Early Autumn (song)
"Early Autumn" (1949) is a song composed by Ralph Burns and Woody Herman with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song grew out of the fourth segment of Burns' “Summer Sequence” concert piece and was originally recorded by the Herman band on December 27, 1947 with an outstanding eight-bar solo by saxophonist Stan Getz. Herman asked Johnny Mercer to write lyrics in 1952 and he re-recorded the song taking the vocal duties himself. Charted versions were by Woody Herman and by Jo Stafford, both in 1952.