Mam'selle
Encyclopedia
"Mam'selle" is a bittersweet song about a rendez-vous with a "mam'selle" (mademoiselle
) in a small café. The music was written by Edmund Goulding
, the lyrics by Mack Gordon
.
The song originally appeared in the movie, "The Razor's Edge,"
with Tyrone Power
in 1947.
Five versions of the song became top ten hits in 1947
: by Art Lund
, by Dick Haymes
, by Frank Sinatra
, by Dennis Day
, and by The Pied Pipers
. Frankie Laine
had a hit jazz version, renowned for its vibe solo by Lou Singer.
The Art Lund
recording was recorded on February 20, 1947 and released by MGM Records
as catalog number
10011. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on April 11, 1947 and lasted 11 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.
The Dick Haymes
recording was recorded on March 6, 1947 and released by Decca Records
as catalog number 23861. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on April 25, 1947 and lasted 8 weeks on the chart, peaking at #4.
The Frank Sinatra
recording was recorded on March 11, 1947 and released by Columbia Records
as catalog number 37343. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on May 9, 1947 and lasted 4 weeks on the chart, peaking at #6.
The Dennis Day
recording was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-2211. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on April 25, 1947 and lasted 5 weeks on the chart, peaking at #8.
The Pied Pipers
recording was recorded on March 14, 1947 and released by Capitol Records
as catalog number 396. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on May 2, 1947 and lasted 4 weeks on the chart, peaking at #9.
The Frankie Laine
recording was recorded on March 28, 1947 and released by Mercury Records
as catalog number 5048.
Barbershop Harmony Society
2006 quartet champion Vocal Spectrum
recorded Tom Sando's arrangement of the song on their first CD.
Miss
Miss is an English language honorific traditionally used only for an unmarried woman . Originating in the 17th century, it is a contraction of mistress, which was used for all women. A period is not used to signify the contraction...
) in a small café. The music was written by Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding was a British film writer and director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 British made Paramount silent Three Live Ghosts alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. Also in the early 20s he wrote several screenplays for star Mae Murray and...
, the lyrics by Mack Gordon
Mack Gordon
Mack Gordon was an American composer and lyricist of songs for the stage and film. He was nominated for the best original song Oscar nine times, including six consecutive years between 1940 and 1945, and won the award once, for "You'll Never Know"...
.
The song originally appeared in the movie, "The Razor's Edge,"
The Razor's Edge (1946 film)
The Razor's Edge is the first film version of W. Somerset Maugham's 1944 novel. It was released in 1946 and stars Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, John Payne, Anne Baxter, Clifton Webb, Herbert Marshall, supporting cast Lucile Watson, Frank Latimore and Elsa Lanchester. Marshall plays Somerset Maugham....
with Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
in 1947.
Five versions of the song became top ten hits in 1947
1947 in music
-Events:*August 7 – Carlo Bergonzi makes his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème at the Arena Argentina in Catania.*October – Enrico De Angelis leaves Quartetto Cetra to join the army...
: by Art Lund
Art Lund
Art Lund was an American baritone singer, initially with bandleaders Benny Goodman and Harry James, and was also a television and stage actor.-Biography:...
, by Dick Haymes
Dick Haymes
Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
, by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, by Dennis Day
Dennis Day
Dennis Day born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty, was an Irish-American singer and radio, television and film personality.-Early life:...
, and by The Pied Pipers
The Pied Pipers
The Pied Pipers were a popular singing group in the late 1930s and 1940s. Originally they consisted of eight members who had belonged to three separate groups: Jo Stafford from The Stafford Sisters, and seven male singers: John Huddleston, Hal Hopper, Chuck Lowry, Bud Hervey, George Tait, Woody...
. Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
had a hit jazz version, renowned for its vibe solo by Lou Singer.
The Art Lund
Art Lund
Art Lund was an American baritone singer, initially with bandleaders Benny Goodman and Harry James, and was also a television and stage actor.-Biography:...
recording was recorded on February 20, 1947 and released by MGM Records
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
as catalog number
Catalog numbering systems for single records
This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...
10011. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on April 11, 1947 and lasted 11 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.
The Dick Haymes
Dick Haymes
Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
recording was recorded on March 6, 1947 and released by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
as catalog number 23861. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on April 25, 1947 and lasted 8 weeks on the chart, peaking at #4.
The Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
recording was recorded on March 11, 1947 and released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
as catalog number 37343. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on May 9, 1947 and lasted 4 weeks on the chart, peaking at #6.
The Dennis Day
Dennis Day
Dennis Day born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty, was an Irish-American singer and radio, television and film personality.-Early life:...
recording was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-2211. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on April 25, 1947 and lasted 5 weeks on the chart, peaking at #8.
The Pied Pipers
The Pied Pipers
The Pied Pipers were a popular singing group in the late 1930s and 1940s. Originally they consisted of eight members who had belonged to three separate groups: Jo Stafford from The Stafford Sisters, and seven male singers: John Huddleston, Hal Hopper, Chuck Lowry, Bud Hervey, George Tait, Woody...
recording was recorded on March 14, 1947 and released by Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
as catalog number 396. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on May 2, 1947 and lasted 4 weeks on the chart, peaking at #9.
The Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
recording was recorded on March 28, 1947 and released by Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
as catalog number 5048.
Barbershop Harmony Society
Barbershop Harmony Society
The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. , is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop music as an art form. Founded by Owen C...
2006 quartet champion Vocal Spectrum
Vocal Spectrum
Vocal Spectrum is a barbershop quartet from St. Charles, Missouri. In 2004, Vocal Spectrum won the Barbershop Harmony Society's International Collegiate Quartet Contest, and on July 8, 2006, they became International Champions, winning the society's International Quartet Contest...
recorded Tom Sando's arrangement of the song on their first CD.
Other Notable Recordings
- The Four FreshmenThe Four FreshmenThe Four Freshmen is a multiple Grammy-nominated American male vocal band quartet that blends open-harmony jazz arrangements with the big band vocal group sounds of The Modernaires , The Pied Pipers , and The Mel-Tones , founded in the barbershop tradition...
- Four Freshmen And Five Trombones (1955) - Johnny HartmanJohnny HartmanJohn Maurice Hartman was an American bass jazz singer who specialized in ballads and earned critical acclaim, though he was never widely known. He recorded a well-known collaboration with the saxophonist John Coltrane in 1963 called John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, and was briefly a member of...
- And I Thought About You (1959) - Dick HaymesDick HaymesRichard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
- The Very Best Of Dick Haymes (1997) - The Hi-Lo'sThe Hi-Lo'sThe Hi-Lo's were an a cappella quartet formed in 1953. The group's name is reportedly a reference to their extreme vocal and physical ranges .-History:The group consisted of Gene Puerling , Bob Strasen , Bob Morse...
- A Musical Thrill (2006)