“...tenor saxophonist Bennie Wallace seems able to reference a panoply of jazz legends in his playing ... This is a fantastic, underrecognized album.” - Andrew Bartlett

AKA Music from Beyond the Moon Rank 97 Words and Music Guy Wood Robert Mellin   In the liner notes for Ella Swings Gently with Nelson, jazz critic Benny Green comments, “’My One and Only Love’ is one of the most finely wrought ballads to be written in the postwar period.” While many would agree with Green now, the song was far from an instant hit. The song originated in 1947 as “Music from Beyond the Moon,” with music by Guy B. Wood and lyrics by Jack Lawrence. In 1948 Vic Damone recorded the song as did Tony Martin the following year, but neither could generate a hit.     More on Guy Wood       More on Jack Lawrence   And then Robert Mellin appeared on the scene. Mellin fit the ballad with a new set of lyrics, and the public took notice. The song was included on the flip side of Frank Sinatra’s 1953 recording of “I’ve Got the World on a String” and rose to number 28 on the charts.     More on Robert Mellin       More on Frank Sinatra     Chart information used by permission from Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954

- Jeremy Wilson

This section suggests definitive or otherwise significant recordings that will help jazz students get acquainted with “My One and Only Love.” These recordings have been selected from the Jazz History and CD Recommendations sections.

---

The discussion of definitive versions of “My One and Only Love” (John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman) begins and ends with John Coltrane’s version featuring the vocals of Johnny Hartman. We get to hear both vocal and instrumental renditions of the melody in this performance, and both the singing and playing are masterful and widely influential.

Noah Baerman - Jazz Pianist and Educator

Following the song’s A1-A2-B-A3 format, Lawrence’s lyrics for the first A section start and end with, “You came along and filled my empty arms … Music from beyond the moon.” Robert Mellin matches that with “The very thought of you makes my heart sing … My one and only love.” Lawrence’s lyrics have seven syllables as opposed to the six in Mellin’s “My One and Only Love.” Lawrence fits in his extra syllable by shoehorning “from” into the same space as the “be” part of “beyond.” For those who would like to hear the original “Music from Beyond the Moon,” it can be found on Vic Damone’s CD’s Again, Young Vic and Cocktail Hour.

-JW

Musical analysis of “My One and Only Love”
Original Key	C Major; false key change to E minor during the bridge
Form	A1 - A2 – B – A3
Tonality	“A” is primarily major; “B” is minor
Movement	Generally upward by steps, occasional skips, and an occasional leap; descent is by step, skip and leap. It’s a fairly busy melody with few sustained or long pitches.
Comments     (assumed background)
Descending bass makes for a nice contrast with the ascending melodic line and creates interesting chord inversions. Initial chord progression is common, I – II7 – V7, but the descending bass and embellishing chords give it a sophisticated sound. Generally, the “A” is extremely active both melodically (mainly eighth notes jumping everywhere) and harmonically (a chord change every two beats and sometimes on every beat due to the bass movement.) After this, the relative simplicity of “B” with its repetition and repeated motivic figures is a relief giving the performer a chance to catch his/her breath before returning to “A”.
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com

Tenor saxophonist Charlie Ventura came to prominence with Gene Krupa’s Orchestra. His 1953 recording of “My One and Only Love” is a marvelous treatment of the tune and the first instrumental jazz treatment.

A year later, Benny Carter, the multi-talented Swing-era icon, recorded a beautiful, lyrical version on alto saxophone. Carter was an amazing musician who weathered the stylistic changes in jazz, and his career continued unabated until his death in 2003 at age 94.

In 1955, ex-Lionel Hampton trombonist Jimmy Cleveland’s first album as leader contained a first-rate rendition of the number, plus wonderful tenor saxophone by Lucky Thompson.

Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian

---

benny carter 3, 4, 5: the verve small group sessions polygram records Charlie Ventura 1951-1953 Classics 1363 Jimmy Cleveland Introducing Jimmy Cleveland Polygram Records 543752

“My One and Only Love” was included in these films:

---

• They All Laughed (1981, Art Tatum and Ben Webster)
• Let’s Get Lost (1988, Chet Baker) documentary of Baker
• Leaving Las Vegas (1995, Sting)

Comment Policy Your comments are welcome, including why you like this tune, any musical challenges it presents, or additional background information. Jazz musicians, fans, and students of all ages use this website as an educational resource. As such, off-topic, off-color, unduly negative, and patently promotional comments will be removed. Once submitted, all comments become property of JazzStandards.com. By posting, you give JazzStandards.com permission to republish or otherwise distribute your comments in any format or other medium. JazzStandards.com reserves the right to edit or remove any comments at its sole discretion.