Frank Ocean cover making ‘Moon River’ a hit again in the US
The surprise Valentine’s Day cover by Frank Ocean of the 1961 classic ‘Moon River’ is causing the original version to become a hit again in the United States.
Billboard reports that the Ocean version generated 800,000 on-demand streams on its first day of release (February 15).
But it’s also sparked memories (and new fans) for orchestral leader Henry Mancini’s instrumental original from the Breakfast At Tiffany’s movie, sung on-screen by actress Audrey Hepburn.
Mancini and Johnny Mercer wrote the song for the movie, the melody to fit in with Hepburn’s limited vocal range.
The lyrics were from Mercer’s memory of the full moons over his hometown of Savannah, Georgia— which called an inlet outside town after the song in his honour.
‘Moon River’ almost didn’t make it onto the movie.
After a lukewarm response after a preview in Los Angeles, a Paramount Pictures executive suggested it be dropped.
The quiet natured Hepburn responded that would be “over her dead body” (or stronger language, according to legend).
Mancini’s version was an Oscar for best original song and Grammys for record of the year and song of the year.
It reached #11 in the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the magazine’s Adult Contemporary airplay chart.
The first print run of the sheet music shifted 1 million units.
The Mancini version was also featured in the Tom Cruise war veteran film Born on the Fourth of July (1989).
In 2004, the AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema put Hepburn’s rendition at #4.
The song was also heavily associated with crooner Andy Williams who recorded it as an album track in 1962.
It was never released officially as a single because his record company boss hated the song, thinking it would have no appeal to teenagers.
Williams sang it at the beginning of each episode of his popular long running TV show. He also named his production company, nightclub and autobiography after it.
Among those who’ve covered the song through the years have been Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Louis Armstrong, Jerry Butler, REM, Glassvegas, The Killers, Willie Nelson, Danny Williams, Rod Stewart, Joey McIntyre, Patty Griffin, Elton John, Lisa Hannigan, Morrissey, Judy Garland, Sarah Brightman, Clay Aiken and Amy Winehouse.
The latter was recorded by Winehouse as a 16-year-old with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in 2000, and heard onAsif Kapadia’s 2015 documentary Amy.
In 2013, Neil Finn and Paul Kelly performed the song on their Goin’ Your Way Tour: their performance at the Sydney Opera House ended on the live album, Goin’ Your Way.
The title of the tour and album came from a phrase in ‘Moon River’’s chorus: “Wherever you’re goin’, I’m goin’ your way”.
Hepburn’s version was a wistful yearning for “two drifters” finding freedom, and the innocence of childhood with memories of “my huckleberry friend” after Mark Twain’s southern character Huckleberry Finn.
Ocean’s is more confident, already on that journey, with new lines as “What I see, what I become.”