Merrill's recording career has spanned six decades and she is popular with fans of jazz in Japan and Italy (where she lived for many years) as well as in her native United States. She has recorded and performed with some of the most notable figures in the American jazz scene.
Youth and early career in the states
Merrill was born in 1930 to Croatian immigrant parents. She began singing in jazz clubs in the Bronx at the age of fourteen. By the time she was sixteen, Merrill had taken up music full time. In 1952, Merrill made her recording debut when she was asked to sing "A Cigarette For Company" with the Earl Hines Band; the song was released on their Xanadu album. Etta Jones made her debut on the same album.
At this time she was married to musician Aaron Sachs. They divorced in 1956.
As a result of the exposure she received from "A Cigarette for Company" and two subsequent singles recorded for the Roost record label, Merrill was signed by Mercury Records for their new EmArcy label.
In 1954, Merrill recorded her first (and to date most acclaimed) LP, an eponymous record featuring legendary jazz trumpet player Clifford Brown and bassist/cellist Oscar Pettiford, among others. It was to be one of Brown's last recordings, as he was killed in a car accident just two years later. The album was produced and arranged by Quincy Jones, who was then just twenty-one years old. The success of Helen Merrill prompted Mercury to sign her for an additional four-album contract.
Merrill's follow-up to Helen Merrill was the 1956 LP, Dream of You, which was produced and arranged by bebop arranger and pianist Gil Evans. Evans' work on Dream of You was his first in many years. His arrangements on Merrill's laid the musical foundations for his work in following years with Miles Davis.
Success abroad
After recording sporadically through the late 1950s and 1960s, Merrill spent much of her time touring Europe, where she enjoyed more commercial success than she had in the United States. She settled for a time in Italy recording an album there, and doing live concerts with jazz notables Chet Baker, Romano Mussolini, and Stan Getz. Merrill returned to the U.S. in the 1960s, but moved to Japan in 1967 after touring there. Merrill developed a following in Japan that remains strong to this day. In addition to recording while in Japan, Merrill became involved in other aspects of the music industry, producing albums for Trio Records and hosting a show on a Tokyo radio station.
Later career
Merrill returned to the US in 1972 and has continued recording and regular touring since then. Her later career has seen her experiment in different music genres. She has recorded a bossa nova album, a Christmas album and a record's worth of Rodgers and Hammerstein, among many others.
Two albums from Merrill's later career have been tributes to past musical partners. In 1987, Merrill and Gil Evans recorded fresh arrangements of their classic Dream of You; the new recordings were released under the title Collaboration and became the most critically acclaimed of Merrill's albums in the 1980s.
In 1987 she co-produced a CD "Billy Eckstine sing with Benny Carter" and sing in duet with Mr.B two ballads.
In 1995 she recorded Brownie: Homage to Clifford Brown as a tribute to the late trumpeter.
One of Merrill's millennium released recordings draws from her Croatian heritage as well as her American upbringing. Jelena Ana Milcetic, a.k.a. Helen Merrill (2000), combines jazz, pop and blues songs with several traditional Croatian songs sung in Croatian.
Helen Merrill has been married three times, first to musician Aaron Sachs, second time to UPI vice president the late Donald J Brydon, and third to arranger-conductor the late Torrie Zito. She has one child, a son, Allan P Sachs, also a singer, who is professionally known as Alan Merrill.
After You Who?
Helen Merrill Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That at last you came my way,
There's no further use concealing
That I'm feeling far from gay,
For the rare allure about you
Makes me all the plainer see
How inane, how vain, how empty life without you would be.
Could supply my sky of blue?
After you, who
Could I love?
After you, why
Should I take the time to try,
For who else could qualify
After you, who?
Hold my hand and swear
You'll never cease to care,
For without you there what could I do?
I could search years
But who else could change my tears
Into laughter after you?
The lyrics of Helen Merrill's song 'After You Who?' describe the complex emotions that one may feel after falling in love with someone. The singer begins by acknowledging that she should feel joyful because the person she had been longing for has finally come into her life. But instead of being happy, she admits to feeling far from gay. The rare allure of this person makes her realize how empty and meaningless her life would be without them.
The singer then poses the question, "After you, who?" This question is a rhetorical question, as the answer for the singer is no one. No one else can supply the sky of blue for her, and no one else could be loved by her after the person she is singing about. She continues to ask why she should take the time to try with anybody else if this person is not in the picture. The singer wants the person to hold her hand and promises never to cease to care for her, and without them, she feels lost. The song concludes with the sentiment that although the singer might search for years, no one else could make her laugh like this person does or change her tears into laughter.
Line by Line Meaning
Though with joy I should be reeling
Even though I should be happy that you're finally here,
That at last you came my way,
And that you finally came to me,
There's no further use concealing
But I can't hide the fact
That I'm feeling far from gay,
That I'm not happy at all
For the rare allure about you
Because your rare charm and appeal
Makes me all the plainer see
Makes me realize even more
How inane, how vain, how empty life without you would be.
How dull, how pointless, how meaningless my life would be without you.
After you, who
Who else could take your place
Could supply my sky of blue?
Could bring color and happiness into my life?
After you, who
Who else could I turn to
Could I love?
Could I love in the same way?
After you, why
Why bother trying
Should I take the time to try,
To find someone else?
For who else could qualify
Who else could measure up to you
After you, who?
To be the one I need?
Hold my hand and swear
Promise me
You'll never cease to care,
That you'll always care for me
For without you there what could I do?
Because without you, I am lost
I could search years
I could spend years looking
But who else could change my tears
But who else could turn my tears
Into laughter after you?
Into laughter, like you do?
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: COLE PORTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@shotaaoyama4967
Though with joy I should be reeling
That at last you came my way,
There's no further use concealing
That I'm feeling far from gay,
For the rare allure about you
Makes me all the plainer see
How inane, how vain, how empty life without you would be.
After you, who
Could supply my sky of blue?
After you, who
Could I love?
After you, why
Should I take the time to try,
For who else could qualify
After you, who?
Hold my hand and swear
You'll never cease to care,
For without you there what could I do?
I could search years
But who else could change my tears
Into laughter after you?
@paulviardot4400
Interprétation tendre et sublime par Mme Helen Merrill.Orchestration de haut niveau !
Bravo Madame Merrill et merci Messieurs les musiciens !
@heidisavoie
Bless the uploader for listing the personnel. The inimitable accompaniment of Hank Jones!!!!!!
@kylofabian4579
A tip: watch series at Flixzone. Me and my gf have been using them for watching lots of of movies during the lockdown.
@prestonledger3807
@Kylo Fabian yea, I've been using Flixzone} for years myself :)
@paulviardot4400
Version sublime et Mme London est soutenue par des musiciens incomparables .
@onlyconnect6674
Perfect Pitch. Perfect voice.
@arlene1934corwin
Love you! Have been your fan since 1954. Then you disappeared. (Or did I). I still do your arrangement of "What's New". What a timbre! (Did I spell that right?). This "After You, Who" leaves me breathless.
@MrSontaran3
Such a beautiful rendition ;-D
@pamelaannfuller9410
Thank you Ms. Merrill. This is my favorite rendition of this song by a woman (I also love John Barrowman's...) i am very sorry to hear of the loss of your son, Allan Preston Sachs, due to complications from the COVID virus in 2020. Nobody expects to lose a child.
This son--"After You, Who"--could be a song I sung to my beloved mother. (She meant that much to me...) You are gorgeous...and I would LOVE to hear you in person at some Manhattan venue. Beautiful voice; beautiful face; beautiful person!! Best wishes and thank you for bringing so much happiness and joy to people like me with your music and beautiful singing.
@shotaaoyama4967
Though with joy I should be reeling
That at last you came my way,
There's no further use concealing
That I'm feeling far from gay,
For the rare allure about you
Makes me all the plainer see
How inane, how vain, how empty life without you would be.
After you, who
Could supply my sky of blue?
After you, who
Could I love?
After you, why
Should I take the time to try,
For who else could qualify
After you, who?
Hold my hand and swear
You'll never cease to care,
For without you there what could I do?
I could search years
But who else could change my tears
Into laughter after you?