"YOU GO TO MY HEAD" (1938)

Ask many jazz fans who wrote "You Go to My Head", and chances are they will say that Cole Porter must have composed it. Certainly the effervescent lyrics and sophisticated melody suggest a Porter tune. However, the fans would be wrong and likely would be even more surprised to learn that the composers who wrote it, J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, also wrote one of the biggest pop hits of all time, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town".

Coots and Gillespie both were Tin Pan Alley stalwarts, but jazz critics often describe Coots as a one-hit wonder. William Zinsser, who, in his book Easy to Remember: The Great American Songwriters and Their Songs, includes "You Go to My Head" in a group of songs he calls "…the great shots that came from out of nowhere." Alec Wilder, another jazz critic, characterized Coots as "competent but unexceptional", and expressed surprise that he could write such a song, a “minor masterpiece”. The reason for the jazz critics’ disdain of Coots may lie in the fact that, although he composed over 700 songs, he was considered to primarily write in
the "pop" genre. He had a background in vaudeville and musical theater and wrote material for performers like Sophie Tucker and Jimmy Durante; he also performed on the stage himself. In "You Go to My Head" the complex and unusual harmonic composition developed in an AABA form is rarely seen in a pop tune. The non-traditional chord progressions, along with a ten-bar coda and a melody with a high number of repeated notes, make for challenging improvisation. Although Coots did not write another jazz standard like "You Go to My Head", he did compose the music for other well-known songs like "Love Letters in the Sand" and "For All We Know".

Haven Gillespie’s role as lyricist seems to have inspired less incredulity from critics. His urbane lyrics, in which he likened a romance to the intoxicating effect of an alcoholic beverage, were well suited to the music. He wrote over 1,000 songs and collaborated with a number of composers and jazz singers; other well-known songs for which he wrote the lyrics include "Drifting and Dreaming", "Breezin' Along with the Breeze" and "That Lucky Old Sun". Gillespie had no formal musical education, but his ability to play music by ear, along with his tenacity and willingness to take risks, allowed him to make a life as a professional songwriter. He once likened his career to trying to beat gambling odds. "A songwriter is like a race horse," he said. "If they bet on you once and you lose, they won't bet on you again."

Glen Gray and his Casa Loma Orchestra usually are credited with introducing "You Go to My Head", but in actuality it was first recorded by Teddy Wilson and his Orchestra in 1938. His recording appeared in the pop charts in June of that year and in rapid succession, recordings by Larry Clinton (July 1938) and Glen Gray (August 1938) appeared on the pop charts also. Since then there have been hundreds of recordings in every style by instrumentalists and singers. While "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" may have earned Coots and Gillespie the most royalties, "You Go to My Head" would be close behind.

YOU GO TO MY HEAD by J. Fred Coots and Harve Gillespie
You go to my head
You go to my head,
And you linger like a haunting refrain
And I find you spinning round in my brain
Like the bubbles in a glass of champagne.
You go to my head
Like a sip of sparkling burgundy brew
And I find the very mention of you
Like the kicker in a julep or two.
The thrill of the thought
That you might give a thought
To my plea casts a spell over me
Still I say to myself: get a hold of yourself
Can't you see that it can never be?
You go to my head
With smile that makes my temperature rise
Like a summer with a thousand Julys
You intoxicate my soul with your eyes
Tho I'm certain that this heart of mine
Hasn't a ghost of a chance in this crazy romance,
You go to my head.