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.
Any Place I Hang My Hat Is My Home
Helen Merrill Lyrics
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Howdy-do me, watch me smile
Fare-thee-well me after a while
'Cause I gotta roam
And any place I hang my hat is home
Sweetenin' water, cherry wine
Thank you kindly, suits me fine
That's my honeycomb
'Cause any place I hang my hat is home
Birds roostin' in a tree
Pick up and go, and the goin' proves
That's how it oughta be
I pick up too when the spirit moves me
(I go where it behoves me**)
Cross the river, 'round the bend
"Hello stranger!", "So long friend!"
There's a voice in the lonesome wind
That keeps whisp'ring, "Roam!"
I'm going where a welcome mat is
No matter where that is
'Cause any place I hang my hat is home
In Helen Merrill's song, "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is My Home," the lyrics describe a person who is free-spirited and constantly on the move. The singer tells us that she is free and easy, with a smile always on her face, bidding farewell to those she meets along the way. She sings about the places she has been and the things she has seen, from sweetening water to cherry wine, and mentions cities like Kansas City and Caroline that she considers her home. However, for the singer, home is not a physical place, but rather wherever she chooses to hang her hat. She speaks of the freedom to pick up and go when the spirit moves her, echoing the idea that the birds themselves roosting in a tree can fly away whenever they please. The lyrics of the song convey a sense of lightness and independence, where the singer's only commitment is to her own wanderlust.
The song's message is clear: the singer's home is wherever she chooses to be, free from attachments to a physical location or persons. Her seemingly carefree attitude towards life has appeal to many who can relate to her desire to be unencumbered and to go where life takes her. The lyrics also evoke a sense of longing - the loneliness of the open road and the need for a home wherever you go. The pull of life to explore is strong, but the heart needs to belong somewhere. The song's message is profound in its simplicity, as its lyrics allow for a wide range of personal interpretations on the meaning of home and the importance of travel.
Line by Line Meaning
Free and easy, that's my style
I like to live without any restrictions and easy going personality.
Howdy-do me, watch me smile
I greet everyone with a smile and a cheerful hello
Fare-thee-well me after a while
After a little bit of time, we may have to say goodbye to each other
'Cause I gotta roam
I always want to be on the move and explore new places
And any place I hang my hat is home
No matter where I go, that place becomes home to me as I can be myself wherever I am
Sweetenin' water, cherry wine
I am content with the simple things in life and can enjoy anything given to me
Thank you kindly, suits me fine
When someone is nice to me, I appreciate it greatly and feel content with what I have
Kansas City, Caroline
These places remind me of home and the comforts I find there
That's my honeycomb
Just like a bee finds its comfort in a honeycomb, these places make me feel warm and cozy
Birds roostin' in a tree
Nature lives free from chains, traveling wherever the wind takes them
Pick up and go, and the goin' proves
Moving around and exploring new places is the best way to learn and grow oneself
That's how it oughta be
In my opinion, everyone should be doing the same thing and exploring new places.
I pick up too when the spirit moves me
When my mood is right and my gut feeling is telling me to move, I pick up and go wherever my spirit is taking me.
Cross the river, 'round the bend
Traveling is not limited to only one region or area - one has to explore and see the world.
"Hello stranger!", "So long friend!"
Meeting new people and making new friends, as well as saying goodbye at the end of an adventure, is all part of the journey.
There's a voice in the lonesome wind
Even when no one is around, the wind is still blowing, and this voice is like a spirit guide, urging me to travel.
That keeps whisp'ring, "Roam!"
The voice and the wind are urging me to keep traveling and discovering new places.
I'm going where a welcome mat is
I feel welcome in any place I go, and my journey is to keep looking for that sense of welcome in new places.
No matter where that is
It does not matter where I go, as long as I feel welcome and happy.
'Cause any place I hang my hat is home
Wherever I go and set up camp, that spot becomes my home, because my spirit and my true self are there.
Lyrics © S.A. MUSIC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HAROLD ARLEN, JOHNNY MERCER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind