For a fun music history parlor trick of sorts —
Type three words into the search engine of Discogs:
- first two words = name of the legendary jazz drummer
- third word = Cincinnati record label famous for Lonnie Mack‘s earliest successes
Press the Enter key —
notice that *exactly one vinyl LP turns up:
(*plus the same album title as a CD reissue from 2024)
Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
Tommy Wolf
Recorded September 5 and 6, 1957 at Chicago’s Universal Recording Studio and released on Fraternity Records the following year, all songs, including the title track, were (presumably) co-authored by Tommy Wolf in partnership with Fran Landesman, as had been the case on Wolf’s previous full-length effort.
“Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most“
(written by Fran Landesman & Tommy Wolf)
Tommy Wolf — Piano & vocals
Monty Budwig — String bass
Shelly Manne — Drums
Recording Supervisor — Russ Freeman
It would be unwise to assume, however, that this recording was the first waxing of the song. Vocal duo, Jackie And Roy, who had written the liner notes for Wolf’s 1956 Fraternity debut, Wolf At Your Door, go down in history as the earliest to record “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most” in May of 1955. Sitting in the drummer’s chair for those Los Angeles recording sessions was none other than Shelly Manne — with musical support from Barney Kessel (guitar), Roy Kral (piano), and Red Mitchell (bass). Alec Wilder, in his liner notes for the album, emphasizes the newness of Tommy Wolf and Fran Landesman’s then unrecorded “off-beat” composition:
And among the unknown songs they have happened on a very effective ballad, off-beat though it may sound on first hearing, “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most.”
Jackie And Roy + Shelly Manne
George Wein‘s Storyville label
(1955)
“Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most” has been interpreted by a range of artists along the jazz continuum into the present day:
Jackie Cain
LP produced by George Wein
(1956)
Herbie Mann & Orchestra
(1956)
Rita Reys
(1957)
Don Nelson
Brother of Ozzie
(1957)
June Christy
(1959)
Fran Jeffries
(1960)
Ella Fitzgerald
(1961)
Chris Connor & Maynard Ferguson
(1961)
Mark Murphy
(1961)
Zoot Sims
(1962)
Sarah Vaughan
(1962)
Julie London
(1962)
Bobby Timmons
(1962)
Pete Jolly Trio
(1963)
Betty Carter
(1964)
Stanley Turrentine
(1964)
Quartette Trés Bien
St. Louis-based jazz combo led by Jeter Thompson
(1965)
Nathan Davis
(1965)
Chet Baker
with The Carmel Strings
(1966)
Johnny Smith
(1967)
Bobbi Boyle & Trio
Recorded at Hollywood’s Sound Factory
(1967)
The Orpheus Four
George Acuña (guitar), Alex Garcia (piano/vibes) & Rafael Dueñas (drums)
(1967)
Helen Merrill & Dick Katz
Musicians include Elvin Jones, Richard Davis, Thad Jones, Hubert Laws, Gary Bartz & Jim Hall
(1969)
Lou Gossett
Produced by The Tokens – released on B.T. Puppy
(1970)
Carmen McRae
(1971)
Steve Kuhn
(1971)
Proviso West Jazz Band
Album also includes “Eleanor Rigby” & “Meet A Cheetah”
(1972)
Rita Reys & Trio Pim Jacobs
LP produced by bassist Ruud Jacobs
(1973)
Walter Norris & George Mraz
(1974)
Irene Kral
Sister of Roy
(1975)
Herb Ellis & Ross Tompkins
Recorded at San Francisco’s Coast Recorders
(1976)
Ira Sullivan
LP includes cameo appearance by “Joco” Pastorious
(1976)
Phil Woods &
The Japanese Rhythm Machine
(1976)
Blossom Dearie
Musicians include Ron Carter & The Hollywood Strings
(1977)
Dardanelle +
Bucky Pizzarelli, George Duvivier & Grady Tate
(1978)
Dorothy Moskowitz & Dick Fregulia
(1978)
Marian McPartland
(1979)
Betty Carter
(1979)
Bobbi Rogers
Tommy Wolf Can Really Hang You Up The Most
(1980)
Bucky Pizzarelli
(1981)
Chaka Khan +
Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Chick Corea,
Stanley Clarke & Lenny White
(1982)
The Sato Masahiko Trio
Recorded at Tokyo’s Teichiku Suginami Studio
(1983)
Stan Getz & Albert Dailey
(1984)
Kenny Burrell
Album produced by Helen Keane
(1984)
Frank Foster & Frank Wess
(1984)
Spike Robinson
(1985)
Karin Krog
Recorded at Oslo’s Rainbow Studio
(1985)
Dave Pike + Cedar Walton Trio
(1986)
Soesja Citroen
(1987)
Dianne Reeves
(1988)
Patti Austin
(1988)
Buddy Rich & His Orchestra
(1989)
Holly Cole Trio
(1990)
Bette Midler
(1990)
Eileen Farrell
(1990)
Rickie Lee Jones
(1991)
Ellis Marsalis
(1992)
David Benoit
(1992)
Liz Story
(1992)
Elkie Brooks
Musicians include Mike Richardson on drums
(1993)
Lina Nyberg & Esbjörn Svensson
(1993)
Göran Fristorp & Lars Jansson
(1993)
Toots Thielemans
(1994)
Eddie Green
(1994)
Carmen Lundy
Musicians include Nathan East on bass & Ernie Watts on tenor sax
(1995)
David (“Fathead”) Newman
Recorded at Quad Recording Studios in Manhattan’s Times Square
(1996)
Manfredo Fest
(1996)
Bob Dorough
(1997)
Jimmy Greene Sextet
(1997)
Maureen McGovern
(1998)
One For All
(1998)
Regina Carter
(1999)
Jeanne Trevor
Recorded at Echo Park Studios
(1999)
Ray Kennedy & Jeanne Trevor
(2000)
Jane Monheit
(2001)
Norah Jones
(c. 2002)
Helge Lien Trio
(2003)
Putte Wickman & Jan Lundgren
(2004)
Alf Clausen Jazz Orchestra
Alf Clausen of The Simpsons fame
(2005)
Ann Hampton Calloway
(2006)
Joel Frahm
AUDIO LINK
(2007)
Cassandra Wilson
(2008)
Sinne
(2009)
Niki Haris & Wycliffe Gordon
(2010)
Karrin Allyson
(2011)
David Torkanowsky & Lucia Micarelli
(2012)
Anne Ducros
(2013)
Freda Payne
(2014)
Sofia Rubina
(2015)
Duccio Bertini & Susana Sheiman
(2016)
Bill Charlap Trio
(2017)
Arianna Neikrug
(2018)
Doug Webb Trio
(2019)
Judith O’Higgins & David O’Higgins
(2020)
Petra van Nuis
(2021)
Eric Hoffman & Ken Hatfield
AUDIO LINK
(2022)
Gemma Sherry
(2023)
Michael Mayo
(2024)
Nelja
(2025)
