A Rainbow in the Clouds
The year was 1954. Erroll Garner was on a flight from San Francisco to Chicago when he looked out the window and was struck by the view. Through the haze and dewy glass, he saw a beautiful, wide rainbow. As a musician who played entirely by ear and never
learned to read or write music, he couldn't simply jot the idea down. Instead, he began humming and tapping out the melody on his knees, committing the lush, romantic tune to memory. By the time the plane landed, the song was complete in his head. He named it "Misty," inspired by the view through the clouds, and recorded it as an instrumental for his album "Contrasts" that same year. It was a moment of pure, lightning-fast inspiration.
From Instrumental to Global Standard
For a while, "Misty" was a beloved but relatively contained instrumental piece. That changed in 1955 when lyricist Johnny Burke, known for his work on Bing Crosby films, added words to Garner's melody. The song's true ascent to legendary status began when a young Johnny Mathis, who had once promised Garner he would record the song if he ever got the chance, released his version in 1959. Mathis's recording, with its sweeping orchestral arrangement, became a massive hit and turned "Misty" into a global phenomenon. It has since been covered by a pantheon of music royalty, including Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Sarah Vaughan, solidifying its place as an essential jazz standard.
The Years of Defense
The second half of Garner's quote—"and spent years defending it"—wasn't about defending the song's quality. It was about defending his rights as an artist. In 1956, Garner and his formidable manager, Martha Glaser, had negotiated a landmark clause in his contract with Columbia Records that gave him the right to approve any release of his music. In 1960, the label breached that contract by releasing older recordings without his consent. Garner sued. This was a revolutionary act for any artist at the time, let alone a Black musician taking on a corporate giant. He wasn't just defending "Misty"; he was defending his entire catalog and the principle of artistic control.
A Landmark Victory and a Complicated Legacy
The legal battle was protracted and costly, lasting nearly three years. During this time, Garner was unable to record, sidelining him at the peak of his popularity. But in a landmark decision for artists' rights, the New York State Supreme Court ruled in his favor. Columbia was forced to recall the unauthorized albums and pay a substantial settlement, which Garner and Glaser used to establish his own independent record label—a pioneering move that would later be emulated by artists like Prince. While he won the war, the fight took its toll, and some argue the long absence from recording partly explains why Garner's name isn't always mentioned alongside contemporaries like Dave Brubeck. He had to defend the fruits of his creativity, proving that the fight for ownership can be just as demanding as the act of creation itself.
