Frenesi

"Frenesí" (Spanish for 'frenzy') is a 1939 musical piece composed by Alberto Domínguez Borrás for the marimba. It was first recorded as a single by the Mexican singer and actor Ramón Armengod, and went on to become a jazz standard with it having been recorded by hundreds of musicians. The English language version was copyrighted in 1940 by Leonard Whitcup.

Artie Shaw recording

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

Cover versions

Other performers who have recorded the song include: Julie London, Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Natalie Cole, Ray Charles, Bing Crosby, Tommy Dorsey and Woody Herman.

In popular culture

• World War II flying ace Major (later Brigadier General) Thomas L. Hayes named his P-51 Frenesi after the song. 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.
• 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