The Frim-Fram Sauce

By Joe Ricardel and Redd Evans
1945

A fun novelty song of the post-World War II era that went on to become a jazz stand-by, this tune was created by Joe Ricardel, writer of "The Brooklyn Dodger Jump", with lyrics by Redd Evans, known for such songs as "Don't Go to Strangers" and "There, I've Said It Again". Evans had written a few songs specifically for the Nat King Cole Trio, and this was one of them. The song's playful lyrics have entertained fans for decades, full of nonsense words and involving a patron ordering a series of imaginary items from a restaurant menu. Although closely identified with Cole over the years, several others have tried their hand at it.

Lyrics:

I don't want French fried potatoes
Red ripe tomatoes
I'm never satisfied
I want the frim fram sauce with the Ausen fay
With chafafa on the side

I don't want pork chops and bacon
That won't awaken
My appetite inside
I want the frim fram sauce with the Ausen fay
With chafafa on the side

A fella really got to eat
And a fella should eat right
Five will get you ten
I'm gonna feed myself right tonight

I don't want fish cakes and rye bread
You heard what I said
Waiter, please serve mine fried
I want the frim fram sauce with the Ausen fay
With chafafa on the side

Recorded By:

Nat King Cole
Diana Krall
John Pizzarelli
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Les Brown

Mona Lisa

By Ray Evans & Jay Livingston
1950

Best known for the timeless recording by Nat King Cole, this beloved favorite was written for the film Captain Carey, USA, in which Cole introduced it along with the orchestra of exotica maven Les Baxter (and for which it won the Oscar). It's believed that Frank Sinatra was offered the song as well, but turned it down. Nevertheless, the song has become ubiquitous, and although several other artists have recorded it over the years, it remains Cole's version that rises head and shoulders above the rest.

Lyrics:

Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa, men have named you. 
You're so like the lady with the mystic smile. 
Is it only 'cause you're lonely, they have blamed you  
For that Mona Lisa strangeness in your smile?
 
Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa? 
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?  
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep.  
They just lie there and they die there.
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa? 
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art?
 
Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa?  
Or is this your way to hide a broken heart?  
Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep.  
They just lie there and they die there.
Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa?  
Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art?  

Recorded By:

Elvis Presley

Don Cherry

Harry James

Doris Day

Willie Nelson

Hit That Jive, Jack

By John Alston & Skeets Tolbert

1940

A red-hot little jazz number of the 1940s that continues to live on with hepcats everywhere to this day. Tolbert introduced it with his relatively obscure jazz ensemble, but it was with the Nat Cole Trio the following year that it got sent into the stratosphere. In recent years, it has become a very popular number with throwback hot jazz acts.

Happy 8th Birthday to my son--Hit that jive, Jack!

Lyrics:

Hit that jive Jack 
Put it in your pocket till I get back  
Going downtown to see a man  
And I ain't got time to shake your hand
 
Hit that jive Jack  
Put it in your pocket till I get back  
Time and time waits for no man  
And I ain't got time to shake your hand
 
Standing on a corner  
All full of jive  
But you know that you're my boy  
So I'm forced to give you five
 
Hit that jive Jack  
Put it in your pocket till I get back  
Going downtown to see a man  
And I ain't got time to shake your hand

Recorded By:

Nat King Cole
Diana Krall
John Pizzarelli
Joe Carroll
Boyd Bennett

Unforgettable

By Irving Gordon
1951

Perhaps one of the most enduring of all standards, still commonly known today by people of all ages, mainly thanks to the recording by Nat King Cole. It was Cole who introduced the song in 1951, re-recorded it in stereo ten years later, and with whom it has always been identified. His version was famously edited in 1991 into a posthumous "duet" with his daughter Natalie, which won the Grammy for Best Recording. Sadly, that version also amended the fine Nelson Riddle arrangement to including a cheesy sax solo in place of Riddle's trademark shimmering strings.

Lyrics:

Unforgettable
That's what you are,
Unforgettable
Tho' near or far.

Like a song of love that clings to me,
How the thought of you does things to me.
Never before
Has someone been more...

Unforgettable
In every way,
And forever more
That's how you'll stay.

That's why, darling, it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am
Unforgettable, too.

Recorded By:

Dick Hyman
Dinah Washington
Sammy Davis Jr.
Marvin Gaye
Lou Rawls

It's Only a Paper Moon

By Harold Arlen, E.Y. "Yip" Harburg & Billy Rose
1933

Initially written for the 1933 Broadway flop The Great Magoo, this Arlen/Harburg gem was included in the film Take a Chance later that same year. It also received its first recording courtesy of the Paul Whiteman orchestra. It didn't really pick up steam until the World War II years, when it became a standard thanks to versions by Ella Fitzgerald and Nat Cole. It has become a jazz improvisation favorite, and was notably included in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. A light and airy tune with a lovely, whimsical lyric.

Lyrics:

It is only a paper moon
hanging over a cardboard sea,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

It is only a canvas sky
sailing over a muslin tree,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

Without your love,
It's a honky-tonk parade.
Without your love,
It's a melody played in a penny arcade.

It's a Barnum and Bailey world,
Just as phony as it can be,
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believed in me.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Nat King Cole
Ella Fitzgerald
Tony Bennett
Coleman Hawkins

I'm an Errand Boy for Rhythm (Send Me)

By Nat King Cole
1945

Introduced in 1945 by the King Cole trio, this up-tempo jumper was actually penned by Nat King Cole himself. It's typical of the rhythm numbers the trio were known for, which also included "Straighten Up and Fly Right", among many others. It has often been covered by female singers as "I'm an Errand Girl for Rhythm".

Lyrics:

Here's something that I'd like to bring to you--
Wrapped all in cellophane, designed for you.
Tell ya what it's all about
It is, without a doubt
Swingin' the latest style
Service with a smile!

If you want to swing and shout
Get your kicks and get about
I'm an errand boy for rhythm--send me!

Lace your boots and follow thru
I'll deliver straight to you
I'm an errand boy for rhythm--send me!

You can always find me down at Smokey Joe's
That's the place where every gal and gator goes.
If you want variety,
Just step in and call for me
I'm an errand boy for rhythm--send me!

Recorded By:

John Pizzarelli
Diana Krall
Carmen McRae
Carol Sloane
Pamela Joy

That's All

By Alan Brandt & Bob Haymes
1952

A warm expression of love in humble, yet colorful terms, this song is a favorite particularly of jazz singers. Although Nat Cole introduced it in 1953, it was Bobby Darin's 1959 recording that became a big hit, and Darin's first stab at the American Songbook. The lyricist Bob Haymes was the younger brother of vocalist Dick Haymes.

Lyrics:

I can only give you love that lasts forever,
And a promise to be near each time you call.
And the only heart I own,
For you and you alone,
That's all,
That's all...

I can only give you country walks in springtime,
And a hand to hold when leaves begin to fall;
And a love whose burning light
Will warm the winter's night.
That's all,
That's all.

There are those, I am sure, who have told you,
They would give you the world for a toy.
All I have are these arms to enfold you,
And a love time can never destroy.

If you're wondering what I'm asking in return, dear,
You'll be glad to know that my demands are small.
Say it's me that you'll adore,
For now and evermore.
That's all,
That's all.

Recorded By:

Michael Buble
Mel Torme
Sam Cooke
Dorothy Dandridge
Connie Francis

A Blossom Fell

By Howard Barnes, Harold Cornelius & Dominic John
1954


Nat King Cole introduced this song, and it will forever be associated with him. Cole's recording was made in December 1954, and lasted for 20 weeks on Billboard charts, peaking at #2--and at the very moment when rock n' roll was first bursting on to the pop scene. This beautiful waltz can also be heard in Terrence Malick's 1963 film Badlands.

Lyrics:

A blossom fell
From off a tree.
It settled softly on the lips you turned to me.
The gypsies say,
And I know why,
A falling blossom only touches lips that lie.

A blossom fell,
And very soon,
I saw you kissing someone new beneath the moon.
I thought you loved me,
You said you loved me.
We planned together to dream forever.

The dream has ended,
For true love died
The night a blossom fell and touched two lips that lied

Recorded By:

Diana Krall
Jerry Vale
Ronnie Hilton
Dickie Valentine
Arlene Murray

Sweet Lorraine

By Cliff Burwell & Mitchell Parish
1928

Legend has it this song played a direct part in turning Nat Cole from a pianist to a singer, and earning him his famous nickname. A lover of the tune since he was a boy, when Cole--then strictly a piano player--was asked by a spectator to sing, he performed it, to everyone's amazement. Thus, a "King" was born. The song had originally been introduced a decade earlier by Rudy Vallee, but Cole would up scoring a much bigger hit with it.

Lyrics:

Just found joy,
I'm as happy as a baby boy
With another brand new choo-choo toy,
When I'm with my sweet Lorraine.

She's got a pair of eyes
That are brighter than the summer skies.
When you see them, you'll realize
Why I love my sweet Lorraine.

When it's raining, I don't miss the sun,
Because it's in my baby's smile.
And to think that I'm the lucky one
That will lead her down the aisle!

Each night I pray
That no one will steal her heart away.
I can't wait until that lucky day,
When I marry sweet Lorraine.

Recorded By:

Stephane Grappelli
Teddy Wilson
Marvin Gaye
Jimmie Noone
Frank Sinatra

(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66

By Bobby Troup
1946

A popular hit for Nat King Cole soon after its publication, the song was inspired by a trip the composer Troup made along the fabled roadway from Pennsylvania to California. Troup claimed that the catalog of town names that makes up so much of the song was put there mainly because of writer's block on his part when it came to lyrics. A very fun song.

Lyrics (complete lyrics recorded only in the Perry Como version):

Mister, you may have travelled near or far,
But you haven't seen the country,
'Till you've seen the country by car!
Mister, may I recommend a royal route?
It starts in Illinois, let me tell you boy!

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway, that's the best!
Get your kicks on Route 66!

It winds from Chicago to L.A.,
More than two thousand miles all the way!
Get your kicks on Route 66!

You go through St. Louis, Joplin, Missouri,
And Oklahoma City is a mighty purdy!
You'll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino!

Won't you get hip to this timely tip,
When you make that California trip?
Get your kicks on Route 66!

Springfield, Illinois, Springfield, Missouri too!
Seven states--count 'em, seven,
Spread out in front of you!

You'll like the aroma of Tulsa, Oklahoma,
Albuquerque and Tucumcari, make New Mexico extraordinary!
You'll wanna own a piece of Arizona,
Needles, Essex, Amboy, Azusa,
No one in sunny Cal is a loser.

So get hip to this timely tip,
When you make that California trip!
If any Joe tells you to go some other way,
Say nix!
Get your kicks on Route 66!

Recorded By:

Tierney Sutton
Chuck Berry
Perry Como
Bob Dylan
The Rolling Stones