Tenderly
Jazz standard
title: "Tenderly" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1946-songs", "1940s-jazz-standards", "songs-with-lyrics-by-jack-lawrence", "jazz-compositions-in-e-flat-major", "rosemary-clooney-songs", "nat-king-cole-songs", "sarah-vaughan-songs", "song-recordings-arranged-by-nelson-riddle"] description: "Jazz standard" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenderly" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Jazz standard ::
"Tenderly" is a popular song published in 1946 with music by Walter Gross and lyrics by Jack Lawrence. Written in the key of E as a waltz in time, it has since been performed in and has become a popular jazz standard. Notable versions have been recorded by singers, such as Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Nat King Cole, and pianists, such as Art Tatum, Bill Evans and Peruchín.
"Tenderly" was first recorded by Brazilian singer and pianist Dick Farney on June 15, 1947. Described as "a lovely waltz melody", Farney's version was positively received upon release in July 1947. The second recording was made by Sarah Vaughan on July 2, 1947. Her version entered the charts on November 15 and reached number 27. It has been described as "a ravishing rendition". The next versions were recorded by the orchestras of Randy Brooks and Charlie Spivak later that year. Singer Clark Dennis recorded the song in 1948. Vaughan re-recorded the song for MGM in 1950.
The song has also become a Latin music standard—among the Cuban musicians that have made recordings are Vicentico Valdés, Mongo Santamaría, Bola de Nieve and Peruchín. The Brazilian Trio Surdina recorded a samba-inflected version in 1953, while Jerry González y Los Comandos de la Clave recorded a Latin jazz version in 2010.
Other versions
- Sarah Vaughan – (1947)
- Woody Herman – (1949)
- Rosemary Clooney – (1951)
- Art Tatum – The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces Vol. 3 (1953)
- Johnny Smith Quintet (featuring Stan Getz) – Jazz at NBC (1953), Moonlight in Vermont (1956)
- Chet Baker – Chet in Paris, Vol. 2: Everything Happens to Me (1955)
- Louis Armstrong with Ella Fitzgerald – Ella and Louis (1956)
- Duke Ellington with Jimmy Hamilton – Indigos (1957)
- Bill Evans – Everybody Digs Bill Evans (1959)
- Eric Dolphy – Far Cry (1960)
- Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass – Oscar Peterson et Joe Pass à Salle Pleyel (1975)
- George Benson – Tenderly (1989)
- Carmen McRae – Sarah: Dedicated to You (1991)
- Nat King Cole
- Bud Powell
- Luiz Bonfa, Brazil, January 2, 1963 Perry Como Show
References
References
- (19 July 1947). "Dick Farney". The Billboard.
- (2013). "Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings". Scarecrow Press.
- (2018). "Música cubana: La aguja en el surco". Ediciones Cubanas.
- (1997). "Cuban fire: musiques populaires d'expression cubaine". Outre Mesure.
- (2012). "The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire". Oxford University Press.
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