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.
Through The Night
Gordon Jenkins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For I'm always so alone
Till the day draws to an end.
But when the sun goes down
And the moon comes through,
To the monotone of the evening's drone
I'm all alone with you.
I delight in your love,
All through the night, you're so close to me.
All through the night, from a height far above,
You and your love brings me ecstasy.
When dawn comes to waken me
You're never there at all.
I know you've forsaken me,
Till the shadows fall.
But then once again
I can dream,
I've the right
To be close to you
All through the night.
Gordon Jenkins's song "Through The Night" is a love song titled after the night, which is depicted as the singer's friend. The singer confesses that during the day, they are always alone, and their only company is the night. The night, in contrast, is their friend and confidante. The theme of loneliness is prevalent throughout the song, and the singer's only respite is the night when they can be alone with someone they love. The moonlight and the evening's monotone drone provide the perfect backdrop for the singer to be alone with their loved one.
The chorus of "Through The Night" declares that the singer takes delight in their love all through the night. They feel close to their loved one, and their love brings them ecstasy. However, as the dawn comes to waken the singer, their loved one is nowhere to be found. The singer feels forsaken until the shadows fall, and once again, they can dream of being close to their loved one all through the night. The song's lyrics seem to indicate that the singer is only in a dream-like state of happiness when they are with their loved one, and the rest of the time, they are alone and lonely.
Gordon Jenkins's "Through The Night" is a beautiful love song that explores the theme of loneliness, love, and the comfort of the night. It is a poignant reminder of the power of love to dispel loneliness and to bring happiness to our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
The day is my enemy, the night my friend,
I find days hard and nights easy since I'm mostly alone until day ends.
For I'm always so alone
I'm usually by myself.
Till the day draws to an end.
I only feel better when the sun goes down.
But when the sun goes down
However, things get better when daylight dwindles.
And the moon comes through,
When the night sky brightens up.
To the monotone of the evening's drone
I hear the calm, consistent background noise of the night.
I'm all alone with you.
Though I'm alone, I feel like I'm with you and we're experiencing it together.
All through the night,
Throughout the night,
I delight in your love,
I greatly enjoy your love and care.
All through the night, you're so close to me.
Even though I'm alone, I still feel close to you.
All through the night, from a height far above,
During the night, we reach such great heights together.
You and your love brings me ecstasy.
Your love fills me with great happiness.
When dawn comes to waken me
As the daylight approaches me in the morning,
You're never there at all.
You're not with me anymore.
I know you've forsaken me,
I'm aware that you're not there anymore.
Till the shadows fall.
Until night comes around again.
But then once again
But then during the night,
I can dream,
I can imagine,
I've the right
I have the entitlement
To be close to you
To feel near you and experience your love
All through the night.
Throughout the night.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: COLE PORTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@CarmenRojasMusica
Pura magia con la que deleitarse ❤❤❤
@AntonioPadilla-wj6gb
Que buena colección. Gracias Gustavo por compartir.
@Sewnknit
I used to have this album and always loved the music - so relaxing. Thanks for posting.
@reinaldomoralessabo4267
Simplesmente maravilhoso.
@WenceslauDaSilvaLauzinho
23:22- Exmo Sr. Gustavo, antes de tudo é meu desejo e Desejo-lhe que esteja e se encontre de perfeita saúde. Também estou agradecendo pela Sua edição de eleição do lançamento de fim de semana. Vou Seguramente escutar este, como já é habitual, no modo em que eu e minhacesposa temos feito. Exatamente também, como já temos feito com outros registros, em noites passadas, ou seja, deixo o Som audível suave junto da nossa cama deixando fluir o som pelo quarto, como tem sido hábito, num som de aconchego e neste aconchego acabamos por embalar navegando num sono de Paz, Tranquilo, de Relaxamento. E, certamente o Sentimento aflui e enquanto o coração está arrecadando estes Seus Talentos. Deixo aqui frisado que não os perca nesta aplicação no YouTube porque (abri mesmo no YouTube a Sua Subscrição com o tema "..Música do Pai com a Família...", espero que esta aplicação não me remova nenhum de todas as edições que até hoje tenho guardado. Porque não tenho disco rígido nem mesmo tenho computador, com a exceção e unicamente só,como já o expliquei o método que tenho feito. Entretanto,
Meu irmão deixo aqui gravado para Si Sr Gustavo Os nossos Desejos para ti e família um santo fim de semana e bem juntinhos de Deus ao Vosso redor. Que esteja tudo bem com o Sr Gustavo. Desde já agradeço retribuindo deste cantinho de Portugal para aí. Cumprimentos. WLau Pedro
@laurensanda4687
My favorite album of all time.
@russellgay9442
Simply Beautiful!
@MyTroubadour
Précisons que cet album est sorti en 1957. Gustavo Morales Battaglini, merci de nous le faire découvrir, car en France, c'est introuvable.
@gmoralesmx2
+Christian Jacq merci beaucoup, je suis content votre commentaire aime la France salutations du Mexique
@robertjones686
Thank you, have not heard this before.