Moon River

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox song "Moon River" is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">Template:Cite book</ref> The song also won the 1962 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1999, Mancini's recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.<ref name=HoF>"Grammy Hall of Fame Award", Recording Academy. Retrieved October 30, 2022</ref>

The song has been recorded by many other artists.<ref name=Cryer/> It became the theme song for Andy Williams, who first recorded it in 1962 (and performed it at the Academy Awards ceremony that year). He sang the first eight bars of the song at the beginning of each episode of his eponymous television show and named his production company and venue in Branson, Missouri, after it; his autobiography is called "Moon River" and Me. Williams' version was never released as a single, but it charted as an LP track that he recorded for Columbia on a hit album of 1962, Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2022, Williams' rendition of the song was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The song's success was responsible for relaunching Mercer's career as a songwriter, which had stalled in the mid-1950s because rock and roll had replaced jazz standards as the popular music of the time. The song's popularity is such that it has been used as a test sample in a study on people's memories of popular songs.<ref name="Bartlett 551–560">Template:Cite journal</ref> Comments about the lyrics have noted that they are particularly reminiscent of Mercer's youth in the southern United States and his longing to expand his horizons.<ref name=times>Template:Cite news</ref> Robert Wright wrote in The Atlantic Monthly, "This is a love sung [sic] to wanderlust. Or a romantic song in which the romantic partner is the idea of romance."<ref>Wright, Robert. "Andy Williams's Moon River – Decoded and Vindicated at Last!", The Atlantic Monthly, September 27, 2012, accessed January 6, 2016</ref> An inlet near Savannah, Georgia, Johnny Mercer's hometown, was named Moon River in honor of him and this song.<ref name="Bartlett 551–560"/>

VersionsEdit

OriginalEdit

Mercer and Mancini wrote the song for Audrey Hepburn to sing in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's. The lyrics, written by Mercer, are reminiscent of his childhood in Savannah, Georgia, including its waterways. As a child, he had picked huckleberries in summer, and he connected them with a carefree childhood and Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn.<ref name=Cryer>Cryer, Max. "The story behind the song: Moon River", The Telegraph, October 7, 2008, accessed January 6, 2016</ref> Mercer's original title for the song was "Blue River", reflecting the color of huckleberries.<ref>Furia, Philip and Laurie J. Patterson. "Midnight Sun: Johnny Mercer", chapter 13, in The Poets of Tinpan Alley, Oxford University Press (2022) Template:ISBN</ref> Although an instrumental version is played over the film's opening titles, the lyrics are first heard in a scene where Paul "Fred" Varjak (George Peppard) discovers Holly Golightly (Hepburn) singing the song, accompanying herself on the guitar while sitting on the fire escape outside their apartments.<ref name=Cryer/><ref name=times />

There was an eruption of behind-the-scenes consternation when a Paramount Pictures executive, Martin Rackin, suggested removing the song from the film after a tepid Los Angeles preview. Hepburn's reaction was described by Mancini and others in degrees varying from her saying, "Over my dead body!" to her using more colorful language to make the same point.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

An album version was recorded by Mancini and his orchestra and chorus (without Hepburn's vocal) on December 8, 1960.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was released as a single in 1961 and became a number 11 hit in December of that year.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Due to unpublished charts in Billboard, Joel Whitburn's Top Adult (Contemporary) Songs variously reported the song as a number 3 or number 1 easy listening hit. Mancini's original version was also featured in the film Born on the Fourth of July (1989). In 1993, following Hepburn's death, her version was released on an album titled Music from the Films of Audrey Hepburn. In 2004, Hepburn's version finished at number 4 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

Early recordingsEdit

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"Moon River" was a hit single for Jerry Butler in late 1961. Released simultaneously with Mancini's, it reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and number 3 Easy Listening<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in December, two weeks before Mancini's recording reached the same chart ranking. In Canada the song reached number 14, co-charting with the Mancini version.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> British singer Danny Williams had a hit version of the song that reached number one in the UK in the final week of 1961.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/>

Although Andy Williams never released the song as a single, his LP Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes (1962), was certified gold in 1963 for selling one million units.<ref>Template:Cite certification</ref> The album reached number 3 on the Billboard Top 200, eventually selling more than two million copies by 1967.<ref>Template:Cite magazine [Special Issue titled A Billboard Spotlight: Andy Williams]</ref> In 2002, a 74-year-old Andy Williams sang the song at the conclusion of the live NBC special telecast celebrating the network's 75th anniversary.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2018, Andy Williams' version on Columbia Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.<ref name=HoF/> In 2022, Andy Williams' recording of the song was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Chart historyEdit

Henry Mancini & Orchestra

Chart (1961–62)	Peak position
Canada (CHUM Hit Parade)<ref name="CHUM Hit Parade, October 30, 1961">CHUM Hit Parade, October 30, 1961</ref>	14
UK Singles Chart<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/>	46
U.S. Billboard Hot 100<ref name="ReferenceA">Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - Template:ISBN</ref>	11
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	3
U.S. Cash Box Top 100<ref name="tropicalglen.com">Cash Box Top 100 Singles, December 9, 1961</ref>	5

Jerry Butler

Chart (1961–62)	Peak position
Canada (CHUM Hit Parade)<ref name="CHUM Hit Parade, October 30, 1961"/>	14
New Zealand (Listener)<ref>Flavour of New Zealand, 28 December 1961</ref>	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100<ref name="ReferenceA"/>	11
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	3
U.S. Cash Box Top 100<ref name="tropicalglen.com"/>	5

Danny Williams

Chart (1961–62)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/>	1

Later versionsEdit

Hundreds of versions of the song have been recorded and it has been featured in many media.<ref name=Cryer/><ref>Testa, Jessica. "13 'Moon River' Covers, In Memory of Andy Williams", BuzzFeed, September 26, 2012, accessed January 6, 2016</ref> Mercer recorded the song in 1974 for his album My Huckleberry Friend.<ref>Mercer, Johnny. My Huckleberry Friend, Pye NSPL18432 (1974) ASIN: B008K7RPIK</ref> In 2007, saxophonist Dave Koz recorded a version from his standards music album, At the Movies, sung by Barry Manilow.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#ifeq: | yes | https://www.allmusic.com/album/r948020{{

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}}</ref> In 2013, Neil Finn and Paul Kelly performed the song on their Goin' Your Way Tour,<ref name="Shedden">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Tour Dates">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> during which their performance at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall was recorded for the live album, Goin' Your Way, released the same year.<ref name="Paul Kelly">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The title of the album comes from a phrase in the song's chorus: "Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way".<ref name="McArthur">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lawrence Welk's 1961 instrumental version was featured in Mad Men season 6, episode 13, "In Care Of" (2013).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A version of the song was featured in Asif Kapadia's documentary film, Amy (2015), about Amy Winehouse. Winehouse's version, sung at age 16 with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in 2000, is the opening song in the film.<ref>Pattison, Michael. "Weighing Up the Pros and Cons of the New Amy Winehouse Documentary", Vice.com, July 1, 2015</ref>