CALL ME IRRESPONSIBLE (1962)

“Call Me Irresponsible”, unequivocally associated with Frank Sinatra, actually made its debut sung by Jackie Gleason in a film released in March of 1963: Papa’s Delicate Condition. In the film Gleason played a lovable family man whose “delicate condition” referred to his penchant for imbibing alcoholic beverages and then behaving irresponsibly. Already in 1963 there was recognition that alcoholism was a serious problem and along with that there was increased discomfort with depicting the condition in a humorous light. Consequently, the movie was set at the turn of the century to distance viewers from the issue. In 1963 the song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 36th Academy Awards.

Although Gleason sang it first, according to Mel Tormé in the first book he wrote, The Other Side of the Rainbow with Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol, Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn originally composed the song for Judy Garland to sing at a CBS dinner. Apparently the song was intended to parody her famously flaky behavior. In December of 1962 Garland had just signed with CBS to do The Judy Garland Show, for which Tormé was hired as the music arranger and occasional guest star. Whether or not Garland actually sang the song at the CBS dinner, she did sing the song at the premier of her television show on September 29, 1963. Although the show received generally favorable reviews, it played opposite the powerhouse Bonanza on NBC and lasted for only 26 episodes; it was canceled after one season. Tormé described the show's rocky history in his book, which led to an unsuccessful lawsuit by the family of Judy Garland because they thought the book portrayed her in an uncomplimentary manner.

In April of 1963 Frank Sinatra recorded what might be the most well known version of “Call Me Irresponsible” on his album Sinatra’s Sinatra for Reprise Records. That album included four other songs with music written by Jimmy Van Heusen. This was not an unusual occurrence, since Sinatra and Van Heusen had been close personal friends since the 1940s, and Sinatra recorded more songs (85) written by Van Heusen than by any other composer. Sammy Cahn was a friend of Sinatra and Van Heusen, and in 1955 when both he and Van Heusen were in need of new songwriting partners, they came together to write the song “Love and Marriage”. This was a hit for Sinatra and the first song to ever win an Emmy Award. The song writing team went on to win two more Academy Awards for Best Original Song for “All the Way” (1957) and “High Hopes” (1959).

“Call Me Irresponsible” continues to hold its appeal for the current generation of jazz singers. Michael Bublé, a young musician whose singing brings to mind the Sinatra style, recorded an album for Reprise Records entitled Call Me Irresponsible that included the title cut. The album debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and moved to number 1 the second week, a rarely occurring feat, and has since become a platinum best seller.

“Call Me Irresponsible” by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn

Call me irresponsible
Call me unreliable
Throw in undependable, too.

Do my foolish alibis bore you?
Well, I'm not too clever
I just adore you.

Call me unpredictable
Tell me I'm impractical
Rainbows, I'm inclined to pursue.

Call me irresponsible
Yes, I'm unreliable
But it's undeniably true
That I'm irresponsibly mad for you.

Go on and call me unpredictable
Tell me that I'm impractical
Rainbows, I'm inclined to pursue.

You go ahead call me irresponsible
I admit I'm unreliable
But it is undeniably true
That I'm irresponsibly mad for you.