Whispering (song)

"Whispering"
Illustration by Wesley Raymond De Lappe (1887–1952)
Sheet music Popular music
Published	1920
Label	Sherman, Clay & Co.
Composer(s)	Vincent Rose
Lyricist(s)	John Schonberger & Richard Coburn

"Whispering" is a popular song by lyricists John Schonberger (1892–1983) and Richard Coburn (pseudonym of Frank Reginald DeLong; 1886–1952) and composer Vincent Rose. "Whispering" was first published in 1920 by Sherman, Clay & Co., of San Francisco. The initial 1920 copyright and first publishing attributes the lyrics to Malvin Schonberger and the music to John Schonberger.^[1]

Initial and enduring popularity

"Whispering" was most famously recorded by Paul Whiteman and his Ambassador Orchestra on August 23, 1920, for Victor.^[2] Whiteman — Denver-born, ex-army, and self-acclaimed "King of Jazz"^[3] — flourished in popularity from a series of hits beginning in 1920 with his release of "Whispering", an eleven-week U.S. No. 1 hit, which stayed 20 weeks in the charts and sold in excess of two million copies.^[4]

The song charted twice in the nineteen-sixties. In 1963, Irish singers the Bachelors had a hit with their version which went to the Top 20 in the UK. In 1964, after recording their hit "Deep Purple", American brother and sister singers Nino Tempo and April Stevens had a new hit with "Whispers". This version went to number eleven on the Hot 100 and number four on the Easy Listening chart.^[5]

According to Allmusic, there have been over 700 versions of the song.^[6] As of 2010, on the online music site www.lala.com, there were 161 listed albums or singles containing the song "Whispering". As of 2014, TJD Online, the online version of The Jazz Discography, listed 225 recording sessions, beginning with Ray Miller and his Black and White Melody Boys, who recorded it on about July 16, 1920, Okeh 4167-A. Also, as of 2014, TJD Online listed 281 recording sessions of Dizzy Gillespie's composition, "Groovin' High", a contrafact variation of "Whispering".

Compositional structure

"Whispering", originally scored in E ♭ major, is in 4
4 time. It has a 12-bar intro, the last 4 of which is an optional vamp — then a 16-bar A-theme is followed by a 32-bar repeated chorus. The 32 bars is essentially a 16-bar B-theme played twice — or 4 times with the repeat.

Dizzy's 1945 composition, "Groovin' High", is a contrafact of "Whispering". Following a standard practice in jazz, Diz front-ran the static V⁷ chords with ii⁷ chords (a "static chord" is a chord that doesn't change), setting up a series of ii⁷–V⁷ progressions, which creates more structure for improvising. The ii⁷ chord has similar properties to a iv chord (as in the iv–V progression of church harmony).^[7] Because "Groovin' High" was a contrafact, performers, publishers, and record companies did not have to pay royalties to the original composers. Moreover, the contrafacted rendition followed a unified bebop convention — a series of ii⁷–V⁷ chord changes with a ii⁷–V⁷–I⁷ turnaround — for jazz artists.

Selected discography

1920 release of "Whispering" by Paul Whiteman and His Ambassador Orchestra, Victor 18690A. 1998 Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.

Selected filmography

• 1941: Ziegfeld Girl, sung by a male trio
• 1944: Greenwich Village, starring Don Ameche, sung by Vivian Blaine
• 1945: The Clock, sung by a chorus
• 1952: Belles on Their Toes
• 1956: The Eddy Duchin Story, performed by Carmen Cavallaro

Accolades

• 1972: Music Hall of Fame inducted "Whispering" as one of the 10 historic songs.^[9]

See also

• Frank Sinatra & the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (album), recorded 1940 (audio)

The Song Is You (album), recorded 1940

• The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings (album), recorded 1935–1939
• Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson (album), recorded 1986
• Chet Atkins' Workshop (album), recorded 1960
• Not Necessarily Acoustic (album), recorded 1994
• Pop + Jazz = Swing (album), recorded 1962
• Accentuate the Positive (album), recorded 2004
• "Cherchez La Femme", song variation of "Whispering"
• West Coast Live, Chet Baker & Stan Getz, recorded 1953
• "Groovin' High", jazz standard based on the chord changes of "Whispering" (audio)
• The Bachelors and 16 Great Songs, recorded 1964

Copyrights

Inset photo: John Steel
(image courtesy of the UCLA Archive of Popular American Music)

^[10]

• Sherman, Clay & Co., San Francisco

Lyrics by Malvin Schonberger, music by John Schonberger

© July 22, 1920; 2nd copy July 27, 1920, Class E 486556, Sherman, Clay & Co., San Francisco^{[lower-roman 1]}

© Renewal 21201 July 22, 1947, by John Schonberger & Malvin Schonberger^{[lower-roman 2]}

© Renewal 25563 July 28, 1947, by John Schonberger, Amelia Rose (widow of Vincent Rose), and Richard Coburn^{[lower-roman 2]}

© Assigned to Miller Music Corporation July 28, 1947, by Richard Coburn and Amelia Rose (widow of the late Vincent Rose)^{[lower-roman 2]}

© Claimed by Fred Fisher Music Co. to acquired the rights from John Schonberger in 1938; claim was litigated in U.S. District Court, New York^[11]

Notes:

The July 22, 1947, renewal attributes the music to John Schonberger and the lyrics to Malvin Schonberger^{[lower-roman 2]}

The July 27, 1947, renewal attributes the music to John Schonberger and Vincent Rose and the lyrics to Richard Coburn^{[lower-roman 2]}

References

Catalog of Copyright Entries, Library of Congress, Copyright Office

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Inline citations