Tenderly (song)

"Tenderly" is a popular song published in 1946 with music by Walter Gross and lyrics by Jack Lawrence. Copyright 1946 by Edwin H. Morris & Company, Inc. Originally written in the key of Eb as a waltz in 3/4 time, it has since been performed in 4/4 and has subsequently become a popular jazz standard.

Early recordings were by Sarah Vaughan, who recorded the song in 1946 and had a US pop hit with it in 1947; and the Brazilian crooner and pianist Dick Farney (Farnésio Dutra e Silva) who recorded the song in 1947. Since then, "Tenderly" has been recorded by many artists, but perhaps the best-known version was by Rosemary Clooney. Clooney's recorded version reached only #17 on the Billboard magazine pop charts in early 1952, but it is more popular than the chart data would suggest, as is evidenced by the fact that Tenderly served as the theme song for Clooney's 1956-1957 TV variety show. The song featured in the 1953 film Torch Song.

Randy Brooks, trumpeter and leader of the top rated Randy Brooks Band, may be best known for their rendition of Tenderly as a most requested song of 1947.

A 1953/54 version of Eddie Cochran was released in 1997 on the album Rockin' It Country Style.

Recorded versions

 * Dick Farney
 * Gabriel Alves
 * Ray Anthony
 * Louis Armstrong
 * Chet Atkins
 * Chet Baker
 * Tex Beneke
 * Tony Bennett
 * George Benson
 * Stanley Black
 * Pat Boone on his Dot Records album Tenderly (1959)
 * Lenny Breau
 * Les Brown and his Band of Renown
 * Clifford Brown
 * Royce Campbell
 * Benny Carter
 * Jim Cassidy
 * Rosemary Clooney
 * Eddie Cochran
 * Nat King Cole
 * Natalie Cole
 * Vic Damone
 * Miles Davis
 * Buddy DeFranco
 * Johnny Desmond
 * Eric Dolphy
 * Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem
 * Billy Eckstine
 * Duke Ellington
 * Percy Faith
 * Ella Fitzgerald on her Verve Records album Ella and Louis (1956) and on her Verve album Hello, Love (1960)
 * Sergio Franchi on his 1964 RCA Victor album The Exciting Voice of Sergio Franchi.
 * The Four Freshmen
 * Erroll Garner
 * Jackie Gleason
 * Stéphane Grappelli
 * Lionel Hampton
 * Ted Heath
 * Jim Henson
 * Woody Herman
 * Al Hirt
 * Billie Holiday on her 1956 Verve Records LP "Solitude"
 * Etta James
 * Harry James
 * Bert Kaempfert
 * Stan Kenton - Mellophonium Magic (1962)
 * Gene Krupa
 * Cleo Laine
 * James Last
 * Joe Liggins & The Honeydrippers (1954) on their Specialty Records CD compilation Vol. 2: Dripper's Boogie (1992)
 * Henry Mancini
 * Melissa Manchester
 * The Mantovani Orchestra
 * Johnny Mathis
 * The McGuire Sisters
 * Carmen McRae
 * Bette Midler
 * Vaughn Monroe
 * Willie Nelson
 * Red Nichols
 * Red Norvo Trio
 * Anita O'Day
 * Patti Page
 * Oscar Peterson
 * Bud Powell
 * Artie Shaw
 * George Shearing
 * Bobby Short
 * Frank Sinatra
 * Art Tatum
 * Toni Tennille
 * Mel Tormé
 * Caterina Valente
 * Sarah Vaughan
 * Ben Webster
 * Roger Whittaker
 * Jackie Wilson
 * Bill Evans
 * Dianne Reeves
 * Tommy Emmanuel & Frank Vignola
 * Amy Winehouse
 * Soulstice
 * Kong Ling (江玲), Hong Kong female singer, on her 1961 LP album Off-Beat Cha Cha
 * Joe Clark Big Band
 * NRBQ