Richard A. Whiting, music · Johnny Mercer, lyrics · Introduced in the film Ready, Willing and Able, 1937
Too Marvelous for Words
Too Marvelous for Words is a 1937 song by Richard Whiting, with words by Johnny Mercer. Wini Shaw and Ross Alexander introduced it in the Warner Brothers film Ready, Willing and Able. You can hear it from Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Stan Getz and Art Tatum.
Listen in this order
The path starts with Bing Crosby's 1937 hit record, then follows the song through the King Cole Trio, a Stan Getz quartet, Oscar Peterson at the piano, Art Tatum alone and Billie Holiday with a small band. It ends with Frank Sinatra's orchestra record from 1956 and Ella Fitzgerald's Johnny Mercer album from 1964.
Bing Crosby with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra · 1937
Decca 78 rpm single
Johnny Mercer wrote the words for a 1937 Warner Brothers film, where Wini Shaw and Ross Alexander introduced the song. Bing Crosby recorded it with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra in Los Angeles on March 3, 1937, and Decca issued it as record 1185.
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Bing Crosby sings with the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra behind him. The record runs a little over three minutes, the length of one side of a 78 rpm disc.
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Play the first four of the , one per bar: , , Am7, D7. Smaller version: play only the root note of each chord, A then D. The chord names follow iReal Pro's chart in G; the record may sit in another .
The King Cole Trio recorded it at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles on April 11, 1946, for Capitol's transcription series. The trio made a second recording there on August 8, 1947.
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Nat King Cole sings and plays piano, with Oscar Moore on guitar and Johnny Miller on bass. The group is only those three players.
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Play the first eight of the , one per bar: , , Am7, D7, , , , . Smaller version: play only the first four bars.
Stan Getz recorded it in New York on January 6, 1950, with pianist Al Haig, bassist Tommy Potter and drummer Roy Haynes. Prestige issued it on record 729 in 1951 and later put it on the album Stan Getz Quartets.
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Stan Getz leads on tenor saxophone, with Al Haig's piano, Tommy Potter's bass and Roy Haynes's drums behind him. The track is about three minutes long.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 8 of the , one per bar: , , Am7, D7, , , , . Smaller version: play only the root note of each chord.
Oscar Peterson recorded it in Los Angeles on February 26, 1952, with guitarist Barney Kessel and bassist Ray Brown. It came out in 1956 on Verve's album The Vocal Styling of Oscar Peterson.
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Oscar Peterson sings the song himself and plays the piano, with Barney Kessel's guitar and Ray Brown's bass beside him. The track runs under three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 8 of the , one per bar: , , Am7, D7, , , , . Smaller version: play only the root note of each chord.
Art Tatum recorded it alone at the piano in Hollywood for producer Norman Granz, in the solo sessions that began in December 1953. It is the tenth track on the album now called The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 1.
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Art Tatum plays alone at the piano, with no other musician. The whole track lasts just under three minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play the first four of the on piano, one per bar: , , Am7, D7. Smaller version: play only the lowest note of each chord with your left hand.
Billie Holiday recorded it in Los Angeles on September 3, 1954, with Harry Edison, Willie Smith and Barney Kessel among the band. Clef released it in 1956 on the album Lady Sings the Blues.
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Billie Holiday sings with a band that includes Harry Edison on trumpet and Willie Smith on alto saxophone, plus piano, guitar, bass and drums. The track runs just over two minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 8 of the , one per bar: , , Am7, D7, , , , . Smaller version: play only the first four bars.
Frank Sinatra recorded it with Nelson Riddle's arrangement on January 16, 1956, in Capitol's Studio A in Hollywood. Capitol released it that March as the fifth track on Songs for Swingin' Lovers!
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Frank Sinatra sings in front of Nelson Riddle's orchestra. The whole record lasts about two and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 8 of the , one per bar: , , Am7, D7, , , , . Smaller version: play only the first four bars.
Ella Fitzgerald recorded it with Nelson Riddle's orchestra in Los Angeles in October 1964, for an album of songs by lyricist Johnny Mercer. It was the last of her Song Book albums for Verve.
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Ella Fitzgerald sings with Nelson Riddle's orchestra on an album built entirely from Johnny Mercer's songs. The track runs about two and a half minutes.
Try it on your instrument
Play 1 to 8 of the , one per bar: , , Am7, D7, , , , . Smaller version: play only the first four bars.
Richard Whiting and Johnny Mercer write the song for the 1937 film Ready, Willing and Able, where Wini Shaw and Ross Alexander introduce it. Bing Crosby records it with Jimmy Dorsey's orchestra in Los Angeles in March 1937.
1940s
The King Cole Trio records it at Radio Recorders in Los Angeles in April 1946 and again in August 1947, with Nat King Cole singing and playing piano.
1950s
Stan Getz's quartet records it in 1950, and Oscar Peterson sings it in 1952. Art Tatum plays it alone, Billie Holiday records it in 1954, and Frank Sinatra records it with Nelson Riddle in 1956.
1960s
Ella Fitzgerald records it in October 1964 with Nelson Riddle's orchestra, for her Johnny Mercer Song Book album on Verve.
1970s
Johnny Mercer, who wrote the words, sings it himself in London in early 1974, on an album of his own songs for Pye Records.
1990s
Guitarist Earl Klugh plays it on acoustic guitar with bassist Ralphe Armstrong and drummer Gene Dunlap, on the 1991 album The Earl Klugh Trio, Volume One.
2000s
Eliane Elias sings it on her 2008 album Bossa Nova Stories. Diana Krall records it for Quiet Nights, which Verve releases in March 2009.
More great versions
5 more, from 1949 to 2009. Tap a cover to play it here.
“Too Marvelous for Words (Master Take)”, Verve Jazz Masters 30: Lester Young
Lester Young recorded it for Norman Granz with a quartet of Hank Jones, Ray Brown and Buddy Rich. Verve later issued both a 78 rpm take and an LP take.
“Too Marvelous For Words”, ...My Huckleberry Friend: Johnny Mercer Sings the Songs of Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer, who wrote the words, sang the song himself in London in early 1974. It is on his album of his own songs for Pye Records, produced by Ken Barnes.
Guitarist Earl Klugh plays it on acoustic guitar with bassist Ralphe Armstrong and drummer Gene Dunlap, on the 1991 album The Earl Klugh Trio, Volume One.
Diana Krall sings and plays piano on this track from Quiet Nights, which Verve released on March 31, 2009. Claus Ogerman is credited with the arrangements and conducting for the album.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
Show the form and chords
How the tune works
G majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
G major → B major → C major → G majorkey centers
A8 bars
A8 bars
B8 bars · bridge
A8 bars
G
B
C
G
The tune is 32 : three of eight bars around an eight-bar . In iReal Pro's chart the first A plays , , Am7 and D7, then , , and in bars 5 to 8. The second A repeats those first six bars, then moves to for and in bars 15 and 16. The B section, bars 17 to 24, plays , , Dm7 and G7, then , , Em7 and Am7 D7, which settles in for six bars before turning back toward G. The last A, bars 25 to 32, plays Am7, D7, Gmaj7 F7, , Am7, F7, Am7 D7 and . The areas above are a reading of iReal Pro's chart, and other lead sheets may spell some differently.