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 Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You
Helen Merrill Lyrics
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But I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you!
I thought at last I'd found you, but other lovers surround you
And "I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you!"
If you'd surrender just for a tender kiss or two
You might discover, that I'm the lover meant for you
And I'd be true, but what's the good of scheming
I know I must be dreaming
These lyrics from Helen Merrill's song "I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You" convey feelings of deep love and desire for someone who seems unattainable. The singer expresses their desperation for the love of this person, acknowledging that other people are in the picture and they feel like they don't have a chance. The lyrics suggest that the singer has been searching for someone like this for a long time and thought they had found them, but now they are feeling defeated.
The line "If you'd surrender just for a tender kiss or two, You might discover, that I'm the lover meant for you, And I'd be true" is particularly poignant as the singer is pleading for just a chance to prove themselves. They know that they could be the perfect match for this person, but it seems like they will never get the opportunity to show that. The final line, "but what's the good of scheming, I know I must be dreaming", suggests that the singer is coming to terms with the fact that their desires may never be fulfilled.
Line by Line Meaning
I need your love so badly, I love you, oh, so madly
I deeply crave your love and am completely enamored with you.
But I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you!
However, I am aware that the likelihood of us being together is extremely low.
I thought at last I'd found you, but other lovers surround you
I thought I had finally found my soulmate in you, but it seems you have many other romantic options.
And 'I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you!'
Thus, I feel that it is impossible for me to have a meaningful relationship with you.
If you'd surrender just for a tender kiss or two
Although, if you were to let your guard down and share a few tender moments with me,
You might discover, that I'm the lover meant for you
You may realize that I could be the perfect partner for you.
And I'd be true, but what's the good of scheming
I would be completely honest in my love for you, but there is no point in trying to deceive myself or manipulate the situation.
I know I must be dreaming
I am aware that my desires may not yet be reality and that this may be nothing more than a dream for me.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Bing Crosby, Ned Washington, Victor Popular Young
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind