Mel Tormé

Overview

Born
September 13, 1925 · Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died
June 5, 1999 · Los Angeles, California, USA (stroke)
Birth name
Melvin Howard Torme
Nicknames
- The Kid With the Gauze In His Jaws
- The Velvet Fog
- Mr. Butterscotch
- The Blue Fox

A professional singer at the age of three, Mel Torme was a genuine musical prodigy. As a teenager, he played the drums in Chico Marx's band and earned the nickname "The Velvet Fog" because of his smooth, mellow tenor voice. In the 1940s, he formed his own group, the Mel-Tones, one of the first jazz-influenced vocal groups. As a solo musician, he had a number one hit in 1949 called "Careless Hands" and several lesser hits. He also acted in films and wrote several books, including biographies of Judy Garland and Buddy Rich. Torme's career included some songwriting, too. One of his most well-known compositions, "The Christmas Song", was written in midsummer as Torme relaxed by the pool.
- IMDb mini biography by: Sujit R. Varma

Is often referred to by Harry Anderson's character "Judge Harry Stone" in the NBC TV series Night Court (1984). Anderson--both as "Judge Stone' and in real life--is a big fan of Torme.
Composed the music and words to "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts roasting on an open fire") with songwriting partner Robert Wells (Bob Wells).
He was drafted into the army in 1944, but soon after when he went on bivouac, cuts were discovered in the soles of his feet and it was determined that he was so flat-footed he should never have been drafted in the first place. He was sent home from the army in 1945.
Nicknamed The Velvet Fog, a nickname he was not particularly fond of.
He had a massive personal collection of 16mm movies from the golden age of Hollywood. He enjoyed threading his movie projector and showing his collection of films to family and friends in his home. His movie collection, which consisted of hundreds of films, was totally destroyed in a fire which totally destroyed his home.

One of the joys of a jazz singer is to try to keep a dimension of constant improvisation in relation to what he sings. But--and it's a big but--only if you never lose sight of the original musical value which the composer put in it. And above all, if you don't sacrifice the most important element of a popular song: the words.
I have to confess that my way of singing is very much affected by my private life, or by anything that touches me personally. I am a man, not a machine.