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.
This Time the Dream's on Me
Helen Merrill Lyrics
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We'll be close together, wait and see
Oh, by the way, this time the dream's on me
You'll take my hand
And you'll look at me adoringly
But as things stand, this time the dream's on me
To know that I at least supply the shoulder you cry upon
To see you through till you're everything you want to be
It can't be true, but this time the dream's on me
The song "This Time the Dream's on Me" by Helen Merrill tells the story of someone waiting for a long distance lover to return. The feeling of longing and anticipation is palpable in the lyrics. The opening line "Somewhere, someday, we'll be close together, wait and see" suggests that the singer is hopeful that they will one day be reunited with their loved one.
Line by Line Meaning
Somewhere, someday
At some point in the future, we will be together in a specific location.
We'll be close together, wait and see
We will be in close proximity at some point, and we just have to wait until the time is right.
Oh, by the way, this time the dream's on me
I will take responsibility for making our dream a reality this time around.
You'll take my hand
You will hold my hand when we are together.
And you'll look at me adoringly
You will gaze at me affectionately.
But as things stand, this time the dream's on me
It is up to me to make our dream come true because the situation is not currently in your control.
It would be fun to be certain that I'm the one
It would be enjoyable to have assurance that I am the person you choose.
To know that I at least supply the shoulder you cry upon
I want to be the one who supports you emotionally when you need someone to lean on.
To see you through till you're everything you want to be
I want to help you achieve your goals and be the person you aspire to become.
It can't be true, but this time the dream's on me
Even though the situation seems unlikely, I am still determined to take charge of making our dream a reality this time.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HAROLD ARLEN, JOHNNY MERCER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind