WHAT A LITTLE MOONLIGHT CAN
DO
NANCY WILSON
SONGWRITER: HARRY MAC
GREGOR WOODS
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
ALBUM: SOMETHING WONDERFUL
LABEL: CAPITOL
GENRE: JAZZ
YEAR: 1960
Nancy Sue
Wilson(February 20, 1937 – December 13, 2018) was an American singer whose
career spanned over five decades, from the mid-1950s until her retirement in
the early 2010s. She was especially notable for her single "(You Don't
Know) How Glad I Am" and her version of the standard "Guess Who I Saw
Today". Wilson
recorded more than 70 albums and won three Grammy Awards for her work. During
her performing career, Wilson was labeled a singer of blues, jazz, R&B, pop,
and soul; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete
entertainer". The title she preferred, however, was "song
stylist". She received many nicknames including "Sweet Nancy",
"The Baby", "Fancy Miss Nancy" and "The Girl With the
Honey-Coated Voice".
"What
a Little Moonlight Can Do" is a popular song written by Harry M. Woods in
1934. In 1934, Woods moved to London for three years where he worked for the
British film studio Gaumont British, contributing material to several films,
one of which was Road House(1934). The song was sung in the film by Violet
Lorraine and included an introductory verse, not heard in the version later
recorded by Billie Holiday in 1935.
Something
Wonderful was the second album by the American vocalist Nancy Wilson, it
was released in October 1960 by Capitol Records, and arranged by Billy May.
As with
her debut album on the label, Like in Love, she was teamed up with Billy May,
one of its star arrangers, who had come to prominence through his outstanding
work with such singers as Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra.
The album
spawned one of Wilson's all-time signature songs, "Guess Who I Saw Today".
Another highlight was "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", which was, as
critic Pete Welding wrote in his liner notes to the 1996 three-CD set Ballads,
Blues & Big Bands: The Best of Nancy Wilson, "a song so closely
associated with the sublime Billie Holiday(that) few would even have attempted
it, let alone brought it off so well, with just the right blend of
lightheartedness and sincerity."
In 2003,
the UK label EMI Gold re-issued Something Wonderful on a 2-for-1 CD, coupled
with its natural companion, Like in Love.
Composer
and lyricist Harry MacGregor Woods was born in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts
on November 4, 1896. His
mother, a concert singer, encouraged him to play the piano, regardless of the
deformed left hand he had been born with. His musical training would help when
he attended Harvard University and supported himself there by singing in church
choirs and giving piano recitals. After graduation, Woods settled on Cape Cod
and began life as a farmer. He began cultivating his talent for songwriting
while in the Army during World War II. After his discharge, Woods settled in
New York and began his successful career as a songwriter.
His first
songwriting success came in 1923 with the song “I’m Going South”, written with
Abner Silver, and a #2 hit song in 1924 for Al Jolson. In the same year, “Paddlin’
Madeleine Home” was published with words & music by Woods (a recording by
Cliff Edwards in 1925 would reach #3 on Billboard).
By 1926,
Woods had become an established songwriter on Tin Pan Alley and he would become
legendary with his new song “When the Red, Red, Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin’
Along”. One of the
great standards ever written, the song was an instant hit for singers like Paul
Whiteman, “Whispering” Jack Smith, Cliff Edwards and the Ipana Troubadors. Al
Jolson, however, had the most success with his recording, which reached #1 on
the billboard charts. The song was recreated in 1953 by
Doris Day and again reached considerable success on the charts.
In 1929,
Woods began contributing songs to Hollywood musicals such as The Vagabond
Lover, A Lady’s Morals, Artistic Temper, Aunt Sally, Twentieth Century, Road
House, Limelight, It’s Love Again, Merry Go Round of 1938 and She’s For Me. In
1934, he moved to London where he lived for three years and worked for the
British film studio Gaumont-British Films, contributing to the films Jack Ahoy
and Evergreen.
While
Woods primarily created both the words & music for his songs, he also
collaborated with Mort Dixon, Howard Johnson, Arthur Freed, Rube Bloom and Gus
Kahn. Alone, and with his collaborators, he wrote “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf
Clover”, “I’m Goin’ South”, “Just a Butterfly that’s Caught in the Rain”, “Side
by Side”, “My Old Man”, “A Little Kiss Each Morning”, “Heigh-Ho, Everybody,
Heigh-Ho”, “Man From the South”, “River Stay “Way from My Door”, “When the Moon
Comes Over the Mountain”, “We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye”, “Just and Echo in the
Valley”, “A Little Street Where Old Friends Meet”, “You Ought to See Sally on
Sunday”, “Hustlin’ and Bustlin’ for Baby”, “What a Little Moonlight Can Do”,
“Try a Little Tenderness”, “I’ll Never Say “Never Again” Again”, “Over My
Shoulder”, “Tinkle Tinkle Tinkle”, “When You’ve Got a Little Springtime in Your
Heart” and “I Nearly Let Love Go Slipping Through My Fingers”.
Around
1945, Woods retired and moved to Glendale, Arizona where he passed away in
1970.
What a little moonlight can do
Ooh, ooh, ooh
What a little moonlight can do to you
You're in love
Your heart's a flutter and all day long
You only shutter
Cut your poor tongue
Just won't utter the words
I love you
Ooh, ooh, ooh
What a little moonlight can do
Wait a while
Till a little moonbeam comes peepin' through
You'll get bold
You can't resist him
And all you'll say
When you have kissed him is
Ooh, ooh, ooh
What a little moonlight can do.
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