Misty

I loathed the song “Misty” the first few times I heard it. I only knew the song as bit of torture that Johnny Mathis had inflicted on the world in the early days of AM radio. The terrible lyrics and Mathis’ voice were unbearable to me and I recall muttering “this song sucks so hard” one random afternoon at home and getting a long lecture from my mother on what language was acceptable in a house, what was acceptable in a pool hall and how my parents were not raising me in said pool hall. As the years went on I heard mention of it being in a Clint Eastwood movie but that didn’t help it either, since Clint wasn’t really Clint in the movie. (Semi-seriously, Play Misty for Me must have the lowest body count of any Eastwood vehicle, hence, it’s NOT a Clint Eastwood movie worth watching.)

Years later my dad introduced me to Erroll Garner and was shocked to hear the opening moments of “Misty” and not be immediately repulsed. The brushed drums, sparse bass and tinkling keys left me entranced. It was deceptively simple and beautiful. I immediately went on a lengthy Erroll Garner kick and began a long love affair with the deeper back catalog of Verve records. (Note: “Misty” is better off heard on the album Contrasts, which Verve did an outstanding job of remastering back in 1998 but I drop the image of the 1990 disc that introduced me to the tune here even though it’s not recommended.)

PLAY:

DOWNLOAD: Erroll Garner - Misty