🎵 1960s Jazz & Easy Listening Cocktail-Hour
1960s Jazz tracks from Sinatra to Mancini, and the music for an elegant cocktail hour.
Welcome to a new 1960s Wedding series #6:
1960s Jazz & Easy Listening
This week, I close out my 1960s wedding songs series. I’m setting the perfect mood with the ultimate 1960s Jazz & Easy Listening Cocktail-Hour playlist. This collection features the legendary voices that defined romance and style in the ‘60s. Think Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and the timeless compositions of Henry Mancini (like “Moon River”).
Table of Contents
Cocktail Hour & Mingling Songs – 17 songs
Spotify Playlist – 17 songs
1960s Jazz & Easy Listening Cocktail-Hour
As Time Goes By – Jimmy Durante
1965 - The song was originally written by Herman Hupfeld for a 1931 Broadway musical called Everybody’s Welcome. It was featured in the 1942 film Casablanca, sung by Dooley Wilson. Durante’s version was featured in the soundtrack for the 1993 romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle.
Days of Wine and Roses – Andy Williams
1963 - The song was written by one of the most successful songwriting teams in history: composer Henry Mancini and lyricist Johnny Mercer. It was written for a 1962 film of the same name. The track won Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Everybody Loves Somebody – Dean Martin
1964 - Martin’s recording hit the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It became the theme music for Martin’s highly popular weekly television variety show, The Dean Martin Show, which ran from 1965 to 1974. The track was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Green Onions - Booker T & The M.G.s
1962 - The distinctive sound of Booker T. Jones’s signature riff on a Hammond M3 Organ became the immediate, unmistakable calling card for the entire Memphis Soul movement. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track was inducted into the Grammy HoF in 1999 and was added to the National Recording Registry in 2012.
Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora) - Harry Belafonte
1961 -The song helped solidify Belafonte’s title as the “King of Calypso” and popularized the music of the Caribbean for an international audience in the 1960s. The track plays in an iconic moment in the 1988 Tim Burton movie Beetlejuice.
Moon River – Henry Mancini & Orchestra
1961 - “Moon River” was composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer for the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s to fit star Audrey Hepburn’s limited vocal range. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, as well as the Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
My Kind of Girl – Matt Monro
1961 - “My Kind of Girl” was Monro’s first big hit to cross the Atlantic. It reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, making him the first British artist since 1958 to break into the US Top 20. It hit #5 in the UK.
Quando, Quando, Quando – Engelbert Humperdinck
1968 - The song, whose title translates to “When, When, When” in English, was originally an Italian pop song written in 1962 by composer Tony Renis and lyricist Alberto Testa. This rendition helped solidify Humperdinck’s reputation as “The King of Romance”.
Soulful Strut - Young-Holt Unlimited
1968 - Soulful Strut” is actually the instrumental backing track to a different song titled “Am I the Same Girl?”. The song made it all the way to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. It was one of the biggest instrumental hits of the era, selling over a million copies.
Spanish Eyes – Al Martino
1965 - The melody was originally an instrumental piece composed by the famous German bandleader and orchestra conductor Bert Kaempfert titled “Moon Over Naples”. The song reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. Al Martino is known for playing the role of singer Johnny Fontane in the 1972 classic film The Godfather.
Strangers in the Night – Frank Sinatra
1966 - “Strangers in the Night” rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was his first chart-topper in 11 years. It won four Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Summer Wind - Frank Sinatra
1966 - The song was originally a German song titled “Der Sommerwind” (The Summer Wind), composed by Heinz Meier with lyrics by Hans Bradtke. Sinatra’s version is the classic, but the first American recording was actually done by Wayne Newton. It peaked at #25 on the Billboard pop singles chart but hit #1 on the Easy Listening chart.
That’s Life - Frank Sinatra
1966 - The song was written by Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon, and it was first recorded by singer Marion Montgomery in 1963. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart and #1 on the Easy Listening chart.
The Last Waltz – Engelbert Humperdinck
1967 - The song spent five consecutive weeks at #1 on the UK Singles Chart. Interestingly, it refers to the last waltz played at the party where the narrator and his love first met. It also refers to the final dance of their relationship, signifying its bittersweet end.
The Sweetest Sounds – Diahann Carroll, Richard Kiley
1962 - “The Sweetest Sounds” was featured in the 1962 Broadway musical No Strings. Woodruff won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, becoming the first African American woman to ever win a Tony Award in a leading role category. Rodgers earned a Tony Award for Best Original Score.
Try to Remember – Ed Ames
1965 - “Try to Remember” is featured in the musical The Fantasticks. The musical debuted in 1960 and is the longest continuously running musical in the world. It became his first solo charting release, reaching #73 on the Billboard Hot 100.
What Kind of Fool Am I – Sammy Davis Jr.
1962 - The song was written for the 1961 British musical, Stop the World – I Want to Get Off. Sammy’s version peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. Sammy would later go on to star in a 1978 Broadway revival of the musical.