Mel Tormé | |
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.jpg) Tormé in 1979 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Velvet Fog |
| Born | Melvin Howard Tormé (1925-09-13)September 13, 1925 |
| Died | June 5, 1999(1999-06-05) (aged 73) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Genres | Traditional pop,jazz |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1929–1996 |
| Labels | Decca,Musicraft,Capitol,Bethlehem,Columbia,Concord |
Spouse(s) | Candy Toxton (1949–55) Arlene Miles (1956–65) Janette Scott (1966–77) Ali Severson (1984–99) |
Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999),[1] nicknamed "the Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer,composer,arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") and co-wrote the lyrics withBob Wells. Tormé won two Grammy Awards and was nominated a total of 14 times.[2]
Melvin Howard Tormé was born inChicago,Illinois, to a Jewish family. His father, William David Tormé, (born Wowe Torma, also spelled as Tarme or Tarmo),[3] was an immigrant fromBrest (nowBelarus), and Sarah "Betty" Tormé (née Sopkin), was aNew York City native.[4][5][6][7] Named after the actorMelvyn Douglas, Tormé grew up in a home filled with music and entertainment. His father, whom he recalled as having the pure voice of acantor, had been an amateur dancer in his youth. His aunt Faye Tormé had risen to local fame in Chicago, where, dubbed the "Wonder Frisco Dancer," she raised money by dancing atwar bond rallies in 1917–8. Mel's only formal musical education came from his Uncle Al Tormé, who played theukulele and theAlbert systemclarinet. His only sibling,Myrna, was born a few weeks before his fourth birthday.[8]
Tormé grew up in a largely Black neighborhood and was heavily influenced by jazz.[8] A child prodigy, he first performed professionally at age four with theCoon-Sanders Orchestra, singing "You're Driving Me Crazy," a song he had learned on the radio, at Chicago'sBlackhawk restaurant. He was invited back and sang every Monday night for six months; he was paid $15 a night with a free dinner for his family.[8][9]
By 1931, during theGreat Depression, his father had lost his store and began work as a salesman, while his mother worked as a seamstress. The family moved to the South Side to live with his grandparents. His grandmother hired a black woman named Alberta to look after Mel and his sister during the day. On Friday and Saturday nights, Alberta played piano in a five-piece jazz band at the famedSavoy Ballroom. Tormé later recalled of Alberta, "She had it all, the syncopation, the jazz conception, the deep feeling in her singing, the deliciously dissonant chords she played. She exposed me to all of it, and I ingested her musicality by some process of osmosis."[8]
To contribute to the family, he played drums in the drum-and-bugle corps at Shakespeare Elementary School. From 1933 to 1941, he acted in the radio programsThe Romance of Helen Trent andJack Armstrong, the All-American Boy. He wrote his first song at 13. Three years later his first published song, "Lament to Love", became a hit for bandleaderHarry James.
He graduated fromHyde Park High School.[10]
From 1942 to 1943, he was a member of a band led byChico Marx of theMarx Brothers. He was the singer and drummer and also created some arrangements.[11] In 1943, Tormé made his movie debut inFrank Sinatra's first film, the musicalHigher and Higher.[11] His appearance in the 1947 film musicalGood News made him a teen idol.[12]
In 1944, he formed the vocal quintet Mel Tormé and HisMel-Tones, modeled on Frank Sinatra andThe Pied Pipers. The Mel-Tones, which includedLes Baxter and Ginny O'Connor, had several hits frontingArtie Shaw's band and on their own, including Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?" The Mel-Tones were among the first jazz-influenced vocal groups,[13] blazing a path later followed byThe Hi-Lo's,The Four Freshmen,The Singers Unlimited, andThe Manhattan Transfer.
Tormé was discharged from theUnited States Army in 1946 and soon returned to a life of radio, TV, movies, and music.[11] In 1947, he started a solo singing career. His appearances at New York'sCopacabana led local disc jockeyFred Robbins to give him the nickname “the Velvet Fog” in honor of his hightenor and smooth vocal style. Tormé detested the nickname. He self-deprecatingly referred to it as "this Velvet Frog voice".[14] As a solo singer, he recorded several romantic hits forDecca and with the Artie Shaw Orchestra forMusicraft (1946–1948). In 1949, he moved toCapitol, where his first record, "Careless Hands", became his only number-one hit. His versions of "Again" and "Blue Moon" became signature songs. His compositionCalifornia Suite, prompted byGordon Jenkins's "Manhattan Tower", became Capitol's first 12-inch LP album. Around this time, he helped pioneercool jazz.[citation needed]
His radio program,Mel Tormé Time, appeared on the short-livedProgressive Broadcasting System in the 1950s.[15]
From 1955 to 1957, he recorded sevenvocal jazz albums for Red Clyde'sBethlehem Records, all with groups led byMarty Paich, most notablyMel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dek-Tette. He became known for his arranging skills, earning the respect of musicians.[11]
In his 1994 bookMy Singing Teachers, Tormé cited Patty Andrews, lead singer ofthe Andrews Sisters, one of the most successful show business acts of the 1940s, as one of his favorite vocalists, saying:
They had more hit records to their credit than you could count, and one of the main reasons for their popularity was Patty Andrews. She stood in the middle of her sisters, planted her feet apart, and belted out solos as well as singing the lead parts with zest and confidence. The kind of singing she did cannot be taught, it can't be studied in books, it can't be written down. Long experience as a singer and wide-open ears were her only teachers, and she learned her lessons well.[16]
Though he spent most of his career singing jazz, Tormé had a deep appreciation forclassical music, especially that ofFrederick Delius andPercy Grainger.[17]Rock and roll he considered "three-chord manure".[18]
In the 1960s and '70s, Tormé covered pop tunes of the day, never staying long with one label. He had two minor hits in the latter part of his career: his 1956 recording of "Mountain Greenery", which did better in the United Kingdom, reaching No. 4 (while not charting in the U.S.); and his 1962R&B song "Comin' Home Baby", arranged byClaus Ogerman, which reached No. 13 in the UK. The latter recording led the jazz andgospel singerEthel Waters to say that "Tormé is the only white man who sings with the soul of a black man." "Comin' Home Baby" was later covered byQuincy Jones andKai Winding.
In 1960, Tormé appeared in the TV crime dramaDan Raven withDon Dubbins. He had a role in a cross-cultural western titledWalk Like a Dragon, starringJack Lord. He played "The Deacon", a bible-quoting gunfighter who protects a female saloon owner and teaches a young Chinese man the art of the fast draw. In one scene, he tells a soon-to-be victim: "Say your prayers, brother Masters. You're a corpse," then delivers on the promise. LikeSammy Davis Jr. andRobert Fuller, Tormé was a real-lifefast draw expert. He also sang the show's theme song.[19]
In 1963–1964, Tormé wrote songs and arrangements forThe Judy Garland Show, where he made three guest appearances. When he and Garland had a dispute, he was fired. A few years later, after Garland's death, his time with her show became the subject of his first book,The Other Side of the Rainbow with Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol (1970). Although the book was praised, some felt it painted an excessively unflattering picture of Garland and that Tormé had exaggerated his contributions to the program; it led to an unsuccessful lawsuit by Garland's family.[20]
In 1967, he appeared with Lucille Ball in a two-part episode ofThe Lucy Show — "Main Street U.S.A." — as Mel Tinker, a songwriter who hopes to preserve the character of his small town. Tormé also wrote the song that gave the episode its title, and performs it with Ball.
Tormé made nine guest appearances as himself (and one as a guardian angel) on the 1980s situation comedyNight Court. The main character, Judge Harry Stone, played byHarry Anderson, was depicted as an unabashed Tormé fan, an admiration that Anderson shared in real life; he would deliver the eulogy at Tormé's funeral. Tormé appeared inMountain Dew commercials and in a 1995 episode of the sitcomSeinfeld ("The Jimmy") as himself. He recorded a version ofNat King Cole's "Straighten Up and Fly Right" with his son, singerSteve March-Tormé.[21] He worked with his other son, television writer-producerTracy Tormé, onSliders. The 1996 episode, entitled "Greatfellas," featured Tormé as a version of himself from a parallel universe in which he is a country music singer who is also an FBI informant.[22]
In the 1988Warner Bros. cartoonThe Night of the Living Duck,Daffy Duck has to sing in front of several monsters but lacks a good singing voice, so he inhales a substance called "Eau de Tormé" and sings like Mel Tormé, who provided the vocals.[14]: p. 176
On December 31, 1988, Tormé hosted a two-hour variety show titledHappy New Year, U. S. A. onPBS television.[23]
The resurgence of vocal jazz in the 1970s resulted in a successful period for Tormé. His live performances restored his reputation as a jazz singer. He performed as often as 200 times a year in venues all over the world. In 1976, he won anEdison Award (the Dutch equivalent of theGrammy) for best male singer, and aDownBeat award for best male jazz singer.[1] For several years, his appearances at Michael's Pub on theUpper East Side would unofficially open New York's fallcabaret season.
During the 1980s and 1990s he performed often withGeorge Shearing, recording six albums together forConcord Records.[24] About this period Shearing wrote:
It is impossible to imagine a more compatible musical partner... I humbly put forth that Mel and I had the best musical marriage in many a year. We literally breathed together during our countless performances. As Mel put it, we were two bodies of one musical mind.[25]
He reunited with Marty Paich for a tour and the albumsMel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dektette – In Concert Tokyo andMel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dektette – Reunion. He performed withRob McConnell's big band and recordedMel Tormé, Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass. In 1995 he toured withKen Peplowski.[11] For much of the later period of his career, Mel's trio was composed ofJohn Colianni,[26] piano; John Leitham, bass; and Donny Osborne, drums. With this group, Tormé recorded six albums and toured internationally. In some instances, Mel and this group were joined by Doc Severinsen and his Orchestra, Maureen McGovern, and Cleo Laine/John Dankworth. Guest conductors on symphonic gigs included Bob Krogstad andKeith Lockhart.
Tormé made a guest vocal appearance on the 1983 albumBorn to Laugh at Tornadoes by the progressive pop bandWas (Not Was). Tormé sang the satiric jazz song "Zaz Turned Blue" about a teenager who is choked as part of an erotic asphyxiation ("Steve squeezed his neck/He figured what the heck") – and who may or may not have suffered brain damage as a result ("Now he plays lots of pool/And as a rule/He wears a silly grin/On his chin").[27]
In 1991 Tormé publishedTraps, the Drum Wonder, a biography of drummerBuddy Rich, who was his friend since Rich left theMarines in 1944. He also owned and played a drum set that drummerGene Krupa used for many years. George Spink, treasurer of theJazz Institute of Chicago from 1978 - 1981, recalled that Tormé played this drum set at the 1979Chicago Jazz Festival with Benny Goodman on "Sing, Sing, Sing".[28]
Tormé's non-fiction books includeThe Other Side of the Rainbow (1970), a memoir of his time as musical adviser for Judy Garland's television show;Traps, the Drum Wonder (1991), a biography of Buddy Rich;My Singing Teachers: Reflections on Singing Popular Music (1994); andIt Wasn't All Velvet (1988), his autobiography. He also published a novel,Wynner (1978); wrote one episode apiece of the 1960s TV seriesRun For Your Life andThe Virginian; and received a "story by" credit on a 1974 episode ofMannix.
Tormé wrote more than 250 songs, several of which became standards. He often wrote the arrangements for the songs he sang. He collaborated withBob Wells on his most popular composition, "The Christmas Song" (1946); they wrote the song on a swelteringly hot and sunny day in California, sitting down and coming up with all the most 'mid-wintery' things they could think of, in an attempt to cool themselves down; it was recorded first byNat King Cole. Tormé said that he wrote the music in 45 minutes[29] and that it was not one of his favorites, calling it "my annuity".[14]
Mel Tormé was married four times, first toCandy Toxton (1949-1955); second to Arlene Miles (1956-1965); third toJanette Scott,Thora Hird's daughter (1966-1977); and last to Ali Severson (from 1984 to his death in 1999). All his marriages except the last one ended in divorce. Tormé was survived by his wife Ali; five children:Steve March-Tormé, Melissa Torme-March, andTracy, Daisy, andJames Tormé; and two stepchildren: Carrie Tormé and Kurt. Tracy was a screenwriter and producer. James Tormé is a jazz vocalist based in Los Angeles, California. Steve March-Tormé is also a musician who lives and works inAppleton,Wisconsin.[30]
On August 8, 1996, a stroke ended Tormé's 65-year singing career. In February 1999, he was awarded theGrammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He died from another stroke on June 5, 1999, at the age of 73.[31][32] He is buried at theWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. In his eulogistic essay, John Andrews wrote:[33]
Tormé's style shared much with that of his idol,Ella Fitzgerald. Both were firmly rooted in the foundation of the swing era, but both seemed able to incorporate bebop innovations to keep their performances sounding fresh and contemporary. Like Sinatra, they sang with perfect diction and brought out the emotional content of the lyrics through subtle alterations of phrasing and harmony. Ballads were characterized by paraphrasing of the original melody which always seemed tasteful, appropriate and respectful to the vision of the songwriter. Unlike Sinatra, both Fitzgerald and Tormé were likely to cut loose during a swinging up-tempo number with severalscat choruses, using their voices without words to improvise a solo like a brass or reed instrument.
Children and stepchildren:
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