Product Description
Not many pieces about space can also be said to have been played in space, but 'Fly Me to the Moon' can claim to be one of those. Originally entitled 'In Other Words', the song was written by Bart Howard in 1954 and dedicated to his partner of 58 years Thomas Fowler. Howard, a career musician and notable piano accompanist had collaborated with many other artists, including Cole Porter, but sadly had never gained individual acclaim. A publisher once suggested that his songs were too complex and when Howard was encouraged to write a simpler tune he produced Fly Me to the Moon in 20 minutes; and the rest is history.
Notable artists have covered the song, including Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Paul Anka, Nancy Wilson, the pop band Westlife and transcribed into Urdu by the artist Alamgir. Howard estimated that before 1964 there had been over 100 versions of the song had been recorded.
However, it was Frank Sinatra that made it a global success in 1964. With the legendary composer/arranger Quincy Jones and jazz icon Count Basie, Sinatra produced a sensationally swinging version of the song that captured listeners attention, and later NASA, who would use it on Apollo 10 and 11 missions. It was performed by Diana Krall at the 40th Anniversary of the landings and also, in a more somber setting, at the funeral of space legend Neil Armstrong.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.