That’s All

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That’s All (m. Bob Haymes, w. Alan Brandt) – Published in 1952, the song was introduced, apparently without achieving a hit, by Nat King Cole in 1953. It was Bobby Darin’s peculiar mauling of the song, released on his double Grammy winning 1959 album That’s All which, according to jazzstandards.com, “put the song on the musical map.” Stranger things have happened.

There were some, though I haven’t found many, 1950s jazz covers including those by Ben Webster, 1953, and Lester Young with Oscar Peterson, 1955. Alec Wilder is quoted in the same jazzstandards.com profile of the song cited above saying that the song became a standard “immediately,” and that the song succeeds despite having lots of octave jumps in the release which “should produce monotony,” yet for mysterious reasons do not.

Wilder also says of the composition, “It’s one of the warmest, most natural, and least ‘studied’ songs I know” (quotes via jazzstandards.com from Wilder’s seminal American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900–1950, published 1972).

Nat King Cole – recorded at Capitol Recording Studio, Hollywood, CA, 20 January 1953

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Ben Webster – recorded Los Angeles, CA, 8 December 1953 — Harry Edison (tp) Benny Carter (as) Ben Webster (ts) Oscar Peterson (p) Herb Ellis (g) Ray Brown (b) Alvin Stoller (d). A single, with B-side Jive at Six.

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Ricky Nelson – 1959

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Edie Adams – on the I Love Lucy (TV) series finale Lucie Meets the Moustache — filmed: 2 March 1960, aired: 1 April 1960

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Sam Cooke – B-side of  the 1961 single Feel It (Billboard pop chart #56)

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Lou Donaldson – recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on 9 May 1962; released on the 1963 album The Natural Soul, Blue Note BLP 4108 (Mono), BST 84108 (Stereo)

 Lou Donaldson (alto saxophone), Grant Green (guitar), Tommy Turrentine (trumpet), Big John Patton (organ), Ben Dixon (drums)

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Judy Garland – taped 11 October 1963 and inserted into Episode #5 of “The Judy Garland Show,” aired 15 December 1963

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Mel Tormé — second track on his 1965 LP That’s All, arranged by Robert Mersey

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Vikki Carr — B-side of the 1967 single It Must Be Him; also the leading track of a 1969 compilation album titled That’s All

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Oscar Peterson and Stéphane Grappelli — Live at Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark, 6 July 1979; released on the album Skol, 1979

Oscar Peterson – piano
Stéphane Grappelli – violin
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen – bass
Mickey Roker – drums

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Teddy Edwards and Houston Person – from their album Horn to Horn, recorded New York City, NY, 27 December 1994 — Teddy Edwards: tenor sax, Houston Person – Tenor Sax, Richard Wyands – piano

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Bill Elliot Swing Orchestra, vocal: Wendi Williams, from the bio flick Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (TV 1999)

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Eliane Elias – from her 2004 album Dreamer

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Michael Bublé – from Caught in the Act, 2005. Amazon advertises the title as Caught In The Act (CD + Region 2 DVD). Region 2? Don’t ask me which songs are on DVD and which on CD. I’ve been through this before with a Michael Bublé release and am not even gonna try this time.

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