Autumn Leaves (song)

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"Autumn Leaves" is a much-recorded popular song. Originally a 1945 French song "Les feuilles mortes" (literally "Dead Leaves") with music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prévert, English lyrics were written in 1947 by the American songwriter Johnny Mercer. It has become a pop standard and a jazz standard in both languages, and as an instrumental. "Les feuilles mortes" was introduced by Yves Montand in 1946 for the film Les Portes de la Nuit.[1]

The film Autumn Leaves (1956) starring Joan Crawford featured the song, which was sung by Nat King Cole over the title sequence. The French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg wrote "La chanson de Prévert" as a tribute to this song. The tribute added much color into the song.[citation needed]

It is the corps song of the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps.[2]

This song has also been mentioned in a best-selling novel The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller.

Contents

[edit] Chart appearances

In 1955 "Autumn Leaves", as an instrumental number, was a number one hit for Roger Williams in the United States, the only instrumental to reach number one[3] and remaining in that position for four weeks.

[edit] Chord changes

One of the reasons it has found popularity amongst so many artists is its relatively straightforward chord changes — The complete diatonic cycle of fourths, starting on the fourth in the A section and the second in the B section.

The song's minor key, along with the metaphor of summer's end, underscore its sense of sadness and loss:

But I miss you most of all, my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall.

[edit] Recordings

Date Artist Album CD Track(s)
1955 Stan Getz The Complete Roost Recordings CD3 T7&8
1955 Erroll Garner Concert by the sea T4
1956 Nat King Cole Columbia Records
1956 Edith Piaf Edith Piaf: 30th Anniversaire
1958 Louis Armstrong Live at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival T10
1958 Ahmad Jamal Ahmad's Blues T4
1958 Cannonball Adderley Somethin' Else T1
1959 Bill Evans Trio Portrait in Jazz T2&3
1961 Paul Desmond Blue Desmond T10
1961 Joe Henderson Four! T1
1963 Miles Davis Live at the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival T2
1964 Vashti Bunyan Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind T14
1966 Barbra Streisand Je M'Appelle Barbra T2
1967 Juliette Gréco Live in Berlin
1972 Oscar Peterson Collection Jazz in Paris T3
1974 Chet Baker She was too good to me T1
1978 Jhonny Griffin Return of the Griffin T1
1978 Grace Jones Fame T4
1985 Mireille Mathieu
1986 Wynton Marsalis Marsalis Standard Time, Vol. 1 T11
1988 The Keith Jarrett Trio Still Live CD1 T2
1990 Barney Wilen Movie Themes from France T7
1990 Didier Lockwood New World T2
1992 Michel Legrand Michel Legrand/Stéphane Grappelli T3
1992 Bireli Lagrene Standards T6
1992 Khánh Hà (vietnamese) Nhạc Tình Muôn Thuở 2 (music video)
1994 Ahmad Jamal The Essence Part. 1 T6
1994 Tiger Lillies Births, Marriages and Deaths T8
1995 Eddy Louiss & Michel Petrucciani Conference de Presse Vol.2 T1
1998 Eva Cassidy Songbird T3
1999 Coldcut Autumn Leaves (Single) T1
2001 Toots Thielemans & Kenny Werner Toots Thielemans - Kenny Werner T11
2002 Jacky Terrasson Smile T8
2003 Chick Corea Rendez-vous in New York CD2 T1
2003 Zwan B-side of Lyric-single
2006 Andrea Bocelli Amore
2006 Susan Wong These Foolish Things T2
2006 Bianca Wu Sings Timeless T7
2007 Jean-Marc Brisson L'ecole Buissniere
2007 Natasha Marsch Amour T8

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Autumn Leaves. Everything2. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.
  2. ^ As listed in 1987 program in newspaper image found at http://www.bluecoats.com/media_gallery.asp?year=1987&section_id=257&section_name=Programs+%26+Ticket+Stubs
  3. ^ {{cite web In 1965, Williams added a chorus and charted it again at #10 Billboard Easy Listening as "Autumn Leaves - 1965." |url=http://www.nebrocks.org/bands.asp?band=84 |title=Roger Williams |publisher= |accessdate=2006-11-07 }}
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