eden ahbez’s “Nature Boy,” Dvorak’s “Dumka,” Yablokoff’s "Shvayg mayn harts," and Nino Rota’s “Slow Waltz from 8 1/2"

"Nature Boy” is a unique tune among jazz standards. It has an exotic, philosophical character; the lyrics sound like the singer is reciting a timeless legend. It was written by eden ahbez (he preferred lower case), also formerly known as George Alexander Aberle, or George McGrew. “Nature Boy” has been recorded by Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Johnny Hartman, Stan Getz, George Benson, Sun Ra, and Art Pepper, among others.

There is some disagreement as to the origin of the melody; it may or may not have been entirely written by ahbez. The four pieces in this post title all employ the famous “Nature Boy” theme. Although they sound suspiciously similar, in my opinion it’s unlikely that any of them intentionally plagiarized any other - with the possible exception of the Nino Rota piece. 

The tune, and the composer, have a great backstory. You can read all about it on the Wikipedia pages for Nature Boy and eden ahbez. 

 Here’s Nat King Cole’s original 1947 recording of  “Nature Boy,” a huge hit for him in 1948:

Although I’d known something about the history of the song before, one new detail for me was that the title probably came about because ahbez was part of a group of back-to-nature devotees in Los Angeles in the 1940s, who were dubbed the “Nature Boys.” Another well-known member was Gypsy Boots (Robert Bootzin), who I remember as a frequent guest on the old late-night “Steve Allen Show.” Boots supposedly invented the “smoothie.” One of his tag lines was to tell Steve, “Don’t panic, it’s organic.”

For a lot more on Gypsy Boots, just google his name. Click here for an especially great memoir.

Anyway, back to the music. Nat King Cole’s recording sold over a million copies. In 1951 ahbez was sued by Herman Yablokoff, who claimed that the song was plagiarized from Yablokoff’s “Shvayg mayn harts,” a song from his 1935 Yiddish theater play “Papirosn.” ahbez settled the suit for $25,000, but that does not necessarily mean he actually plagiarized the tune. 

Personally, I think that claim was without merit. The melodic theme is only a brief part of Yablokoff’s song, and I’d say that there was maybe a 1% chance that ahbez could have heard it before.  In the video below, the theme occurs at 2:07.

A somewhat more plausible source, for both the ahbez and Yablokoff pieces, is the second movement (“Dumka”) from Antonin Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81. There’s no copyright violation in borrowing from an 1887 composition, of course.

A few nights ago, we were listening to the “All Classical” internet radio station while cleaning up after dinner. They played Nino Rota’s “Slow Waltz” from the Fellini movie “8 1/2,” performed by pianist Massimo Palumbo. It sounded familiar. Nino Rota is known to have occasionally borrowed themes from other composers. For example, Rota also borrowed from Dvorak for part of his score for “La Strada” (see this previous post). In the “Slow Waltz,” I hear a pretty direct borrowing from “Nature Boy,” not so much from Dvorak.

To close, here are two John Coltrane recordings of “Nature Boy.” This first one is from the recently-released “Both Directions at Once” album, recorded in 1963:

This version was recorded in 1965, for the next studio album following “A Love Supreme.” The quartet’s approach to the song had evolved. Somehow, I think ahbez would have approved: