Members obama6493 Posted March 1, 2011 Members Share Posted March 1, 2011 Originally Posted by MDR It's interesting that Mercer preferred to write lyrics to existing music.In the Bertold Brecht - Kurt Weill collaborations, the lyrics were written first.I wonder how the Gershwins did it? Figures that a thread such as this would bring out all you old guys.I was a mere seven years of age when Music Man came out but those early years passed with the constant soundtrack of musicals such as My Fair Lady, South Pacific and, of course, Oklahoma.....where the melody comes sweepin' down the plain....and the lyrics come right it.Melody rules in that genre, but it still amazes me how those writers crafted such perfect lyrics around it.For me........I need a melody first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 1, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 1, 2011 Aren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 3, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 3, 2011 Moments ago satellite radio played Rosemary Clooney singing I WANT TO BE A SIDE MAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 4, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 4, 2011 On the drive in to work today satellite radio played ON A LITTLE STREET IN SINGAPORE -- by the only group I've ever heard sing the song, "Manhattan Transfer." It's not much of a song with a forgettable lyric. But its strong, unusual melody by "Pete DeRose" got me thinking about that almost forgotten composer's 'greatest hit' song . . . one that 'doesn't get around much anymore.' My late father, George Blackburn of Ottawa Canada, a good pianist/composer, once told me a story about DEEP PURPLE. Not the late 60s rock group -- the popular song that was a huge hit in 1939. Dad recalled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 5, 2011 My mother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 5, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 5, 2011 Satellite radio show host Jonathan Schwartz opened his Saturday (3-hour) program today with Nat Cole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LCK Posted March 5, 2011 Members Share Posted March 5, 2011 See that? I knew there was a reason to put Dorothy Fields in my Top Five List of Best Lyricists. LCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 6, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 6, 2011 I'll say she is, Lee Charles Kelley -- at the very top of our lists of great (and prolific) lyricists whose honors include a "Best Song" Oscar. Speaking of which (great songs that DIDN'T win a gold statuette) . . . There is a show each week on Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio called Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LCK Posted March 6, 2011 Members Share Posted March 6, 2011 Hmm... well, I've never heard Ella's version, but have you heard Schmilsson In the Night? Meanwhile, nobody (except Rod Stewart!) seems to sing the opening verse, which I quite like. A lot... This day and age we're living in gives cause for apprehension, with speed and new invention, and things like third dimension. Yet we get a trifle weary with Mr. Einstein's theory, so we must get down to earth at times, relax, relieve the tension. But no matter what the progress, or what may yet be proved, the simple facts of life are such they cannot be removed. You must remember this... (I had the sheet music, years ago, and used to annoy my parents by trying to play it on the spinet...) LCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 8, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 8, 2011 In the 'good old days' of song writing (no wait! - THESE are the good old days, right?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 8, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 8, 2011 If he isn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 9, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 9, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 9, 2011 Not everything can be found in Wikipedia (not yet!) In 1963, the year before she was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 10, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 10, 2011 The river that flows through Winnipeg is the Red River Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 12, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 Let us turn our notebooks to Page 16 . . . I just went in the car on a donut run for the grandkids -- overnighting this weekend with their favorite person (that would be their indulgent Grandpa). We had two inches of snow overnight and 50 mph winds that blew the cover off the barbeque. I figured they needed a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Oswlek Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 Even youtube can't find the Bennet version, but there was this instrumental song that might be the same, you'll have to let me know. In the comments someone wrote: Written by Ronny? Whyte/Ettore Stratta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 12, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 Goose bumps. Jazz sax solos don't come better than THAT. Yes, that's the melody -- superbly played by tenor virtuoso "Frank Wess" (1992). Thanks so much for posting, OSWLEK -- and for noting that "in the comments" (for that video) someone wrote: written by Ronny Whyte/Ettore Stratta." In the reviews I'd cited (above) "Ettore Stratta" was mentioned by name -- apparently 'present at the creation' in London, when Tony recorded his (almost) unique version of this 'overlooked gem' of a song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LCK Posted March 12, 2011 Members Share Posted March 12, 2011 Just beautiful, Mark. I'd never heard this song before, by Tony Bennett or anyone else. LCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 13, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 13, 2011 Hugh Martin has died . . . age 96. Among his contributions to the Great American Songbook was just about my favorite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 17, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Sometimes (to borrow from this thread's title) "vocals" really ARE the most important part of a song's delivery. Especially when the tune isn't one you could "take home" from a Broadway show, and pick out later on the piano. But then, the lyric has to be pretty amazing. Case in point: To mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted March 17, 2011 Members Share Posted March 17, 2011 Amazing how some of you make simple things complicated. And this: A great melody first, then lyrics,(only) THEN 'vocals'. reminds me of buy nice car first, then a designer licence plate, then sing at the wheel in the backyard. None of you capable to do all three things at once? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 18, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2011 Satellite radio just played Sinatra singing I WISH I WERE IN LOVE AGAIN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 19, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 19, 2011 Satellite radio today played a very old Frank Sinatra recording of, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 23, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2011 On the drive-in to work today just for a change from satellite radio I listened to a CD (one of my Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark Blackburn Posted March 23, 2011 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2011 Every now and then, on his late night show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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