PRELUDE TO A KISS
Music: Duke Ellington- Lyrics: Irving Gordon, Irving Mills
Year: 1938
Origin of the song
On 9 August 1938, Duke Ellington's orchestra, with sax-tenor Johnny Hodges, recorded 'Prelude to a Kiss' for the Brunswick label. A second version was recorded a fortnight later for the Vocalion label, but this time performed by Johnny Hodges & His Orchestra with lead singer Mary McHugh. In fact, Hodges' orchestra was actually formed by members of Ellington's band, including himself. Mary McHugh was the singer of that band at the time, recording half a dozen songs, including 'Prelude to a Kiss' and 'Lost In Meditation'.
The song had a very modest popular success. Hodges' version, although the audience liked the lyrics and performance of McHugh, only stayed on the charts for two weeks. She had a similar career to Ellington's version of the orchestra, which entered a week later, and reached the eighteenth place, disappearing after two weeks.
Irving Gordon, who worked at the music agency of Irving Mills, is the author of the lyrics and music for 'What Will I Tell My Heart' (1937), 'Unforgettable' (1941), 'Be Anything (But Be Mine)' (1952) and 'Sinner or Saint' (1952).
Versions in the top charts
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
DAY OF
ENTRANCE |
PERMANENCE WEEKS |
HIGH POSITION REACHED |
|
|
1938.08.09 |
1938.10.29 |
2 |
18 |
Instrumental |
|
|
1938.08.24 |
1938.10.22 |
2 |
13 |
Mary McHugh (voc) |
Jazz. Outstanding performances
Instrumental
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
Duke Ellington Famous Orchestra |
1938.08.09 |
Duke Ellington (p, dir); Rex Stewart (cnt); Wallace Jones, Cootie Williams (tp); Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton (tb); Juan Tizol (vtb); Barney Bigard (cl, ts); Johnny Hodges (ss, as); Otto Hardwick (as, cl); Harry Carney (cl, as, bars); Fred Guy (g); Billy Taylor (b); Sonny Greer (d) |
|
1945.05.10 |
Duke Ellington (p, dir), Rex Stewart (cnt), Cat Anderson, Shelton Hemphill, Taft Jordan, Ray Nance (tp), Lawrence Brown, Joe Nanton (tb), Claude Jones (vtb), Jimmy Hamilton (cl, ts), Otto Hardwick, Johnny Hodges (as), Al Sears (ts), Harry Carney (bars), Fred Guy (g), Junior Raglin (b), Sonny Greer (d) |
|
|
1948.11.30 |
John Hardee (ts), Al Haig (p), Clyde Lombardi (b), Tiny Kahn (d) |
|
|
1952.10.20 |
Horace Silver (p), Curly Russell (b), Art Blakey (d) |
|
|
1953.04.13 |
Duke Ellington (p), Wendell Marshall (b), Butch Ballard (d) |
|
|
1954.12.15 |
Ben Webster (ts), Ralph Burns Orchestra |
|
|
1960.01.12 |
Bobby Timmons (p), Sam Jones (b), Jimmy Cobb (d) |
|
|
Pee Wee Russell Quartet |
1963.04.10 |
Pee Wee Russell (cl), Marshall Brown (tp, vtb), Russell George (b), Ronnie Bedford (d) |
|
Ronnie Mathews Quintet |
1963.12.17 |
Ronnie Mathews (p), Freddie Hubbard (tp), Charles Davis (bars), Eddie Kahn (b), Tootie Heath (d) |
|
1972.08.04 |
JIm Hall (g), Ron Carter (b) |
|
|
1977.04.10 |
McCoy Tyner (p), Ron Carter (b), Tony Williams (d) |
|
|
Mal Waldron- Steve Lacy Duo |
1986.02.17 |
Steve Lacy (ss), Mal Waldron (p) |
|
1986.04.?? |
Oliver Lake, Julius Hemphill (as), David Murray (ts), Hamiet Bluiett (bars) |
|
|
Sonny Rollins Quintet with brass |
1993.08.?? |
Sonny Rollins (ts), Jon Faddis, Byron Stripling (fis), Clifton Anderson (tb), Alex Brofsky (tpa), Bob Stewart (tu), Tommy Flanagan (p), Bob Cranshaw (b), Jack DeJohnette (d), Jimmy Heath (dir) |
|
Brad Mehldau Trio |
1995.04.03 |
Brad Mehldau (p), Christian McBride (b), Brian Blade (d) |
Vocal
|
PERFORMERS |
DATE OF RECORDING |
MUSICIANS WHO TOOK PART IN THE RECORDING
|
|
Johnny Hodges Orchestra |
1938.08.24 |
Johnny Hodges (as), Cootie Williams (tp), Lawrence Brown (tb), Harry Carney (bars), Duke Ellington (p), Billy Taylor (b), Sonny Greer (d), Mary McHugh (voc) |
|
1954.04.02 |
Sarah Vaughan (voc), John Malachi (p), Joe Benjamin (b), Roy Haynes (d) |
|
|
1955.05.?? |
June Christy (voc), Stan Kenton (p) |
|
|
1955.08.23 |
Billie Holiday (voc), Harry 'Sweets' Edison (tp), Benny Carter (as), Jimmy Rowles (p), Barney Kessel (g), John Simmons (b), Larry Bunker (d) |
|
|
1957.11.01 |
Mel Tormé (voc), Marty Paich (p, dir), Don Fagerquist (tp),
Vincent DeRosa (tpa), Hymie Gunkler, Ronnie Lang (cl, as), Bob Enevoldsen (cl, ts), Stella Castellucci (arp), Bill Pitman (g), Joe Mondragon (b), Mel Lewis (d), string
section |
|
|
1969.??.?? |
Nancy Wilson (voc), Hank Jones (p), Gene Bertoncini (g), Ron Carter (b), Grady Tate (d) |
|
|
Tony Bennett |
1977.04.?? |
Tony Bennett (voc), Bill Berry (tp), Scott Hamilton (ts), Nat Pierce (p), Monty Budwig (b), Jake Hanna (d) |
|
1988.08.08 |
Sun Ra (p, sint, voc), Ahmed Abdullah, Michael Ray (tp), Tyrone Hill (tb), Marshall Allen (as), John Gilmore (ts, per), Danny Thompson (bars), Leroy Taylor (cl), June Tyson (vn, va), Bruce Edwards (g), Rollo Radford (b), Earl 'Buster' Smith, Eric Walker (d) |
|
|
Diane Schuur |
1993.??.?? |
Diane Schuur (voc), Warren Luening (tp), Dave Boroff (ts), Earle Dumler (ob), Roger Kellaway (p), Chuck Domanico (b), Will Kennedy (d), string
section |
|
1994.04.06 |
Joe Lovano (ts), Richard Oatts (fl), Edwin Schuller, Mark Helias (b), George Schuller (d), Judi Silvano (voc), string section, Gunther Schuller (dir) |
|
|
Claudia Acuña |
1999.11.17 |
Claudia Acuña (voc), Jason Lindner (p), Avishai Cohen (b), Jeff Ballard (d) |
On cinemas
The song 'Prelude To A Kiss' is included in the soundtrack of the following movies:
|
ORIGINAL TITLE |
TITLE IN SPAIN |
YEAR OF PRODUCTION |
PERFORMERS OF THE SONG IN THE FILM |
|
Rough Cut |
Golpe audaz |
1980 |
|
|
The Fabulous Baker Boys |
Los fabulosos Baker Boys |
1989 |
Duke Ellington Orchestra |
|
Glengarry Glen Ross |
Glengarry Glen Ross: Éxito a cualquier precio |
1992 |
Bill Holman Big Band |
|
Prelude To A Kiss |
Hechizo de un beso |
1992 |
Deborah Harry |
|
White Man’s Burden |
Atrapado |
1995 |
Michael Lang Trio |
|
Munich |
Munich |
2005 |
Stan Getz |