Mel Tormé - The Goodbye Look

[@noelstaar]

I didn't know this existed. This is incredible. I wish Mel did the whole album.

[@logophile]

He also did Walking Between the Raindrops.

[@nonomiconone9124]

I’ve been a singer/songwriter for quite a few decades, and I can work in almost any style. This is just genius. Hearing this man cover Donald Fagen with his “scat” brilliance is just wicked cool!

[@stony2494]

What an honor for Donald to have Mel Torme cover one one your songs. He must have been blown away!

[@alvinrodriguez560]

stony2494 like both.

[@craigbrowning9448]

In terms of covers of well known rock songs, he also did "Happy Together" by the Turtles and Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind."

[@promerops]

And for Larry Carlton to have his guitar part scatted and even extemporised by Mel. It's good to know that these songs had a life outside of thee Nightfly album.

[@GenesisFan01]

He actually did two songs from The Nightly. This and Walk Between The Raindrops.

[@michaelsmith3053]

Wow, Mel Torme did a lovely job with this beautiful Donald Fagen song. Very nice...he made it his own. I still fondly remember his "Do the Dew" tv ads before he transitioned....always made me smile....dude was cool!

[@langstonb33]

+Michael Smith I agree.

[@LikeWiseLikeYou]

Yeah I love this so much. The original Fagen version is suburb, but this a wonderful cover of it. Mel really vouches for Donald's beautiful awareness of jazz music here. Great stuff.

[@coolkeeper17]

Possibly the most awesome thing I've ever heard.

[@BernardVictor]

One of my favourite Mel Torme tunes

[@hafo1979]

something in this song that makes me so happy i'm crying with so much joy listening to it a hundred times over..505damush thanks for posting!!!

[@17Snowmen]

That’s how I felt about it the first time I heard it! Never fails to make me smile 😊

[@henriklisby7803]

Never heard this b4 - it's SO super! I can ALMOST imagine Frankie doing some Donald :-)

[@Williamduran579]

Amoooooooo este tema me encanta Saludos desde el salvador es uno de mis favoritos !!!

[@shouldbecomegood839]

Makes me happy! Sure miss when America was happy!

[@vernonallen3370]

Man, I loved this!

[@davidmiller4078]

A tryly gifted musician and singer is vocal inventions are wonderful He may not be as well know as F Sinatra but he ll never be forgoten and a great tune also wow

[@AngusTCat]

Fantastic! Thanks for posting this.

[@incredible916]

I love this song, I listen to Donald Fagens version so many times on repeat.

[@1215corky]

A GREAT song sung by a GREAT singer!

[@acohen1980]

It getz betta with every play......such energy....

[@bobcuster8930]

Cuban Breeze: 1 oz vodka 1 oz creme de almond 6 oz pineapple juice Mai Tai: 1 ounce light rum 1 ounce dark rum 1/2 ounce lime juice 1/2 ounce orange curacao 1/2 ounce orgeat syrup Maraschino cherry for garnish

[@lffit]

Tormé is perfection!! Thanks

[@charliefreak21]

Amazing. Thank you for this post. I can't believe this exists.

[@green_daddy6074]

What a fucking chad. I fucking love this guy for this cover. I wish I had his voice

[@mgajosh]

so so cool. Never knew Mel had done this. Perfect song for him.

[@markdunn9464]

A great interpretation of this song

[@tallpaul521]

Thank you for this. The scat "quote" that Mr. Torme does at the beginning of the tune is from "Bernie's Tune".

[@teeddd]

Miss this fella

[@STIRKDAWG]

I still love it!

[@reverendglenn]

Gretchen's supposed to pour the Cuban Breeze! (from what a bartender told me is the same as a Mai Tai)

[@bobcuster8930]

Nope,Glenn, a Mai Tai is way different than a Cuban Breeze..Nothing worse than a bartender who does not know his cocktails..

[@reverendglenn]

SO....what's in each?

[@fishinsolitude]

George Custer Pardon me, but there is something worse than a bartender who does not know his cocktails. It's a drunk who does not know when to stop drinking.

[@atimtambaby]

fishinsolitude I'll drink to this

[@peterlyons2000]

The Mai Tai hold a special place in my heart. The bartender at Trader Vick's D.C. in the 40's later opened a restaurant of his own in my home town called the Honolulu. It was an institution and the recipes live on. www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=16929&forum=2

[@roaldgranlund4148]

I think I like this version more than the original. That horn section really elevates the song

[@ericbrandt8779]

Fagen is well and alive. With his sense of humor and irony I doubt he objects to this. Its really not that bad.

[@donnlarossa9173]

EXCELLENT! Miss Mel!! What a great JaZz MaN!!

[@ericdreizen1463]

I love Mel's weaving of Elmer's Tune & Fagen's Goodbye Look! As only Torme could!

[@TheTralfaz]

I think you mean Bernie

[@STIRKDAWG]

Listening to this song on an almost daily basis again. Then I quick pop in the entire Donald Fagen Nightfly CD! I still can't get enough ...

[@JohnHH59]

Liked Donald Fagen's version of this but I think I like Mel's version a little better. Awesome version of this song.

[@HeyRadialMoon]

I miss Gretchen. Damn, I really miss her so!

[@crossleydd42]

So do I !

[@rikkitekvila4806]

Gretchen got a raw deal here.

[@donbaaska666]

Wow!! " I know a fellow with a motor boat for hire A skinny man with two tone shoes" I get goose bumps when I hear this song and thanks for finding Mel's superb rendition. In 1953 I almost went to Cuba but at the last instant intuitively changed to Puerto Rico and have been here ever since. I wonder what the alternate reality was. Don Baaska

[@Gemashke]

Gary Foster: Alto Sax Solo, Jack Sheldon: Trumpet Solo

[@billjensen401]

Velvet Fog and the Dan, magnificent!

[@jrichman21]

Freakin awesome!

[@amazmace]

Oh yeah! This is some great stuff from my my favorite singer ever. I know what happened. I read the book. I believe I just got the good-bye look! Thanks for posting this, 505damush, You're the coolest!

[@gr03m0nt]

grevis020160 Walk Between the Raindrops is on the same CD as this track. REUNION with Marty Paiche. Mel and Marty recreate some of their classic 1950's tracks from their first collaboration. You'll love it it's a brilliant CD.

[@tonymarino7391]

Fantastic!

[@don4476]

Fagan adds to the Great American Song Book. You go, Donald.

[@tubenmarkus]

Beautifull

[@milkaarchilla4742]

Me encanta esa canción ❤️

[@tuxguys]

Mel always knew how to pick 'em... A brilliant cover of the next-to-last cut on Donald Fagen's first solo LP, "The Nightfly" (which, in some ways, could be considered the ultimate Steely Dan LP). This is a brilliant example of Musique Noire: The song takes its title from a Lew Archer novel by Ross MacDonald; the music evokes the Caribbean (my money's on Cuba, given the entire 1960 sensibility of Fagen's original LP); and Fagen's lyric seems to be telling the story of the immanent overthrow of foreign organized crime interests by a home-grown military junta: "The surf was easy on the day I came to stay On this quiet island in the bay I remember a line of women all in white The laughter and the steel bands at night Now the Americans are gone except for two The embassy's been hard to reach There's been talk and lately A bit of action after dark Behind the big casino on the beach The rules are changed It's not the same It's all new players In a whole new ball game Last night I dreamed of an old lover Dressed in gray I've had this fever now since yesterday Wake up darling they're knocking The Colonel's standing in the sun With his stupid face the glasses and the gun I know what happens I read the book I believe I just got The goodbye look Won't you pour me A Cuban breeze Gretchen I know a fellow with a motor launch for hire A skinny man with two-tone shoes Cause tonight they're arranging A small reception just for me Behind the big casino by the sea I know what happens I read the book I believe I just got The goodbye look" Cross an understated hard-boiled lyric with seemingly perky, yet culturally-informed latin music, and whaddaya get? MUSIQUE NOIRE. (Mel always knew how to pick 'em...)

[@Gemashke]

Gary Foster: Alto Sax solo, Jack Sheldon: Trumpet solo

[@sailorguyli]

way cool, Loved Mel , and Fagin ,,each uniquely cool

[@crossleydd42]

This is unusual because it doesn't really sound like a Marty Paich arrangement. Torme recorded another Donald Fagan song, "Walk between the Raindrops" and this sounds veryl Marty Paich! You'll find it on KZbin.

[@momopoo333]

MEL, DON, tremendous!!!!!

[@jeffwebster402]

Ahh, the late Mel Torme, "The Velvet Fog." You can almost smell the Scotch on his voice ...LOL

[@TheLAKERSareGodsTeam]

I don't know what I like more. Scat, or actual scat!?

[@tallpaul521]

Mr. Torme and Woody Herman both covered Fagan's tunes. I would have loved to have seen what Sinatra would have done with this great tune.

[@nikos10golf]

P E R F E C T......💥🌹

[@autoforthepeople]

Love this cover :- D

[@bullshttttttt]

Mel was the Master!!

[@DSAK55]

this could be music for a movie featuring the Rat Pack

[@STIRKDAWG]

Donald Fagen's subtlety isn't exhibited here but the feel, the motion and the irony is still here in spades! Very cool arrangement. Very worth while listening ...

[@VentrueCapital]

@jwmellott It's by Donald Fagen, from his album _The Nightfly_.

[@atimtambaby]

Have to love "The Velvet Fog" singing Donald Fagan...who wouldda thunk it?

[@RobynMichaels1]

I loved the version of him doing this live in Tokyo. The piano arrangement really made this, It was taken down due to copy right infringement...so why didn't the copy right holder repost it?

[@RobynMichaels1]

That was so true---& the thing is---many of us would have paid for it!

[@Tigerblade2008]

An awesome thing to contemplate, Don...

[@grevis020160]

This is soooo right! A fantastic post, you've made my week. Mel covered some other Fagen tunes I believe ... maybe some Fagen / Becker too? I've tried in vain to find them but remember hearing a version of Walk Between The Raindrops years ago on the radio and I'm sure it was him ... any clues?

[@garryspellman7342]

WOW!

[@fomomoto3]

Surprised you missed it in the Fagen version, his beat is actually more Cuban sounding. Ironically enough, Torme's version seems to have a more Brazilian beat, since it came on the heels of the fall of the Brailian military regime. Look back now and consider the context of Fagen's original release on the Nightfly album (perhaps his masterpiece). The album was a concept record literally centered around the Kennedy years (including the pre Kennedy IGY era). Why did it ruin the song for you?

[@tonybrookes4007]

It's a curious song - the merry tune is oddly out of keeping with the dark and scary lyrics - but it works very well. I first heard it on BBC radio 2, when Sir David English was deputising for Humphrey Lyttleton on the Monday evening record show "The Best of Jazz". Sir David was recalling his own experience of minor revolutions in that part of the world, which he described as having a real sense of menace. I am not familar with the Donald Fagan recording - I'll have to find it and listen to it.

[@zwreckless1]

Wow I love mel ... i love steely dan go figure

[@maderaca2182]

how do you make a Cuban breeze?

[@ilkinond]

White rum, amaretto, pineapple juice, dash of finesse.

[@DanielBrown-sn9op]

Madera Ca 1vodka,1almond creme, 6 pineapple juice. pour over ice in a hurricane glass

[@pimeye]

I hope Bernie also enjoyed his tune being sung.

[@zbooblewis]

Cuban Breeze baby ,

[@aja1383]

I wanna sing it with him.

[@casparuskruger4807]

Many of the subtle but cheeky original harmonies are smoothed over here going into the muzak direction, but hey, that's Mel!

[@STIRKDAWG]

@hankfischer5251 WOW, MAN. That is too cool ... *Respect !

[@deadat12]

nice bops. and funny pic

[@donbaaska666]

Well I probably would have landed on my feet and still be in Cuba which might be a better place to be than PR or the US when the shit hits the fan later in 2012. Cuba had become quite independent of foreing influence. PR imports 80% of it's food fromthe USA altough any thnig witll grow here. But it's been a great lilfe so far. Love, B

[@jlucguitar]

Sympa la version ...... mais la chanson est déjà super à la base .... belle ambiance

[@allowmi]

How can something be so wrong and so right at the same time? Shooby doobie doop doop do woop doop doooo. Shooby doobie doop doop do woop doop dooooooo. omg.

[@wildwest1]

Velvet Fog look.

[@sailorguyli]

there's a 1990 version p[osted with more improvised lyrics that's awesome. There was ( gone) posted a version of this band with live video

[@SRV2013]

Make a Cuban Breeze.

[@lom888]

When the USSR player flips "Fidel" as their headline

[@terencerosenthal6693]

I'd like to see Bryan Ferry cover it

[@wackneyhick7129]

... but not to hear him.

[@twangbarfly]

@@wackneyhick7129 Haha - spot on!

[@STIRKDAWG]

I'm back. Didn't feel like I had gotten enough of this song yet ... EVER! I'm so cool, so plugged in and so informed that I took a break from The Godfather II movie to listen to this song. A bit of an intermission if you will; if you must. I'm at the part where Michael is fleeing Cuba after his failed business trip and Fredo just ran off, fearing for his life. Rebels: "Viva Fidel!" Americans: "Uh oh, it's time to head out. I believe WE just got 'The Goodbye Look.'

[@fugeeohu9357]

Becoming a standard I suppose

[@katcon67]

Mel Torme, hon

[@alvinrodriguez560]

What is a Cuban breeze I wonder???

[@tallpaul521]

@sailorguyli Cool thoughts for a cool tune, mate.

[@sailorguyli]

cool thought there tallpaul

[@jwmellott]

if this a classic tune, or did he take it from fagen? who wrote it?

[@gerardmcnally]

A "Great"

[@billjensen401]

Mel, it's Gretchen, not baby man!

[@lithiumdeuteride]

aka The Velvet Frog

[@ldognz]

I never knew this is where Steely Dan go this song from::

[@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b]

LOL, listened to the Donald Fagen version for over 20 years and always thought it was about a chick giving the "goodbye look", until today when I listened to Mel's cover and could understand the lyrics better, now thats funny! Well, that song is now ruined for me.

[@Actionguy1]

They just don't make music like this anymore! Too bad! Now we have have to listen to remakes of George Michael songs by trash like "Seether!?" Jeez!

[@peterwood-jenkins3634]

What a version its superior to any other version , shame he was such a cocky full of his self person , But I can here that in his voice

[@spotthirteen]

It's just another classic case of a good song will suffer any abuse, by the way Mel's ain't that bad :) lpb xx

[@STIRKDAWG]

I'm a big fan of scat!

[@peterrief01]

Really... not too bad ! Good tune for Mel's lounge singing style.

[@OriginalRitz]

what the hell is a velvet fog?

[@allowmi]

Dunno if Mel was immune to irony or not but I have my suspicions...

[@green_daddy6074]

allowmi what do you even mean?

[@DarMorabito]

Awesome version, but I think it would’ve been better if he didn’t cut Gretchen out! LOL

[@howardleban5524]

True. Guess he forgot her name..