The story behind puzzle No. 9
Erroll Garner · Contrasts · EmArcy · 1954
Erroll Garner wrote one of the best-known ballads in jazz, and he could not read a note of music.
In 1954 Garner was flying from San Francisco to Chicago. As the plane came down through a thunderstorm near O'Hare, he saw a rainbow glowing through the haze. He started humming a melody and tapping it out on his knees. He recorded it on July 27, 1954, for the album Contrasts.
Garner taught himself to play and stayed an ear player his whole life. The musicians' union in Pittsburgh at first refused to admit him because he could not read music. It relented in 1956 and made him an honorary member.
Lyricist Johnny Burke did not want to add words at first. His pianist kept playing the tune until Burke gave in, and he wrote the lyrics in two or three hours. Johnny Mathis made the vocal version famous in 1959, and it became his signature song.
In 1971 Clint Eastwood built his first film as a director around it: Play Misty for Me.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Listen to Garner's version next to Johnny Mathis's 1959 recording. Same melody, two very different moods.
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