Jim’s theme for today is "colors," so obviously we’re looking for names of colors in the title or lyrics. One thought I had was to use Chicago’s "Fancy Colours," from 1971’s Chicago III, but the song that kept coming back to me was "Deep Purple," which had been a hit for Nino Tempo and April Stevens in 1963 and Donny and Marie Osmond in 1975. Naturally, I figured if someone were to use the song, they’d use one of those versions, so I wanted to get something very few people would think of.
"Deep Purple" was written as an instrumental piece by pianist Peter DeRose, and when the song gained popularity, words were added by Mitchell Parrish in 1938. It was done by a number of Big Bands in the ’30’s through the ’50’s, including Paul Whiteman, Larry Clinton, Jimmy Dorsey, Guy Lombardo, Bing Crosby (with Matty Malneck & His Orchestra), and Artie Shaw. It was done many more times, but I decided to use the Jimmy Dorsey version, with Bob Eberly doing the vocal.
The lyrics, from AZLyrics:
Over sleepy garden walls
And the stars begin to flicker in the sky
Through the mist of a memory
You wander back to me
Breathing my name with a sigh
In the still of the night
Once again I’ll hold you tight
Though you’re gone your love lives on
When moonlight beams
And as long as my heart will beat
Love we’ll always meet
Here in my deep purple dreams
And as long as my heart will beat
Love we’ll always meet
Here in my deep purple dreams
And that’s Song Lyric Sunday (and Song of the Day) for February 7, 2021.
Great versions John. Nothing quite like the big band sound.
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There sure isn’t. I love it!
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Wonderful song – but I didn’t remember it until I heard Willow’s video of it. 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed it!
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There is something about this song that is so special, each arrangement has it own special merits.
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This is a great song, and I do remember this version. 🙂
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It’s great isn’t it 💜
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It’s a great song and no matter how you play it, it comes out beautiful (well, maybe not death metal…)
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Lol it might 🥺
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I love that big band sound!
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So do I. I’m crazy that way…
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Love this so much! 🙂
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It’s a nice arrangement, and Bob Eberly had a perfect voice for it.
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Nice share today. I love those horns.
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The big bands were fantastic, weren’t they? On our first Valentine’s day, Mary and I went to see Count Basie, whose special guest was Sarah Vaughan. Amazing…
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I bet! What a special treat.
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The lyrics to this are so lovely. It’s nice to listen to this music and remember all those old movies. Thanks John. Nice share today ☺️
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Thanks! I think Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell danced to this one. I saw the videos out there, if you want to search for them.
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Thanks John. Yes, those movies were a big thing in our house growing up ☺️
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So dreamy. Big bands really had it goin’ on! I can envision waltzing to this, in my satin gown; with my partner clad smartly in his tuxedo!
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You chose this too, if I remember correctly. It’s a great song regardless of who does it, but you know me…
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The group Deep Purple were named after this song.
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So I recall…
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Another family favorite of ours. We had the 45 version by Nino Tempo and April Stevens and we played it a lot. Great memory, John.
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They did a great version, and Donny and Marie Osmond’s was based on theirs. They did a pretty good one, too. It’s a classic…
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