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.
I'm A Fool To Want You
Helen Merrill Lyrics
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I'm a fool to want you
To want a love that can't be true
A love that's there for others too
I'm a fool to hold you
Such a fool to hold you
To seek a kiss not mine alone
Time and time again I said I'd leave you
Time and time again I went away
But then would come the time when I would need you
And once again these words I'd have to say
I'm a fool to want you
Pity me, I need you
I know it's wrong, it must be wrong
But right or wrong I can't get along
Without you
Time and time again I said I'd leave you
Time and time again I went away
But then would come the time when I would need you
And once again these words I'd have to say
Take me back, I love you
Pity me, I need you
I know it's wrong, it must be wrong
But right or wrong I can't get along
Without you
The song "I'm A Fool To Want You" by Helen Merrill is a poignant ballad expressing a sense of longing, vulnerability and desperation. The first stanza establishes the theme of the song where the singer says that they are a fool to want someone who cannot reciprocate their love. The second stanza goes on to describe the desire to hold and kiss this person, even though they know that their love is not exclusive. The third and final stanza is a plea to this person to take them back because they cannot live without them, even though they know that it is wrong.
The repetition of the phrase "I'm a fool to want you" throughout the song emphasizes how the singer feels about their situation. The song also portrays the idea that the singer knows they are making the wrong choice, but they cannot help themselves. The use of the phrases "Pity me, I need you" and "But right or wrong I can't get along without you" in the final stanza add to the sense of desperation and helplessness. This forms the climax of the song where the singer is begging for acceptance and love.
Overall, "I'm A Fool To Want You" portrays the heartache and agony of unrequited love. The song conveys the message that people often make foolish decisions in love, even though they know that it may not end well. It highlights the complicated nature of love, where we cannot help our feelings despite knowing the consequences.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm a fool to want you
I know it's foolish to want you
I'm a fool to want you
It's silly of me to desire you
To want a love that can't be true
To desire a love that is not genuine
A love that's there for others too
A love that is shared with others besides me
I'm a fool to hold you
I am foolish to keep holding onto you
Such a fool to hold you
I am incredibly foolish to keep holding onto you
To seek a kiss not mine alone
To desire a kiss that is not exclusively mine
To share a kiss the Devil has known
To share a sinful kiss that is known by the Devil
Time and time again I said I'd leave you
Repeatedly, I have claimed that I would leave you
Time and time again I went away
Time and time again, I left
But then would come the time when I would need you
However, there were times when I needed you
And once again these words I'd have to say
And once again, I would have to say these words
I'm a fool to want you
I know it's foolish to want you
Pity me, I need you
Have compassion for me because I need you
I know it's wrong, it must be wrong
I am aware that it is wrong, it has to be wrong
But right or wrong I can't get along
But regardless of whether it's right or wrong, I cannot get by
Without you
Without you in my life
Take me back, I love you
Please take me back, I still love you
Pity me, I need you
Have compassion for me, I still need you
I know it's wrong, it must be wrong
I understand that it is incorrect, it has to be incorrect
But right or wrong I can't get along
But regardless of whether it's right or wrong, I cannot manage without you
Without you
Without you in my life
Lyrics © ABRAMUS, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Frank Sinatra, Jack Wolf, Joel S. Herron
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alexander Hutton
Miss Merrill is inexplicable. One of the silkiest, most melodic and emotion-launching voices in the world of jazz. No wonder she is so loved across the world, but at times forgotten in her native USA. In my humble opinion, she is well-placed among the greatest jazz singers who ever lived.
Rodrigo Aravena
Beautiful voice and great recording...
Bsbos Mrmr
why can't we hear songs like this anymore😔
carmenelvira gnazzo
HERMOSO
子 保
ヘレン、メリル、これわ、、すごく、いいですね
Isabel Archer
Bellissima
Ιωαννης Μπαβας
Bravo 👏👏👏👏👏👏 utube come rain or come shine by John Bavas
Atok Suharto
😎❤👍🏻
LightsOutNorwood
My dad ownes this lp
子 保
やっぱり、ぐっと、きます、すばらしい