My Melancholy Baby

Music: Ernie Burnett, Lyrics: George A. Norton, 1912

The old cliché is that this is the tune everybody requests, and for good reason—it was the song that just wouldn't go away: Walter Van Brunt had a hit in 1915, Gene Austin revived the song with a Number 3 hit in 1927, and Teddy Wilson with Billie Holiday had a Number 6 hit in 1936. But we're just getting started: Bing Crosby had a hit in 1939, tenor saxophonist Sam Donohue in 1947, and Tommy Edwards in 1959. Judy Garland sang it in A Star is Born (1954) after a drunk yells out "play Melancholy Baby." And in Some Like it Hot (1959) Marilyn Monroe's character, Sugar Kane, says at one point: "All they have to do is play eight bars of 'Come to me My Melancholy Baby' and my spine turns to custard, I get goosepimply all over and I come to 'em!"

According to Edward Shanaphy, it was "My Melancholy Baby" that was responsible for the term "torch song" as a reference to a sentimental love song. An American singer named Tommy Lyman liked the number and adopted it as his theme song sometime around 1915. During a show on night during the early 20s he supposedly announced, "and now my famous torch song: "Come to me My Melancholy Baby."

The song was originally published in 1911, with the music by Burnett but lyrics by his wife, Maybelle E. Watson. The publisher liked the song but not the lyrics, so Norton supplied new words and the song was republished. Early interpretations treated the song as a fast dance number, but by the mid 20s it was generally considered a ballad. 

The song prompted another piece of history, which might have helped make it a popular request: Composer Ernie Burnett fought in France during the First World War and was wounded in battle. When he was found, he had lost his dog tags and had total amnesia. No one could determine who he was and he remained in an army hospital for an undisclosed period of time. At some point, the name Ernie Burnett had appeared on the list of soldiers killed in action. One day a piano player who was entertaining the patients announced that he would play "Melancholy Baby" in honor of the dead composer, which he did. Upon hearing the number, Burnett sat up and said, "I wrote that song!" and his memory returned. 

One of my favorite recordings is by the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra from 1928. That was the year the famous but ever-quarreling brothers first began recording under that name, though they didn't appear in public as an ensemble until 1934. Their recording of "Melancholy Baby" contains excellent solos from the brothers, as would be expected, but the driving force behind it all is the superb bass saxophone work of Adrian Rollini, who also takes a fine solo on the number. The ten-piece ensemble also includes a name that is familiar to saxophone players—Arnold Brilhart, who would go on to become a legendary manufacturer of saxophone mouthpieces.