Born to Be Blue is a 1946 traditional pop torch song written by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells. It was first recorded by Mel Tormé with Sonny Burke and His Orchestra in August 1946. The moody ballad blends torch song drama with early jazz influence and is now regarded as a jazz standard. The tune was revived by numerous singers and instrumentalists beginning in the mid-1950s and has been covered on many albums. Notable interpretations appear on Ella Fitzgerald’s Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie! (1961), Stan Getz’s Cool Velvet: Stan Getz and Strings (1961), Wes Montgomery’s Full House (1962), Ray Charles’s Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul (1963), Chet Baker’s Baby Breeze (1965), and Grant Green’s Born to Be Blue (1962). The original recording remains a touchstone of the jazz repertoire and the song continues to be associated with Mel Tormé as well as a wide range of artists.
