"TEACH ME TONIGHT" (1953)

"Teach Me Tonight" has been covered by hundreds of musicians, but only a case of DJ "flip-itis" prevented its first hit recording from becoming a flop. In the early 1950s the Abbott Record Company, a well-established country and western label that was looking for new talent and a change of pace, signed the De Castro Sisters. The three-sister singing act, originally from Cuba, featured harmony in the style of the McGuire and Andrews Sisters but with a Latin flavor, and in the 1940s and 1950s the trio was quite popular performing live in Las Vegas and Los Angeles clubs. During one of their club dates in Hollywood, Fabor Robison, the owner of Abbott Records, happened to catch their show and signed them. Their first record for Abbott recorded in October of 1954 featured "It’s Love" on the "a" side, the song that disc jockeys were supposed to plug, and "Teach Me Tonight" on the "b" side. "It’s Love" was not creating much enthusiasm, and when legendary Cleveland, Ohio, DJ Bill Randle (WERE-AM) flipped over the record and played "Teach Me Tonight", it became an overnight hit. It stayed on the Billboard charts for 20 weeks and peaked at second place.

Gene De Paul, who wrote the music for "Teach Me Tonight", collaborated with a number of lyricists, including Johnny Mercer on the film score for "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and the Broadway play "Lil’ Abner" and Donald Raye for such memorable standards as "I’ll Remember April" and "You Don’t Know What Love Is". However, "Teach Me Tonight", possibly his best known song, was his only notable collaboration with Sammy Cahn. During his songwriting career Cahn had major collaborations with several other composers, including Saul Chaplin, Jule Styne and Jimmy Van Heusen, and wrote lyrics for over 2,400 songs.

"Teach Me Tonight" was the greatest hit the De Castro Sisters and Abbott Records had, selling over 5 million copies. Almost immediately after its radio debut, four cover versions of the song were released, including Dinah Washington’s well-known recording that hit the R&B charts in December 1954. The song has been recorded in numerous musical styles, ranging from folk to easy listening to a cha-cha-cha, and singers frequently have modified its lyrics as well. However, the most drastic modification came from the song’s lyricist himself, Sammy Cahn. Cahn was a good friend of Frank Sinatra and when Sinatra recorded the song for his "L.A. is My Lady " album in 1984, Cahn added other verses that made reference to Sinatra’s numerous love affairs. The original lyrics are below, followed by the version written specifically for Sinatra.

"Teach Me Tonight" - by Gene De Paul and Sammy Cahn (original lyrics)

Did you say I've got a lot to learn?
Well, don't think I'm trying not to learn,
Since this is the perfect spot to learn
Teach me tonight.

Starting with the ABC of it,
Getting right down to the XYZ of it,
Help me solve the mystery of it,
Teach me tonight.

The sky's a blackboard high above you,
If a shooting star goes by,
I'll use that star, to write I love you,
A thousand times across the sky.

One thing isn’t very clear, my love,
Should the teacher stand so near my love?
Graduation's almost here my love,
Teach me tonight.

"Teach Me Tonight" - Frank Sinatra version
Recorded on L.A. is My Lady album for Qwest Records: April 1984

Did you say (that) I've got a lot to learn,
Well, don't think I'm trying not to learn,
Since this is the perfect spot to learn
Teach me tonight.

Starting with the ABC of it,
Getting right down to the XYZ of it,
Help me solve the mystery of it,
Teach me tonight.

The sky's a blackboard high above you,
And if a shooting star goes by,
I'll use that star to write "I love you",
A thousand times across the sky.

One thing isn't very clear my love.
Teachers shouldn't stand so near my love.
Graduation's almost here my love.
You'd better teach me tonight.

I've played loves scenes in a flick or two,
And I've also met a chick or two,
But I still can learn a trick or two,
Hey teach me tonight.

I who thought I knew the score of it,
Kind of think I should know much more of it,
Off the wall, the bed, the floor of it,
Hey teach me tonight.

The midnight hours come slowly creeping,
When there's no one there but you,
There must be more to life than sleeping,
Single in a bed for two.

What I need most is post graduate,
What I feel is hard to articulate,
If you want me to matriculate,
You'd better teach me tonight.

What do you get for lessons?
Teach me - come on and teach me - teach me tonight.