"Too Marvelous for Words"

"Too Marvelous for Words"
Public domain · source
Name	Too Marvelous for Words
Type	song
Artist	Richard A. Whiting and Johnny Mercer
Released	1937
Written	1937
Genre	Popular song, Jazz standard
Writer	Richard A. Whiting, Johnny Mercer

"Too Marvelous for Words" is a popular song composed by Richard A. Whiting with lyrics by Johnny Mercer in 1937. The song quickly became a standard in the repertoires of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and numerous jazz instrumentalists, entering the catalogs of performers associated with Capitol Records, Decca Records, and Columbia Records. Its association with the late-1930s American popular-music scene connects it to contemporaries such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin.

Background and Composition

The song was created during a period when Tin Pan Alley figures like Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, and Lorenz Hart collaborated with lyricists such as Yip Harburg and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg; Mercer, already affiliated with Mercer Records and Liberty Music Shop, worked with Whiting, an established composer who wrote for Paramount Pictures, MGM, and RKO Radio Pictures. The collaboration followed Mercer’s earlier successes with composers linked to Brunswick Records and writers connected to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), situating the song within networks that included Harold Arlen, Johnny Green, Jimmy McHugh, and Harry Warren. Whiting’s melodic approach echoes influences traceable to Victor Herbert and the popular orchestrators of Paul Whiteman and Ted Lewis, while Mercer’s lyricism reflects affinities with Dorothy Fields and Sammy Cahn.

Early Recordings and Popularization

Initial commercial exposure came via recordings issued by major labels: interpretations by artists on Decca Records and Columbia Records helped spread the tune. Performers associated with Guy Lombardo, Benny Goodman, and Tommy Dorsey introduced the song to dance-hall audiences, while broadcasts over NBC Radio and CBS Radio featured renditions by Bing Crosby, Mildred Bailey, and Artie Shaw. The song was included in set lists for venues like the Palomar Ballroom, Carnegie Hall, and The Cotton Club, and arranged by bandleaders who worked with arrangers from Glen Miller Orchestra circles and Count Basie’s ensembles. Sheet music distributed by Chappell & Co. and Boosey & Hawkes circulated among performers connected to Juilliard School alumni and orchestral players from Carnegie Mellon University graduates.

Notable Covers and Interpretations

Across decades, the song was recorded by a wide range of artists on labels such as Verve Records, Blue Note Records, RCA Victor, and Atlantic Records. Vocalists including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, and Chet Baker crafted signature versions, while instrumentalists like Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Stan Getz offered jazz interpretations. Arrangers from the Quincy Jones and Gordon Jenkins schools reimagined harmonies; sessions at studios like Sun Studio, Capitol Studios, and Abbey Road Studios produced recordings featuring musicians associated with Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Wes Montgomery, and Oscar Peterson. Later interpretations linked the song to revivalists and crossover artists tied to Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Harry Connick Jr., Kurt Elling, and Jackie Gleason.

Musical Structure and Lyrics

The composition employs popular-song forms favored by composers such as Jerome Kern and George Gershwin: an AABA 32-bar layout with harmonic progressions that invite reharmonization by practitioners in the traditions of Bebop innovators like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Its melody allows for chromatic embellishment used by improvisers in the lineages of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and its lyricism, comparable to Johnny Mercer’s other collaborations with composers of the Hollywood studio era, yields phrasing conducive to interpretations by crooners like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. The song’s text contains intimate, complimentary language that resonated with audiences familiar with the romantic idioms of Sammy Fain and Lew Brown.

Cultural Impact and Legacy

The song’s adoption by figures across popular-music institutions—from swing-era orchestras associated with Tin Pan Alley veterans to modern jazz ensembles connected to Juilliard faculty—ensured its endurance in American songbook repertoires. It influenced programming on BBC Radio and NPR jazz shows, appeared in film and television productions by studios like Warner Bros. Pictures and broadcasters such as PBS, and featured on compilation albums curated by labels including Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group. The piece remains studied by students at conservatories such as Berklee College of Music and The Juilliard School, and cited in scholarly work published by presses like Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press alongside analyses of contemporaneous songs by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin.

Category:American songs