Last year I compiled a set of songs to observe the coming of fall. Let us take another spin through the variety of composers, artists, and genres exploring the theme. The seasons offer a powerful metaphor for poets and songwriters. Shakespeare provides a supreme example in Sonnet 73 (“That time of year thou mayst in me behold”). The songs provide a musical break from the news of the day with a few of my favorite artists and an obscurity or two that may offer something new to readers following along. The emphasis here is on classics and rarities.
“September in the Rain” is a standard that dates back to a Depression-era Hollywood film. Sarah Vaughan made it new in the set she performed Live at Mister Kelly’s (1957).
I first heard the song on a bootleg album of the Beatles’ failed Decca audition (January 1, 1962). I have been unable to ascertain where the Beatles themselves first heard it. I can only say that the guy on the vocal sounded pretty good to me even if Decca management was of the view that “guitar groups are on the way out” and the boys had best find another line of work.
This version of “Autumn Serenade” is off the classic 1963 album by John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. McCoy Tyner is not too shabby on the piano. The album has now been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Tony Bennett recorded “Autumn Leaves” many times. This concise version is from Who Can I Turn To (1964). The song was written by Joseph Kosma and Jacques Prévert with French lyrics way back when. Johnny Mercer added the evocative English lyrics. In the version below Bennett is backed by Ralph Sharon on piano and Mundell Lowe on guitar.
Bennett liked to slow the tempo and luxuriate in the lyrics, as in this 1991 live performance (also with Ralph Sharon on piano).
The song has become a jazz standard. On Crazy and Mixed Up (1975) Sarah Vaughan sang it entirely in scat. Produced by Norman Granz for his Pablo label, the album has Sarah backed by Roland Hanna on piano, Joe Pass on guitar, Andy Simpkins on double bass, and Harold Jones on drums.
“September Song” fit the wistful theme of Frank Sinatra’s September of My Years (1965). The album was something of a generational statement as Sinatra turned 50. Written by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson, the song concludes the album. I have the happy memory of accompanying my father when he sought the album out in the record store on a Sunday afternoon shortly after its release.
The Kinks had a hit single in Britain with “Autumn Almanac” (1967). In the United States it was collected on Kink Kronikles (1972). Between Kinks albums, Ray Davies was pointing the way to The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society.
This version of “Autumn Afternoon” is from The Sandpipers’ Come Saturday Morning (1970). It was written by the Addrisi Brothers (Dick Addrisi and Don Addrisi), who wrote the Association’s “Never My Love.”
Which reminds me. The Association also recorded “Autumn Afternoon” with a similar arrangement. The Association’s Terry Kirkman wrote the seasonal song “Come the Fall” for Waterbeds in Trinidad (1972), the group’s last album. You can hear that Kirkman must have been in a self-critical mood. You can also hear that these guys remained a terrific vocal group long after we had moved on.
Van Morrison recorded his own “Autumn Song” for Hard Nose the Highway (1973)
Van returned to the seasonal theme in “When the Leaves Come Falling Down” and “Golden Autumn Day” for Back on Top (1999). “Golden Autumn Day” concluded the set with “a near perfect summation of his music up to today [that] provides a rare glimpse into his personal life as well” (per the AllMusic review).
I first heard “‘Tis Autumn” on the Joe Pass/Ella Fitzgerald album Fitzgerald & Pass…Again (1976), another Norman Granz production for his Pablo label. The song was written by Henry Nemo and first recorded by Nat “King” Cole in 1941. Ella’s sweet, sweet cover has remained stuck in my head. “It’s just to help the mercury climb…”
Neil Diamond harked back to “Autumn Leaves” on “September Morn” (1979) in the sense that he supplied the English lyrics to “a beautiful French melody” (as Tony Bennett put it in the video above). The music was composed by Gilbert Bécaud.
Boz Scaggs retrieved “I’ll Remember April” (lyrics by Patricia Johnston and Don Raye, music by Gene DePaul) from the great American songbook on Speak Low (2008), his second album of standards. The song was first recorded by Woody Herman and His Orchestra in 1941 and first appeared in Abbott and Costello’s 1942 comedy Ride ‘Em Cowboy (1942). The meticulous arrangement on this recording features Bob Sheppard on soprano sax. The singer is looking back — he’s not afraid of Autumn and her sorrow because…
Most of these songs have a wistful edge. Not so Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” (1978). “Do you remember the 21st night of September?” It was pretty, pretty good. This song sends us off on a happy note.
