Gordon Hill Jenkins (12 May 1910 – 1 May 1984) was an American arranger who… Read Full Bio ↴Gordon Hill Jenkins (12 May 1910 – 1 May 1984) was an American arranger who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements. Jenkins worked with the Andrews Sisters, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, among other singers.
Jenkins was born in Webster Groves, Missouri. He started his career doing arrangements for a St Louis radio station. He was then hired by Isham Jones, the director of a dance band known for its ensemble playing, and this gave Jenkins the opportunity to develop his skills in melodic scoring. He also conducted The Show Is On on Broadway.
After the Jones band broke up in 1936, Jenkins worked as a freelance arranger and songwriter, contributing to sessions by Isham Jones, Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Andre Kostelanetz, Lennie Hayton, and others. In 1938, Jenkins moved to Hollywood and worked for Paramount Pictures and NBC, and then became Dick Haymes' arranger for four years. In 1944, Jenkins had a hit song with "San Fernando Valley".
In 1945, Jenkins joined Decca Records. In 1947, he had his first million-seller with "Maybe You'll Be There" featuring vocalist Charles LaVere and in 1949 had a huge hit with Victor Young's film theme "My Foolish Heart", which was also a success for Billy Eckstine. At the same time, he regularly arranged for and conducted the orchestra for various Decca artists, including Dick Haymes ("Little White Lies", 1947), Ella Fitzgerald ("Happy Talk", 1949, "Black Coffee", 1949, "Baby", 1954), Patty Andrews of the Andrews Sisters ("I Can Dream, Can't I", 1949) and Louis Armstrong ("Blueberry Hill", 1949 and "When It's Sleepy Time Down South", 1951).
The liner notes to Verve Records' 2001 reissue of one of Jenkins' albums with Armstrong, Satchmo In Style, quote Decca's onetime A & R Director, Milt Gabler, saying that Jenkins "stood up on his little podium so that all the performers could see him conduct. But before he gave a downbeat, Gordon made a speech about how much he loved Louis and how this was the greatest moment in his life. And then he cried."
During this time, Jenkins also began recording and performing under his own name. One of his enduring works while at Decca was a pair of Broadway-style musical vignettes, "Manhattan Tower" and "California" which saw release several times (78s, 45s, and LP) in the '40s and '50s. The two were paired on a very early Decca LP in 1949), and Jenkins was given the Key to New York City by its mayor when Jenkins's orchestra performed the 16-minute suite on the Ed Sullivan show in the early '50s. In 1956, he expanded "Manhattan Tower" to almost three times its length, released it (this time on Capitol Records), and performed it on an hour-long television show. (Both versions of "Manhattan Tower" are currently available on CD.) Another of his long play album productions, "Seven Dreams" included a sequence which was the source for Johnny Cash's immensely popular recording, "Folsom Prison Blues".
He headlined New York's Capitol Theater between 1949 and 1951 and the Paramount Theater in 1952. He appeared in Las Vegas in 1953 and many times thereafter. He worked for NBC as a TV producer from 1955 to 1957, and performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 1964. By 1949, Jenkins was musical director at Decca, and he signed -- despite resistance from Decca's management -- the Weavers, a Greenwich Village folk ensemble that included Pete Seeger among its members. The combination of the Weavers' folk music with Jenkins' orchestral arrangements became immensely popular, to the surprise of everyone involved. Their most notable collaboration was a version of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" (1950) backed by Jenkins' adaptation of the Israeli folk song, "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena". Other notable songs they recorded together are "The Roving Kind", "On Top of Old Smokey" (1951), and "Wimoweh" (1952).
Jenkins later moved to Capitol Records where he worked with Frank Sinatra, notably on the albums Where Are You? (1957) and No One Cares (1959), and Nat King Cole, with whom he had his greatest successes; Jenkins was responsible for the lush arrangements on the 1957 album Love Is The Thing (Capitol's first stereo release, which included "When I Fall in Love", one of Cole's best-known recordings), as well as the albums The Very Thought of You (1958) and Where Did Everyone Go? (1963). Jenkins also wrote the music and lyrics for Judy Garland's 1959 album The Letter which also featured vocalist Charles LaVere, and conducted several of Garland's London concerts in the early 1960s.
Whilst most of Jenkins' arrangements at Capitol were in his distinctive string-laden style, he continued to demonstrate more versatility when required, particularly on albums such as A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra (1957), which opens with a swinging version of Jingle Bells, and Nat King Cole's album of spirituals, Every Time I Feel The Spirit (1958), which includes several tracks with a pronounced \textstyle\frac{2}{4} beat that might almost be described as rock.
However, as rock and roll gained ascendency in the 1960s, Jenkins' lush string arrangements fell out of favour and he worked only sporadically, though Sinatra, who had left Capitol to start his own label, Reprise Records, continued to call upon the arranger's services at various intervals over the next two decades, on albums such as All Alone (1962), the critically-acclaimed September of My Years (1965), for which Jenkins won a Grammy, Sinatra's 1973 comeback album, Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back and She Shot Me Down (1981) - regarded by many Sinatraphiles as the singer's last great work. Jenkins also worked with Harry Nilsson on A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973), a collection of pre-rock and roll standards. The Nilsson sessions, with Jenkins conducting, were recorded on video and later broadcast as a television special by the BBC.
Although best known as an arranger, Jenkins also wrote well-known several songs including "P.S. I Love You", "Goodbye" (Benny Goodman's sign-off tune), "Blue Prelude", "This Is All I Ask", "When a Woman Loves a Man" and "Future", composed music for Sinatra's 1979 concept album Trilogy.
Jenkins died in Malibu, California in 1984 at age 73 of Lou Gehrig's disease.
In November of 2005, Gordon's son Bruce (a sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle) published a biography titled "Goodbye". Other living relatives include nieces Phoebe Barnum and Leslie Mason.
Jenkins was born in Webster Groves, Missouri. He started his career doing arrangements for a St Louis radio station. He was then hired by Isham Jones, the director of a dance band known for its ensemble playing, and this gave Jenkins the opportunity to develop his skills in melodic scoring. He also conducted The Show Is On on Broadway.
After the Jones band broke up in 1936, Jenkins worked as a freelance arranger and songwriter, contributing to sessions by Isham Jones, Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Andre Kostelanetz, Lennie Hayton, and others. In 1938, Jenkins moved to Hollywood and worked for Paramount Pictures and NBC, and then became Dick Haymes' arranger for four years. In 1944, Jenkins had a hit song with "San Fernando Valley".
In 1945, Jenkins joined Decca Records. In 1947, he had his first million-seller with "Maybe You'll Be There" featuring vocalist Charles LaVere and in 1949 had a huge hit with Victor Young's film theme "My Foolish Heart", which was also a success for Billy Eckstine. At the same time, he regularly arranged for and conducted the orchestra for various Decca artists, including Dick Haymes ("Little White Lies", 1947), Ella Fitzgerald ("Happy Talk", 1949, "Black Coffee", 1949, "Baby", 1954), Patty Andrews of the Andrews Sisters ("I Can Dream, Can't I", 1949) and Louis Armstrong ("Blueberry Hill", 1949 and "When It's Sleepy Time Down South", 1951).
The liner notes to Verve Records' 2001 reissue of one of Jenkins' albums with Armstrong, Satchmo In Style, quote Decca's onetime A & R Director, Milt Gabler, saying that Jenkins "stood up on his little podium so that all the performers could see him conduct. But before he gave a downbeat, Gordon made a speech about how much he loved Louis and how this was the greatest moment in his life. And then he cried."
During this time, Jenkins also began recording and performing under his own name. One of his enduring works while at Decca was a pair of Broadway-style musical vignettes, "Manhattan Tower" and "California" which saw release several times (78s, 45s, and LP) in the '40s and '50s. The two were paired on a very early Decca LP in 1949), and Jenkins was given the Key to New York City by its mayor when Jenkins's orchestra performed the 16-minute suite on the Ed Sullivan show in the early '50s. In 1956, he expanded "Manhattan Tower" to almost three times its length, released it (this time on Capitol Records), and performed it on an hour-long television show. (Both versions of "Manhattan Tower" are currently available on CD.) Another of his long play album productions, "Seven Dreams" included a sequence which was the source for Johnny Cash's immensely popular recording, "Folsom Prison Blues".
He headlined New York's Capitol Theater between 1949 and 1951 and the Paramount Theater in 1952. He appeared in Las Vegas in 1953 and many times thereafter. He worked for NBC as a TV producer from 1955 to 1957, and performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 1964. By 1949, Jenkins was musical director at Decca, and he signed -- despite resistance from Decca's management -- the Weavers, a Greenwich Village folk ensemble that included Pete Seeger among its members. The combination of the Weavers' folk music with Jenkins' orchestral arrangements became immensely popular, to the surprise of everyone involved. Their most notable collaboration was a version of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" (1950) backed by Jenkins' adaptation of the Israeli folk song, "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena". Other notable songs they recorded together are "The Roving Kind", "On Top of Old Smokey" (1951), and "Wimoweh" (1952).
Jenkins later moved to Capitol Records where he worked with Frank Sinatra, notably on the albums Where Are You? (1957) and No One Cares (1959), and Nat King Cole, with whom he had his greatest successes; Jenkins was responsible for the lush arrangements on the 1957 album Love Is The Thing (Capitol's first stereo release, which included "When I Fall in Love", one of Cole's best-known recordings), as well as the albums The Very Thought of You (1958) and Where Did Everyone Go? (1963). Jenkins also wrote the music and lyrics for Judy Garland's 1959 album The Letter which also featured vocalist Charles LaVere, and conducted several of Garland's London concerts in the early 1960s.
Whilst most of Jenkins' arrangements at Capitol were in his distinctive string-laden style, he continued to demonstrate more versatility when required, particularly on albums such as A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra (1957), which opens with a swinging version of Jingle Bells, and Nat King Cole's album of spirituals, Every Time I Feel The Spirit (1958), which includes several tracks with a pronounced \textstyle\frac{2}{4} beat that might almost be described as rock.
However, as rock and roll gained ascendency in the 1960s, Jenkins' lush string arrangements fell out of favour and he worked only sporadically, though Sinatra, who had left Capitol to start his own label, Reprise Records, continued to call upon the arranger's services at various intervals over the next two decades, on albums such as All Alone (1962), the critically-acclaimed September of My Years (1965), for which Jenkins won a Grammy, Sinatra's 1973 comeback album, Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back and She Shot Me Down (1981) - regarded by many Sinatraphiles as the singer's last great work. Jenkins also worked with Harry Nilsson on A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night (1973), a collection of pre-rock and roll standards. The Nilsson sessions, with Jenkins conducting, were recorded on video and later broadcast as a television special by the BBC.
Although best known as an arranger, Jenkins also wrote well-known several songs including "P.S. I Love You", "Goodbye" (Benny Goodman's sign-off tune), "Blue Prelude", "This Is All I Ask", "When a Woman Loves a Man" and "Future", composed music for Sinatra's 1979 concept album Trilogy.
Jenkins died in Malibu, California in 1984 at age 73 of Lou Gehrig's disease.
In November of 2005, Gordon's son Bruce (a sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle) published a biography titled "Goodbye". Other living relatives include nieces Phoebe Barnum and Leslie Mason.
Blueberry Hill
Gordon Jenkins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill
On Blueberry Hill when I found you
The moon stood still on Blueberry Hill
And lingered until my dreams came true
The wind in the willow played
Love's sweet melody
But all of those vows we made
Were never to be
Though we're apart, you're part of me still
For you were my thrill on Blueberry Hill
(I found my thrill) Come climb the hill with me, baby
(On Blueberry Hill) We'll see what we shall see
(On Blueberry Hill) I'll bring my horn with me
(When I found you) I'll be wit' you where berries are blue
(The moon stood still) Each afternoon we'll go
(On Blueberry Hill) Higher than the moon we'll go
(And lingered until) Then, to a weddin' in June we'll go
(My dreams came true) Ba-ba-da-de-buzz-buzz va-de-n-da-day
The wind in the willow played (do you really love me)
Love's sweet melody (as I love you?)
But all of those vows we made (will you still remember)
Were never to be (when the night is through?)
Though we're apart, you're part of me still
For you were my thrill on Blueberry Hill
On Blueberry Hill when I found you
The moon stood still on Blueberry Hill
And lingered until my dreams came true
The wind in the willow played
Love's sweet melody
But all of those vows we made
Though we're apart, you're part of me still
For you were my thrill on Blueberry Hill
(I found my thrill) Come climb the hill with me, baby
(On Blueberry Hill) We'll see what we shall see
(On Blueberry Hill) I'll bring my horn with me
(When I found you) I'll be wit' you where berries are blue
(The moon stood still) Each afternoon we'll go
(On Blueberry Hill) Higher than the moon we'll go
(And lingered until) Then, to a weddin' in June we'll go
(My dreams came true) Ba-ba-da-de-buzz-buzz va-de-n-da-day
The wind in the willow played (do you really love me)
Love's sweet melody (as I love you?)
But all of those vows we made (will you still remember)
Were never to be (when the night is through?)
Though we're apart, you're part of me still
For you were my thrill on Blueberry Hill
The song "Blueberry Hill" begins by stating that the singer found his thrill on Blueberry Hill, specifically when he found the person he is about to sing to. The moon stood still on Blueberry Hill to allow his dreams to come true. The wind played in the willow, and the couple made vows to each other, however, they were never able to be fulfilled. Even though the couple is apart, the singer still holds his partner close to heart as Blueberry Hill holds a special meaning.
"Blueberry Hill" is a classic love song that talks about finding love in a special place that is close to one's heart. Even when the couple is apart, their special memories together still hold a place in the singer's heart. The lyrics paint a picture of a beautiful and serene scene that is completely focused on the love shared between two people.
Overall, the meaning of the song "Blueberry Hill" is centered around the idea of love, cherishing memories, and finding beauty in the simple things in life. It speaks to those who have felt a strong connection to a person and remembers those simple times with fondness.
Line by Line Meaning
I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill
I experienced excitement and pleasure while visiting Blueberry Hill
On Blueberry Hill when I found you
I found you while I was on Blueberry Hill
The moon stood still on Blueberry Hill
The moon appeared motionless in the sky while I was on Blueberry Hill
And lingered until my dreams came true
The moon remained in the sky until my hopes and desires were fulfilled
The wind in the willow played
The gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the willow tree
Love's sweet melody
The sound of love was like a beautiful song
But all of those vows we made
Despite our promises to one another
Were never to be
We were unable to keep our promises to each other
Though we're apart, you're part of me still
Even though we are separated, you will always be with me in my memories and emotions
For you were my thrill on Blueberry Hill
My excitement and pleasure on Blueberry Hill was because of you
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Al Lewis, Larry Stock, Vincent Rose
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
@davidtodora6173
One of Best renditions of Gordon Jenkins & Satchmo
@ajsmith5295
Elvis Presley's version brought me to fats Domino version which brought me to Louis Armstrong's version brilliant met the three of them rest in peace
@marysebicheronet9611
Toujours un grand plaisir d'écouter le Grand et l'unique Stachmo
@hansg.engleder3799
I love this piece of music history from all three of them, Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino and Elvis Presley. Since I love Blueberry’s, I will be releasing my instrumental cover version with harmonica and french horns on my channel in the next few days.
@fromthesidelines
Recorded on September 6, 1949.
@willieluncheonette5843
try Drayton 2's version for something different It's spouge music.