Frenesi

For the Linda Ronstadt album, see Frenesí (album).

"Frenesí" is a musical piece originally composed by Alberto Domínguez Borrás for the marimba, and adapted as a jazz standard by Leonard Whitcup and others.

"Frenesí"
Single by Artie Shaw and His Orchestra
A-side	"Adiós Mariquita Linda"
Published	December 28, 1939 (1939-12-28) by Southern Music Pub. Co., Inc., New York[1]
Released	March 29, 1940 (1940-03-29)
Recorded	March 3, 1940 (1940-03-03)[2]
Studio	Victor Studios, Hollywood
Genre	Swing
Length	3:01
Label	Victor 26542
Composer(s)	Alberto Domínguez Borrás
Lyricist(s)	Leonard Whitcup[1]

Background

The word frenesí is Spanish for "frenzy".

Artie Shaw recording

Songwriter Alberto Domínguez (right) with Artie Shaw in 1941

A hit version recorded by Artie Shaw and His Orchestra^[3] (with an arrangement by William Grant Still) reached number one on the Billboard pop chart on December 21, 1940, staying for 13 weeks,^[4] and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982.^[5]

Cover versions

Other performers who have recorded the song include:

• Julie London
• Les Brown
• Dave Brubeck on his 1967 album, Bravo! Brubeck!
• Betty Carter
• Gerry Mulligan
• June Christy
• Natalie Cole
• Ray Charles
• Bing Crosby
• Tommy Dorsey
• Victor Feldman
• The Four Freshmen
• Eydie Gorme
• Woody Herman
• Earl Hines
• Harry James
• Ben E. King
• Steve Lawrence
• Billy May
• Glenn Miller
• Anita O'Day
• Perez Prado
• Cliff Richard
• Linda Ronstadt
• Jack Emblow
• Pat Suzuki
• Frank Sinatra
• Three X Sisters vocals with the Watson Orchestra
• Mel Tormé on his 1959, ¡Olé Tormé!: Mel Tormé Goes South of the Border with Billy May^[6]
• Caterina Valente
• The Ritchie Family - 1975, on their Brazil album.^[7]
• Jesus Chino Miranda.
• Vedha (composer): A song from the Modern Theatres Tamil movie Vallavan Oruvan

In popular culture

• World War II flying ace Major (later Brigadier General) Thomas L. Hayes named his P-51 Frenesi after the song.^[8] He said it was a tribute to his wife Louise, for the song they listened to; he believed the song's name translated as "Love Me Tenderly".
• The Artie Shaw recording was used in the soundtrack of the 1980 film Raging Bull.^[9]
• Thomas Pynchon's 1990 novel Vineland features a character named Frenesi Gates, "her name celebrating the record by Artie Shaw that was all over the jukeboxes and airwaves in the last days of the war".

See also

• List of 1930s jazz standards
• List of number-one singles of 1940 (U.S.)
• List of number-one singles of 1941 (U.S.)

References

1. Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1940). Catalog of Copyright Entries 1940 Musical Compositions New Series Vol 35 Pt 3 For the Year 1940. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
2. "Victor matrix PBS-042546. Frenesi / Artie Shaw Orchestra - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
3. "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #5". 1972.
4. Hoffmann, Frank (May 23, 2016). Chronology of American Popular Music, 1900-2000. London; New York: Routledge. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-415-97715-9. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
5. "GRAMMY Hall Of Fame". Grammy.org. The Recording Academy. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
6. "www.allmusic.com". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
7. "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
8. Robert F. Dorr, Air Combat: An Oral History of Fighter Pilots, 2007.
9. "Internet Movie Database". imdb.com. Retrieved May 12, 2017.