Quicksilver (song)

Quicksilver is a song, which became a hit for Bing Crosby in 1950. It was written by Eddie Pola, George Wyle and Irving Taylor.

For the Pink Floyd song, see Quicksilver (instrumental).

A composition of the same name by jazz pianist Horace Silver was first recorded in 1952 and has become most associated with him.

Bing Crosby

"Quicksilver" was recorded by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and his orchestra on November 25, 1949[1] and it became a top 10 hit in February 1950. In late February 1950 it was cited by Billboard as the fifth most popular record on jukeboxes. It peaked in mid March at Number 8 in the singles charts.[2][3] By the end of April it was still in the charts at Number 30.[4] It was the best selling single in Australia for the year of 1950.[5]

Another version of this song was recorded by Doris Day & Her Country Cousins in 1949[6] and this also reached the USA charts with a peak position of No. 20.[7]

Horace Silver and others

Another song of the same title was later recorded by Horace Silver in 1952,[8] based on his interpretation of "Lover Come Back to Me". "Quicksilver" was performed and recorded live in 1954 at New York City's Birdland by Art Blakey and his Quintet which included Silver, Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, and Curly Russell. It appears on the Blue Note Records album by them, A Night at Birdland Vol. 1.[9]

Cannonball Adderley recorded a "near-frantic" version of it which he called "Spectacular".[10] Lee Morgan recorded it with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars group.[11] The song has more recently been performed in tributes to Horace Silver, such as the Arale Kaminsky Quintet in 2014.[12]

References
  1. "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  2. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 25 February 1950. p. 27. ISSN 0006-2510.
  3. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 11 March 1950. p. 30. ISSN 0006-2510.
  4. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 29 April 1950. p. 26. ISSN 0006-2510.
  5. "AMR Top Singles of 1950".
  6. "45worlds.com". 45worlds.com. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  7. Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 122. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  8. Silver, Horace (15 March 2006). Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty: The Autobiography of Horace Silver. University of California Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-520-24374-3.
  9. Korall, Burt (29 July 2004). Drummin' Men: The Heartbeat of Jazz The Bebop Years. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-19-517664-3.
  10. Dis Here: A Bio-discography of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. Greenwood Publishing Group. 2000. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-313-30240-4.
  11. McMillan, Jeffery S. (2008). DelightfuLee: The Life and Music of Lee Morgan. University of Michigan Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-472-03281-5.
  12. Anchipolovsky, Robert. "Arale Kaminsky Quintet A Tribute To Horace Silver Quicksilver". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
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