Angel Eyes (1946 song)

"Angel Eyes" is a 1946 popular song composed by Matt Dennis, with lyrics by Earl Brent. It was introduced in the 1953 film Jennifer. In the film, Matt Dennis sings the song and accompanies himself on piano, while Ida Lupino and Howard Duff among others are dancing to it.^[1]

Composition

 

"Angel Eyes" is a jazz standard which has inspired many interpretations. Many singers have recorded versions of the song, including Nat King Cole (already in 1953), Frank Sinatra, June Christy with Stan Kenton, Chet Baker, Shirley Bassey, Neil Sedaka, Willie Nelson with Ray Charles, and Sting. Ella Fitzgerald, who recorded "Angel Eyes" at least four times, named it her favorite song.^[2] Instrumental versions were recorded not as often as vocal takes, by the likes of Benny Carter, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Brubeck, Kenny Burrell, Joe Albany, and more recently by McCoy Tyner, Gary Thomas and Joe Lovano.

Selected recorded versions

Performer	Album	Year	Source
Karrin Allyson	In Blue	2002	^[3]
Gene Ammons	Angel Eyes	1960	^[4]
Ernestine Anderson	Ernestine Anderson Swings the Penthouse	2015	^[5]
Chet Baker with Len Mercer and His Orchestra	Chet Baker with Fifty Italian Strings	1960	^[6]
Shirley Bassey	Shirley Bassey	1961	^[7]
Cheryl Bentyne and Rob Wasserman	Duets	1988	^[8]
James Booker	Classified	1982	^[9]
Dee Dee Bridgewater	Keeping Tradition	1993
The Dave Brubeck Quartet	Angel Eyes	1966	^[10]
Ray Bryant	Ray Bryant Trio	1957
Kenny Burrell	Blues – The Common Ground	1968
Royce Campbell	Trioing	2002
Benny Carter	Cosmopolite	1954	^[3]
June Christy	Impromptu	1977
Nat King Cole with Billy May and His Orchestra	single	1953	^[11]
Chris Connor	Chris in Person	1959	^[12]
Hank Crawford	More Soul	1961	^[13]
Sonny Criss	Saturday Morning	1975	^[3]
Matt Dennis	Matt Dennis Plays and Sings Matt Dennis	1954	^[3]
Paul Desmond	Glad to Be Unhappy	1965
Ray Draper with John Coltrane	A Tuba Jazz	1959	^[14]
Kat Edmonson	Take to the Sky	2009
Eliane Elias	Love Stories	2019	^[15]
Ella Fitzgerald	Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert	1958	^[3]
Roberta Flack	Roberta	1994
Fonseca	Sinfónico	2014
The Four Freshmen	Four Freshmen and 5 Trombones	1955	^[16]
Earl Grant	Beyond the Reef	1962
Jim Hall	Jim Hall Live!	1975
Jack Jones	Wives and Lovers	1959	^[17]
Stan Kenton and June Christy	Road Show	1959
Moe Koffman	Devil's Brew	1996
k.d. lang	We All Love Ella: Celebrating the First Lady of Song	2007
Yusef Lateef	The Dreamer	1959
Joe Lovano	Rush Hour	1994	^[3]
Barry Manilow	Manilow Sings Sinatra	1998
Wynton Marsalis with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers	Wynton Marsalis' First Recordings	1980	^[18]
Johnny Mathis	Johnny Mathis	1956
Mina Mazzini	Mina	1964
Carmen McRae	Book of Ballads	1960
Helen Merrill with Gary Peacock Trio	Sposin'	1971	^[19]
The Modern Jazz Quartet	Fontessa	1956	^[20]
Mark Murphy	Rah!	1961
Willie Nelson	American Classic	2009
Willie Nelson with Ray Charles	Angel Eyes	1984	^[21]
Phineas Newborn Jr.	Phineas' Rainbow	1957	^[22]
Anita O'Day	Waiter, Make Mine Blues	1960	^[23]
Duke Pearson	Angel Eyes	1968	^[24]
Oscar Peterson	Pastel Moods	1956	^[25]
Sue Raney	Breathless!	1997
Jimmy Scott	All the Way	1992	^[26]
Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band	Afro-Cuban Dream: Live & In Clave	2000
Neil Sedaka	Circulate	1961
George Shearing	Favorite Things	1997	^[27]
Frank Sinatra	Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely	1958	^[3]
Kandace Springs with Norah Jones	The Women Who Raised Me	2020	^[28]
Sting	Leaving Las Vegas	1995	^[29]
Gary Thomas	Till We Have Faces	1992
Bob Thompson	Just for Kicks	1959	^[30]
Rebecka Törnqvist	A Night Like This	1993
McCoy Tyner	The Turning Point	1991	^[3]
Nancy Wilson	Welcome to My Love	1968

References

1. Jennifer (1953) on YouTube, the song fades in during the previous sequence, before the actual ballroom scene.
2. "Angel Eyes" – Steyn's Song of the Week, February 9, 2014.
3. Gioia, Ted (2012). The Jazz Standards. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-0-19-993739-4.
4. Yanow, Scott. "Angel Eyes – Gene Ammons". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
5. Anderson, Ernestine (primary artist, vocals) (2015) [Recorded 7 February 1962]. Ernestine Anderson Swings the Penthouse (CD). United States: HighNote Records. HCD 7273.
6. Chet Baker with Fifty Italian Strings at Discogs (list of releases)
7. Eder, Bruce. "Shirley Bassey – Shirley Bassey". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
8. Wynn, Ron. "Duets – Rob Wasserman". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
9. Classified at Discogs
10. Yanow, Scott. "Angel Eyes – Dave Brubeck". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
11. "Angel Eyes" at Discogs
12. Chris in Person at Discogs (list of releases)
13. More Soul at Discogs (list of releases)
14. A Tuba Jazz at Discogs
15. Collar, Matt. "Love Stories – Eliane Elias | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
16. Unterberger, Richie. "Four Freshmen and Five Trombones". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
17. Wives and Lovers at Discogs (list of releases)
18. Wynton Marsalis' First Recordings at Discogs. One of the several unofficial releases in 1983.
19. Sposin' at Discogs (list of releases)
20. Fontessa at Discogs (list of releases)
21. Chrispell, James. "Angel Eyes – Willie Nelson". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
22. Phineas' Rainbow at Discogs (list of releases)
23. Ankeny, Jason. "Waiter, Make Mine Blues – Anita O'Day". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
24. Angel Eyes at Discogs (list of releases)
25. Pastel Moods at Discogs
26. All the Way at Discogs (list of releases)
27. Favorite Things at Discogs (list of releases)
28. The Women Who Raised Me at Discogs (list of releases)
29. Ruhlmann, William. "Leaving Las Vegas". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
30. Just for Kicks at Discogs (list of releases)