You Go to My Head: Coots, Not Cole

I can't be the only one who thought that "You Go to My Head" was a Cole Porter song. How could it not be, with lyrics like: "You go to my head / And you linger like a haunting refrain / And I find you spinning round in my brain / Like the bubbles in a glass of champagne." Or verse two: "You go to my head / Like a sip of sparkling burgundy brew / And I find the very mention of you / Like the kicker in a julep or two."

Well, it was actually written in 1938 by J. Fred Coots (music) and Haven Gillespie (words). I became intoxicated (rim shot) with this song after hearing Dianne Reeves sing it a capella at the Newport Jazz Fest a few years ago. She cast a mystical, musical spell that day. So when I got home I went to my copy of "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook," and it wasn't there, which made no sense, given how great the song is. So I did a little research and found the truth.

At any rate, it wasn't totally a "one hit wonder" thing for those guys, especially when you consider that Coots wrote "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." For those keeping score, it ranks as the 42nd most-recorded song at JazzStandards.com. Not bad at all.

Here's Dianne Reeves performing the song with Roy Hargrove.