Frenesi

"Frenesí" is a musical piece originally composed by Alberto Domínguez for the marimba, and adapted as a jazz standard by Leonard Whitcup and others. The word frenesí is Spanish for "frenzy".

Artie Shaw recording

A hit version recorded by Artie Shaw (with an arrangement by William Grant Still) reached number one on the Billboard pop chart on December 21, 1940.^[1] and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982.^[2]

The Shaw recording was used in the soundtrack of the 1980 film Raging Bull. ^[3]

Cover versions

Other performers who have recorded the song include Les Brown, Dave Brubeck, Betty Carter, June Christy, Betty Carter, Natalie Cole, Ray Charles, Bing Crosby, Tommy Dorsey, The Four Freshmen, Eydie Gorme, Woody Herman, Earl Hines, Harry James, Ben E. King, Steve Lawrence, Billy May, Glenn Miller, Anita O'Day, Perez Prado, Cliff Richard, Linda Ronstadt, Jack Emblow, Pat Suzuki, Frank Sinatra, Three X Sisters vocals with the Watson Orchestra, and Caterina Valente, Jesus Chino Miranda.

In popular culture

World War II flying ace Major (later Brigadier General) Thomas Hayes named his P-51 Frenesi after the song.^[4] He said it was a tribute to his wife Louise, for the song they listened to; he believed the song's name translated as "Love Me Tenderly".

Thomas Pynchon's 1990 novel Vineland features a character named Frenesi Gates, "her name celebrating the record by Artie Shaw that was all over the jukeboxes and airwaves in the last days of the war" (75).

See also

• List of 1930s jazz standards
• List of number-one singles of 1940 (U.S.)
• List of number-one singles of 1941 (U.S.)

References