songs
Category:Number-one singles in the United States
Category:Songs with lyrics by Johnny Mercer