Somewhere along the way, Moonlight in Vermont became an autumn song best heard close to Halloween and Thanksgiving. I'm not sure how that happened. Maybe it had something to do with "ski trails down a mountainside" or "icy finger waves." But there's warm weather imagery in there, too: "Evening summer breeze / Warbling of a meadowlark" and "Pennies in a stream."
The lovely song with lyrics that don't rhyme was composed by John Blackburn (lyrics) and Karl Suessdorf (music), and published in 1944. The first recording of the song was by Margaret Whiting that year. As Bill Kirchner notes, "The first three lines (repeated) are a haiku: five syllables, seven syllables and five syllables."
For me, there are only five versions that make me feel the true romantic mood of the song. Rather than feature one Perfection track today, I'm going to share my favorite instrumental version, favorite female vocal and favorite male vocal, the last sung three different times.
Ready? Here we go:
Best instrumental version is by Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra featuring Jimmy Dorsey, recorded in 1955 for the album Fabulous Dorseys in Hi-Fi and released on the Columbia label in 1958. It was arranged by Neal Hefti. The collective personnel between 1954 and 1955: Lee Castle, Charlie Shavers, Billy Marshall or John Frosk, Paul Cohen or Dick Perry, John McCormick or Art Tancredi (tp); Tak Takvorian and Jimmy Henderson or Vince Forrest and Sam Hyster or Sonny Russo (tb); Jimmy Dorsey (solo as); Skip Galluccio and Kenny DeLange or Seymour "Red" Press (as), Buzzy Brauner and Joe Pamelia or Gale Curtis (ts); Teddy Lee (bar); Doug Talbert (p); Sam Herman (g); Bill Cronk (b); Louie Bellson (d) and Tommy Dorsey (tb,ldr).
Here's Tommy...
Best female vocal version is by Sarah Vaughan. Here, she's singing the song majestically on No Count Sarah, an album recorded in December 1958 with the Count Basie Orchestra minus the Count. Instead, Ronnell Bright, her accompanist, was at the keyboard. The band: Sarah Vaughan (vcl) accompanied by Wendell Culley (tp), Thad Jones (tp,conductor), Snooky Young and Joe Newman (tp), Henry Coker, Al Grey and Benny Powell (tb), Marshal Royal (cl,as), Frank Wess (as,ts,fl), Frank Foster (ts), Billy Mitchell (ts), Charlie Fowlkes (bar), Ronnell Bright (p), Freddie Green (g), Richard Davis (b), Sonny Payne (d). It's unclear who the arranger is but I think the opening build is closer to Johnny Mandel's style than Frank Foster's.
Here's Sassy...
Best male vocal version is by Frank Sinatra. Here are three examples:
Here's Sinatra on the Dinah Shore Chevy Show in 1962 with Frank DeVol and His Orchestra using Billy May's arrangement from Sinatra's Come Fly With Me album (1958)...
Here's Sinatra in 1966 on TV with Nelson Riddle conducting...
And here's Sinatra with Ella Fitzgerald and great chemistry. Watch their mutual admiration as they shoot each other glances...
Bonus: Can't get up to Vermont to see the fall foliage? How about 11 hours of drone footage and peaceful music that went up three weeks ago? Perfect for a deep sleep on a sofa in front of the fireplace. Go here...