Song of the Day, November 12: Teach Me Tonight by Jo Stafford

Today’s song is Teach Me Tonight. It was written in 1953 by master lyricist Sammy Cahn with music by Gene DePaul. Like most pop tunes of the day, it was quickly released in competing versions by a number of performers. The biggest hits belonged to the DeCastro Sisters [#2] and Jo Stafford [#15]. Over the years it has been covered by dozens of singers including Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Amy Winehouse, and others. Al Jarreau had a minor hit with it in 1982 [#70]. Frank Sinatra famously sang a rewritten version in which Cahn inserted references to many of the singer’s famous romantic partners.

It’s a classic romantic pop song in the big band style, with a brisk tempo and soaring melody. The lyrics are particularly clever, using a number of classroom and educational images (even a blackboard!) for the feelings between the singer and the intended.

My favorite version is Stafford’s. It fits nicely in her “seduce me, you fool” song mode which she parlayed into a number of hits including her monster #1 Make Love to Me! Playful and insistent — and of course pitch perfect — her delivery makes the most of the song without quite crossing into camp.

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.

Some time after it was a hit, Stafford included the song on her wonderful album The Big Band Sound.

Stafford was born on this date in 1917 and lived to the ripe old age of 90, maintaining her amazing voice throughout her life. Celebrate the anniversary of this great performer’s birth with this delightful performance today.