"Whispering" is a popular song by lyricists John Schonberger (1892–1983) and Richard Coburn (pseudonym of Frank Reginald DeLong; 1886–1952) and composer Vincent Rose. "Whispering" was first published in 1920 by Sherman, Clay & Co., of San Francisco. The initial 1920 copyright and first publishing attributes the lyrics to Malvin Schonberger and the music to John Schonberger.
Initial and enduring popularity
"Whispering" was most famously recorded by Paul Whiteman and his Ambassador Orchestra on August 23, 1920, for Victor. Whiteman — Denver-born, ex-army, and self-acclaimed "King of Jazz" — flourished in popularity from a series of hits beginning in 1920 with his release of "Whispering", an eleven-week U.S. No. 1 hit, which stayed 20 weeks in the charts and sold in excess of two million copies.
The song charted twice in the nineteen-sixties. In 1963, Irish singers the Bachelors had a hit with their version which went to the Top 20 in the UK. In 1964, after recording their hit "Deep Purple", American brother and sister singers Nino Tempo and April Stevens had a new hit with "Whispers". This version went to number eleven on the Hot 100 and number four on the Easy Listening chart.
According to Allmusic, there have been over 700 versions of the song. As of 2010, on the online music site www.lala.com, there were 161 listed albums or singles containing the song "Whispering". As of 2014, TJD Online, the online version of The Jazz Discography, listed 225 recording sessions, beginning with Ray Miller and his Black and White Melody Boys, who recorded it on about July 16, 1920, Okeh 4167-A. Also, as of 2014, TJD Online listed 281 recording sessions of Dizzy Gillespie's composition, "Groovin' High", a contrafact variation of "Whispering".
"Whispering", originally scored in E ♭ major, is in 4
4 time. It has a 12-bar intro, the last 4 of which is an optional vamp — then a 16-bar A-theme is followed by a 32-bar repeated chorus. The 32 bars is essentially a 16-bar B-theme played twice — or 4 times with the repeat.
Dizzy's 1945 composition, "Groovin' High", is a contrafact of "Whispering". Following a standard practice in jazz, Diz front-ran the static V7 chords with ii7 chords (a "static chord" is a chord that doesn't change), setting up a series of ii7–V7 progressions, which creates more structure for improvising. The ii7 chord has similar properties to a iv chord (as in the iv–V progression of church harmony). Because "Groovin' High" was a contrafact, performers, publishers, and record companies did not have to pay royalties to the original composers. Moreover, the contrafacted rendition followed a unified bebop convention — a series of ii7–V7 chord changes with a ii7–V7–I7 turnaround — for jazz artists.
George Gershwin (piano roll), Mel-O-Dee 4007Paul Whiteman and His Ambassador Orchestra, Victor 18690-A (1920); OCLC 53866810, 5225741Comedian Harmonists (1934)The Dorsey Brothers, Associated Broadcasting Company transcription disc (released to radio only)Benny Goodman Quartet, Victor 25481 (1936); OCLC 27247433Tommy Dorsey And His Sentimentalists with Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers, Bluebird B-10771 (1940); OCLC 52815399Boris Vian (French author and jazz-trompettist) records his version "Ah, si j'avais un franc cinquante" ("Oh, if I only had 1,5 dollar") with lyrics, this recording is published as a single (which only sells 500 copies) but in the following years becomes a classic.Harry Belafonte with Pete Rugolo And His Orchestra Capitol 856; OCLC 82131926The Miles Davis Sextet, Prestige 742 (1951); OCLC 31875098 (original release)Les Paul and Mary Ford, The Hit Makers!, Capitol, C. 1748 (Netherlands), CL. 13596 (Italy), F1748 (USA), CP-199 (1951); OCLC 477090584Oscar Peterson (1951) (transcription disc, CBC Transcription ServicePasadena Roof Orchestra, Review, Transatlantic (E)TRA335 (1976)Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson, Pablo 2310-926 (1987); OCLC 18170774Al Jarreau, Accentuate the Positive, Verve B0001634-02 (2004); OCLC 561230141941: Ziegfeld Girl, sung by a male trio1944: Greenwich Village, starring Don Ameche, sung by Vivian Blaine1945: The Clock, sung by a chorus1952: Belles on Their Toes1956: The Eddy Duchin Story, performed by Carmen Cavallaro2016: The Matchbreaker, performed by Christina Grimmie1972: Music Hall of Fame inducted "Whispering" as one of the 10 historic songs.Sherman, Clay & Co., San FranciscoLyrics by Malvin Schonberger, music by John Schonberger© July 22, 1920; 2nd copy July 27, 1920, Class E 486556, Sherman, Clay & Co., San Francisco© Renewal 21201 July 22, 1947, by John Schonberger & Malvin Schonberger© Renewal 25563 July 28, 1947, by John Schonberger, Amelia Rose (widow of
Vincent Rose), and Richard Coburn© Assigned to Miller Music Corporation July 28, 1947, by Richard Coburn and Amelia Rose (widow of the late Vincent Rose)© Claimed by Fred Fisher Music Co. to acquired the rights from John Schonberger in 1938; claim was litigated in U.S. District Court, New YorkNotes:
