A great melody first, then lyrics,(only) THEN 'vocals'

[Mark Blackburn]

Favorite Broadway Overture

 

Rodgers & Hammerstein's personal favorite of their shows was Carousel which opened just after WWII ended in 1945. My Mom and Dad went to New York City for “the honeymoon they never had” before Dad shipped off to war. I remember the joy in their eyes when they recalled to me, decades later that they saw Duke Ellington's orchestra at the Club Zanzibar. The other highlight – seeing Carousel – which starred a young John Raitt (Bonnie's Dad).

 

 

 

I've often thought the 'Overture' for Carousel is the greatest piece of music my favorite composer Richard Rodgers ever wrote; which is saying something. As I said in my letter to Mr. Sinatra (December 1992) “Rodgers wrote more strong melodies” (over 50) than any of his Great Songbook peers – “melodies I could hum or whistle half a lifetime after hearing them for the first time.”

 

 

 

Just as an aside: when I was in my teens, my family purchased the black vinyl LP of Carousel the movie – and I just couldn't get enough of this amazing 'not-really-an-overture' (because it didn't quote from any of Carousel's wonderful songs). A decade ago I obtained a CD version – that was missing the first 30 seconds of the opening movement – music that depicts the eery feeling of a deserted fairground at night – evoking faintly discordant notes on a ghostly carousel organ. (That's how I'd describe it.)

 

 

 

Best version I can find this night – the only one with those opening notes that gave me goosebumps (still do!) – this live performance by London symphony musicians. If you can spare seven minutes – please enjoy my single “most favorite work of art.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. after sharing my opinion for this video at YouTube (and thanking the poster) I expressed appreciation for one of the "comments" below, that:

 

 

 

"And credit must be given to Robert Russell Bennet, Rodgers' go-to arranger, whose beautifully complex orchestrations were the icing on the cake!"

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

Sam & Janet Evening

 

KNOCK KNOCK

 

 

 

YOU: Who's there?

 

ME: Sam and Janet

 

YOU: Sam and Janet WHO?

 

ME: Sam and Janet Evening

 

 

 

You won't believe this. Minutes ago (three a.m.) I awoke thinking of a knock knock joke – my favorite: a play on words for one of my favorite songs by my favorite composer. And I thought to myself, I'm going to post that the next time Siriusly Sinatra plays the version I singled out in my Sinatra Seduction collection CD.

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1X6600DVRNZK4?ref=pf_vv_at_pdctrvw_srp

 

 

 

The relevant paragraph, in case that link doesn't work: "The one song which could have fit, seamlessly, into my all-time favorite "CONCERT SINATRA" album (recorded the same year, 1963) is `Track 9' here: A ravishingly beautiful orchestration by Nelson Riddle, from Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC -- "Some Enchanted Evening." In a word . . . wow! Wonder what the song's composers (my favorites) thought of that one?"

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

I check Sirius right this moment and I just missed “Frank Sinatra – Some Enchanted Evening."

 

 

 

I check Youtube – that version's not there! Others dating back to 1949 available -- but not the one released on the Seduction collection. So I listen to a version I have never heard before -- Frank and Rosemary and . . . Lo and Behold . . . same magnificent Nelson Riddle arrangement.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]NO OTHER LOVE (No other version compares to Perry's)[/h]

 

Richard Carpenter on his "Playing Favorites" show (right this minute) says Perry Como's magnificent reading of Richard Rodgers' NO OTHER LOVE was arranged by Mitchell Ayers (sp?) and the song, is from an obscure Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, "Me & Juliet." Mr. Carpenter, whose musical knowledge is vast and is shared in a warm voice that's like hearing a brother, reminds us that the music originated "a few years earlier in Rodgers' sterling music for the documentary VICTORY AT SEA." Richard said this after sharing the informed opinion that Perry, beginning in the late 40s was "saddled with what really, kind of was . . . light material" that didn't do anything for Perry's "legacy."

 

 

 

----

 

 

 

I tell you . . . Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio radio -- I could never keep up with all the musical gems it provides us each day. God willing I'll be listening, if possible, on my deathbed, telling some beautiful young nurse, "You really should have this, if you want an education in good music!"

 

 

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

MY VALENTINE - Paul McCartney

 

 

Siriusly Sinatra this morning played MY VALENTINE -- Paul McCartney's most recent great ballad, included on his album of standards (or should-have-been standards) -- songs his musical father enjoyed.

 

 

 

I'd been racking my brains lately to think of a single RECENT ballad that other great songwriters of the 20th century would have appreciated. That list would include Billy Joel and James Taylor, both of whom declare Sir Paul to be the greatest song writer of the latter half of the 20th century. With this one, McCartney took his legacy into the 21st.

 

 

 

Might as well enjoy the Youtube version with the most views (half a million). That's Joe Walsh playing lead-lines on nylon-string guitar, and John Pizzarelli providing rhythm on electric. Someone named Diana Krall is playing piano. Oh and that's the same mic Nat Cole used to record all his own hit songs. I think Nat would have loved this. Thanks Jersey Lou for including this one on your playlist this day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

p.s. Did you spot the third guitarist? Diana Krall brought him with her. [Wiki says] Anthony Wilson (born May 9, 1968) is a jazz guitarist, arranger and composer. He is the son of bandleader Gerald Wilson.

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

Favorite instrumental version of PICNIC (back when the world was new)

 

 

The winter of 1959 RCA Victor released an LP by Chet Atkins – my life-long finger-style guitar hero. My older sister Andrea was lent a copy by her guitarist boyfriend. I couldn't stop playing it. To this day it is my favorite of Chet's more than 50 albums. Recorded in October of '58 when “Theme from Picnic” was still new to our ears.

 

 

 

Apart from the tasteful content of his soloing, listen to the sound of an electric guitar that no other guitarist has ever been able to capture. You can play Chet's signature model Gretsch Country Gentleman through a Fender tube amp (I have one from 1960, the “Tremolux”) and you can never replicate this sound. Ask any of today's finger style giants, including Australia's Tommy Emmanuel and Doyle Dykes (I helped arrange both of their recent visits to Winnipeg) and they will agree: “How did Chet get this sound?" Warmth, bell-like clarity, and absolutely flawless techniques – every single tradmark phrase, he invented. And they're so good today's finger-style guitar giants are still using his techniques. They couldn't be improved upon. Listen to this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

More than a decade ago I wrote an Amazon review for “Chet Atkins in Hollywood,” arranged by Dennis Farnon younger brother of Robert Farnon ("Great Songs from Great Britain" arranger for Sinatra in London, 1962. [They had one other brother who was musical director for Nat King Cole during his Vegas days; can't recall his name, but at last report he was the family's lone survivor and living in The Netherlands. I know, more info than you need. “You've got to stop writing,” says my Irene. “Go take a nap.!"

 

 

 

Oh yes, my all-time favorite album cover, Chet's then brand-new "Country Gentleman" with gold Grover Imperial tuners, suspended above a night time Hollywood sky. I look at it and suddenly it's summer of '59 again.

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Chet-Atkins-H...n+Hollywood+CD

 

 

 

My favorite humorous song SUNG by Chester & Lester: "I'm your greatest fan"

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

Alas my review of 17 years ago (February 2002) is gone -- along with previous editions of “In Hollywood.” Ah well. Here's what I wrote:

 

----

 

The previous reviewer will be pleased to learn that the version he enjoyed so much when he was young is the other one ("limited availability") here at Amazon.com--- produced by Classic Records (24 K gold) with the original album cover, featuring not the gorgeous woman shown here, but the best-looking Chet Atkins Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar ever made, superimposed over a night time Hollywood skyline. And the information source at JVC mentioned in the previous review, is confused about which recording came first.

 

As a fan who first treasured this album on its release more than 40 years ago (it was recorded October 23, 1958) I can assure any would-be purchasers that the Classic Records version (which costs a bit less I see) is far-and-away the best of the two. I've been listening to the samples offered for the JVC version and sure enough it's the later recording released in 1961. Chet took the tapes of the Hollywood studio orchestra (arranged by Dennis Farnon) back to his home studio in Nashville and three years later re-did his guitar work---not at all successfully in my opinion, and I believe my view would be shared by most musicians who compare the two versions.

 

Now this is odd: Previously, whenever Chet re-recorded something, the subsequent version had better sound quality and---more importantly---featured better 'licks.' A prime example is his own composition "Country Gentleman." The original recording featured Jethro Burns on mandolin, and wasn't bad, but the next version (he did three, the last with the Boston Pops orchestra) his second rendering for the terrific "Mr. Guitar" album was both better recorded and featured much more sophisticated picking---intelligent, humorous, simply wonderful. So what happened in the case of this, my favorite of his albums "In Hollywood"? On the second recording (offered here on JVC) the guitar track was much less inspired, thin sounding, lackluster---downright insipid in many spots. On the original, 1958 recording (again the one offered by Classic Records) the picking is, I think, the most beautiful work Chet ever accomplished. He used techniques the likes of which I've not heard since (and I have virtually every record he ever produced).

 

For those who have both versions: Listen to the meaty, sweeping sound of his chords near the middle of "Meet Mr. Callaghan" or the sprightly inventiveness to the original improvisations and the ending on "Armen's Theme" (written incidentally by Ross Bagdasarian of "The Chipmunks" fame). Or notice the galloping triple-note picking that ends the earlier version of "Let It Be Me"---joyful, sparkling, brilliant! To paraphrase the wonderful liner notes by George Barker, then of the Nashville Tennessean, great music never dies; it just keeps on producing goose pimples.

 

A guitar expert friend of mine at Funky Junk in Georgia informed me that Chet switched to a lighter guage of strings for the 1961 re-recording. Which would explain at least why the "masculine" meaty sound of the original went missing in the follow-up version.

 

Make no mistake: If you never heard the original, you would cherish 'version B' I'm sure. But then, you'd never know what you'd missed. If you want to hear an electric guitar laugh, weep, and transport you to world that's gone with the wind----listen to what Chet accomplished that October day in 1958 with an all-star orchestra. In fairness to the JVC version, they probably provided the names of all the musicians, which I saw this week for the first time ever--listed at another Internet site. These talented musicians all went on to record with a 'Who's Who' of America's greatest artists, everyone from Frank Sinatra and Ella, to Bill Evans, (and even Frank Zappa!) If it turns out JVC is responsible for making that musicians' list available, I'll wind up purchasing their version of this album, if only as a 'thank you.'

 

The original vinyl album also listed the composers of each song, including Fats Waller (Jitterbug Waltz), Charlie Chaplin (Limelight Theme, also called Eternally) and the great South American Manuel Ponce (Estrellita). Regrettably the Classic records version did not have that listing----a disservice to composers and lyric writers who wrote these great songs. Or these days does no one care enough any more to ask "Who wrote that Song?"

 

Mark Blackburn

Winnipeg Canada

 

FLASH FORWARD to present moment: (November 15, 2015) You can now obtain the desirable version in the recent "Chet Atkins 8 Classic Albums" box set. Superb value and great sound!

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]This, my favorite jazz version of this Irving Berlin classic[/h]

 

Oscar Peterson recalls that when Fred Astaire prepared to sing this one with Oscar's trio he wondered aloud why Berlin chose such a difficult (to sing) rhythm. A review I wrote for Oscar's biography by fellow-Canadian Gene ('Quiet Nights') Lees.

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-r...SIN=0826458076

 

 

 

The relevant part, if that link doesn't work for you:

 

 

 

"As I waited for Fred (to arrive) I started toying with a few phrases I thought unusual in the songs likely to be used - Top Hat, for example (and) As I sat there engrossed, I became aware of a presence nearby, and looked up into the smiling face of Astaire himself. He wore a tweed sports jacket a soft pair of brown slacks (engagingly held up by a man's tie) and a hat set at an almost rakish angle.

 

 

 

"He was at once immensely likeable, and awe-inspiring: sensing my diffidence, he said kindly, `Sounds awfully good to me, Oscar!'"

 

 

 

"After the initial rehearsal went very well - although Fred voiced some doubts about his competence as a vocalist - he was very clear on the feel and treatment he wanted on most of the songs; on others he was less sure, and wondered aloud, `I've never understood why he wrote that kind of lyric for this particular tune," or "I've never felt comfortable with this passage.

 

 

 

"It would be idle to pretend that the sessions passed without a hitch. For all his rhythmic feel, Fred was not naturally attuned to jazz phrasing, and it was at times perilously easy to throw him, via the wrong intro or a misplaced fill.

 

 

 

"We learned to gauge our ad lib lines around and behind him very carefully, giving him enough time to hear his place of re-entry coming up. We also stuck firmly to the normal harmonic clusters, as any kind of `modern' dissonance could faze him, or make him worried about his own intonation.

 

 

 

"I found it fascinating to discover how different were Fred's senses of time as a vocalist and as dancer: Dancing, his time was so strict that he could make an accompaniment sound early or late; his vocal time however, was VERY loose, uninhibited, and unmeasured.

 

 

 

"I found the best way to accompany Fred was to give him a long harmonic chord cushion and let him take his natural liberties with metronomic time.

 

 

 

"It was also riveting to watch Fred on some of the slow ballads. His normal posture was to hold one hand cupped over his ear as he sang, but on some tunes he would lower the hand and instinctively fall into a semi-swirl, so familiar from his gliding ballroom performances.

 

 

 

"And we were all touched by his nervous, boyish anxiety: he'd rush to the piano after every take asking, `How was that?' or `Did I stay in tune?'

 

 

 

"One or two surprises remained. We found out that he LOVED playing drums (he had a full set in his living room) and we cajoled him into sitting-in during a rehearsal! It was a riot! To hear his time, in conjunction with Ray Brown's vast sound was quite an event - and the look of rapt attention on his face was a joy to behold!

 

 

 

-- Oscar Peterson

 

[Mark Blackburn]

LOVER -- sexiest version EVER

 

 

Peggy's big screen version of LOVER takes my breath away. If Frank is my favorite male singer, Peggy is my 'other half' favorite. Just thought of an anecdote she shared -- how the composer, Richard Rodgers told her when they met: "It's supposed to be a waltz, you know."

 

 

 

Notwithstanding my favorite composer's opinion about the need to take this one 'slowly, in three-quarter time . . . Peggy's incredibly sexy take remains the all-time best, silver screen version of LOVER (one of Dick Rodgers loveliest waltzes; he wrote by my calculation 16 of the 20 best waltzes of the previous century). Musical genius that she was, Peggy did it HER way and . . . words can't convey the heat in every sense of the word. Just watch this and, if you're a man, try to remain cool. I defy you.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

'The King of Twang' early rock guitarist (Lee Hazelwood's buddy) Duane Eddy, took a cue from Peggy's whirlwind tempo to include LOVER on one of his albums: played faster than any other song he recorded (with repeated hammer-ons on the descending melody). I've never been able to find Duane Eddy's instrumental version -- my favorite song that he recorded and the ONLY Great American Songbook classic he ever performed. But here's Peggy's retire-the-trophy take on this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genius that she was, Peggy ARRANGED this too. Someone named Gordon Jenkins sat down with her and transcribed her ideas into an orchestration she approved. A "comment" below the video states:

 

 

 

John Fugazzi

 

1 year ago

 

I forgot to note that the arrangement was entirely her idea, transcribed by Gordon Jenkins. Before this, "Lover" had always been a quiet waltz. Peggy was multi-talented.

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

JOANIE SOMMERS – my favorite up-tempo take on FOR ALL WE KNOW

 

It's usually sung as a somber ballad. Joanie Sommers recorded FOR ALL WE KNOW with a Neil Hefti jazz band and Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio just played her version -- my new favorite -- wistful, but more happy than sad.

 

 

 

Elsewhere this day, on another thread at her SinatraFamily.com website, Nancy Sinatra posted a comment about a different song that: “My favorite version of this song is by Joanie Sommers.” I felt the same way, a moment ago as Sirius played this version by my “other favorite living female singer.”

 

 

 

Ever since the early 60's (when I first heard her on AM radio singing “Johnny Get Angry”) I've been crazy about Joanie Sommers' distinctive, little girl husky voice and deceptively effortless-sounding approach to a song. She's pitch perfect and so is her artless technique. After charming our ears for less than a decade, Joanie cut short her career to be with her husband and children. And that was that. Fortunately her best albums – including a few with superb jazz musicians -- including Neil Hefti who arranged this song that just ended, are still in print and selling well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wiki entry:

 

 

 

Joanie Sommers (born Joan Drost, Buffalo, New York, February 24, 1941) is an American singer and actress with a career concentrating on jazz, standards and popular material and show-business credits. Once billed as "The Voice of the Sixties", and associated with top-notch arrangers, songwriters and producers, Sommers' popular reputation became closely tied to her biggest, yet most uncharacteristic, hit song, "Johnny Get Angry."

 

 

 

Sommers began singing in church choirs as a way to deal with "a difficult childhood", and in 1951 at age 10, appeared on a Buffalo television program singing Hank Williams' "Your Cheating Heart", winning an amateur talent contest. In 1955 the family relocated to Venice, California . . .

 

 

 

In 1962, her single "Johnny Get Angry", released on Warner Bros. Records, reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. "When the Boys Get Together" charted at #94 later the same year.[12] In a 2001 interview, Sommers commented on the legacy of her greatest hit: "Twenty albums with some of the greatest names in jazz and I'm eternally linked to Johnny Get Angry" . . .

 

 

 

In a parallel career track of commercial vocal work, Sommers sang "It's Pepsi, For Those Who Think Young" (to the tune of "Makin' Whoopee") and, later, "Come Alive! You're in the Pepsi Generation" in commercials. She came to be referred to as "The Pepsi Girl".[20][21] Years later she sang the jingle "Now You See It, Now You Don't" for the sugar-free companion product, Diet Pepsi . . .

 

 

 

Sommers was married to theatrical agent Jerry Steiner from 1961 until his sudden death in 1972. Their three children are Carolyn, Nancy and Jason.

 

 

Last edited by Mark Blackburn

; Today at 08:50 PM.

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]My favorite living male singer (you may not have heard-of)[/h]

 

At this moment Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio is playing my "favorite (living) male singer" you may not have heard of. His beautifully-orchestrated version of Kern & Hammerstein's THE FOLKS WHO LIVE ON THE HILL. Peggy Lee retired the trophy with her Nelson Riddle Orchestra (conducted by Frank Sinatra) rendition. But this is my favorite since then:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom Wopat -- aka "Luke Duke" as in the county Hazzard. The dark-haired cousin of Daisy (the real reason we watched that show, right?)

 

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]THE NEARNESS OF YOU[/h]

 

The Wiki entry for my "other favorite song by Hoagy Carmichael" -- THE NEARNESS OF YOU -- lists 50 different artists who recorded it. Oddly, my all-time favorite version (yours too?) is not on the list. It was played a moment ago by Sirius Radio. Time to start a Ned Washington thread. Another brilliant lyric by Ned -- who won two Best Song Oscars (nominated 11 times). This was one of his very best. Love how our favorite singer's voice is alone for a few seconds, then alone together with Bill Miller, before the instantly-recognizable sound of Nelson's strings. I still get goosebumps every time I hear this.

 

 

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

The best Sinatra video I have ever seen . . .

 

 

. . . and I never saw it before tonight!

 

 

 

Watched it for the very first time moments ago at Youtube: a medley that begins with the opening verse from “Glad to Be Unhappy”

 

 

 

Look at yourself, if you had a sense of humor

 

You would laugh to beat the band

 

Look at yourself, do you still believe the rumor

 

That romance is simply grand?

 

 

 

Then suddenly it's “Here's That Rainy Day” – which segues into “It Never Entered My Mind” -- then “Gone With The Wind” -- then a reprise of “Rainy Day.” Sinatra the actor makes his song delivery seem so . . . candid and natural.

 

 

 

It helps that Don Costa did all the arranging. Again and again I prefer a Costa arrangement over earlier Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins orchestrations. Which is saying something! Love the sounds of stormy weather (don't you?) and we hear some claps of thunder at just the right moments. (What is this from, I wonder.) Quite simply my new favorite Sinatra video.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

JULIE BUDD – My Shining Hour

 

I'm pulling up in my driveway and Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio is playing my favorite Johnny Mercer & Harold Arlen song, MY SHINING HOUR and I'm thinking – THIS is my favorite Barbra Streisand recording -- must be recent! I check my computer and it's Julie Budd – someone Sirius radio celebrates every day or two. Julie does something Sinatra liked to do (think “Let's Fall in Love” which opens with the song's bridge release) – Julie sings the opening verse (“This moment, this minute . . .”) mid-way through bridge. Combined with the gorgeous orchestration (wonder who arranged her version) this is quite simply my “second favorite version of this collaboration by the great Harold Arlen and the greatest (non-theatrical) lyricist of them all, Mr. Mercer. They would have loved Julie Budd's take on this, my favorite of their songs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh my! What a Wiki entry:

 

 

 

Julie Budd (born May 7, 1954)[1] is an American cabaret singer and actress, noted for her performances on the Las Vegas Strip in the 1970s. She was often a supporting act for Frank Sinatra's shows at Caesars Palace. She continues to perform, mainly in New York City, where she is also a stage actress.

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

My favorite guitar duets album CHESTER AND LESTER

 

The day Les Paul died I posted a review at Amazon.com for the best 'duet' album by the two most influential electric guitar players of all time (which is saying something!) In case the link below doesn't take you there, the closing words of the review were these:

 

 

 

A personal favorite (a very funny song) was co-written by Chet, titled, "I'm Your Greatest Fan," with spoken introductions to snatches of popular songs played by guitarists OTHER than Chet & Les; the two ridicule each other's playing, pretending to recall famous, best-selling melodies (made popular in the 60s by others -- but never recorded by EITHER Chet or Les; so each plays fractured versions of songs like "Guitar Boogie" and "Raunchy" - while claiming to have "loved your version of that one!"

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2K3NS78PE5ECD?ref=pf_vv_at_pdctrvw_srp&fbclid=IwA R32-AhrB-zuupiIuBO_jS4D4mS7CZUrjJgu_KVsCmnG5QnFRovQUbKVJh4

 

 

 

My favorite song SUNG by Chester & Lester: "I'm your greatest fan"

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Just noticed the comments below the video and posted a response]

 

 

 

Thanks (again) 'DaffyDoug' for posting this one. I see that (five years ago) someone transcribed the closing quote -- Chet saying of his 'influences'

 

"I also like Django Reinhardt and uh, Lenny Breau (someone Chet called the greatest guitarist in the world who grew up here in Winnipeg) and Mary Tyler Moore . . . "

 

 

 

In appreciation I added: "And Les responds, first high brow, then low brow: "And I like (Vladimir) Horowitz [the century's greatest classical pianist] and Sparky Lyle" (sp?) perhaps an inside joke for Chet's benefit, since the rest of us still don't get it! Yes, my all-time favorite humorous song. Although their "Save My Love For Nell" is a close second. Thanks for posting, inyokutse "

 

 

 

Someone else wrote: "I never figured out what (Les) said at 3:15

 

 

 

I responded: "If I had a thumb pick," says Les (who never used one) "I'd dump the CB (radio) rig and hike my way back to Jersey! [Love Chet's response:] "If you had a thumb pick you could play with yourself." Les: "NOW you tell me!!!"

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]Harry and me, we used to be . . . 'The Folks Who Live on the Hill'[/h]

 

Sirius Radio just this minute played my new favorite version of THE FOLKS WHO LIVE ON THE HILL. Bette Midler. She's done that before – displaced all previous versions (except for Peggy's or Frank's).

 

 

 

This is from her Peggy Lee Tribute Album and just as Peggy Lee Americanized the lyric, changing the oh-so-British names “Darby and Joan” to “Baby and Joe” – Bette updates and personalizes it to “Harry and Me – we used to be . . ."

 

 

 

I have Bette to thank for introducing me, long ago to P.S. I LOVE YOU. When Frank recorded it -- and ensured its future viability, I was nine years old and playing Cowboys and . . . Native Americans. I didn't know that 25-hundred miles away in Hollywood Mr. Sinatra was recording his CLOSE TO YOU album

 

 

 

Let's listen to both. First, Bette and “Folks on the Hill”. One of Sinatra's favorite composer/arrangers Gordon Jenkins came up with the melody, with words by Johnny Mercer, (as I call him “Master of the Artless lyric”: You hear the song and think, Heck, it's just a letter! I could have written that!). Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio played his version of 'P.S I Love You' about an hour ago. Ladies first, The Divine Miss M:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frank and a perfectly fitting small string quartet plus flute, celeste and (what else?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wiki entry on the album:

 

 

 

Close to You is the eleventh studio album by American musician Frank Sinatra, accompanied by the Hollywood String Quartet.

 

The album was recorded over a period of eight months and five different sessions, and was arranged by Nelson Riddle.

 

Nelson Riddle commented that the structure of popular songs does not lend itself to arranging in the true string quartet style of the classics and felt that he hadn't really achieved as much as he had hoped. However, when the album was released it received critical praise and as Riddle remarked, "Sinatra liked it!".

 

Recorded March 8, April 4 – 5, November 1, 1956 at Capitol Studio A, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

 

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]Makes you think, perhaps, that Love, like Youth, is wasted on the young![/h]

 

Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio gives regular airplay to Steve Lawrence. At this moment he's singing the Cahn & Van Heusen classic, SECOND TIME AROUND. A really great voice, we take for granted: love the 'smile' in his voice on this one; and the way he sings my favorite line by Sammy Cahn (my favorite romantic/humorous lyricist) " . . . makes you think perhaps, that Love, like Youth, is wasted on the young!"

 

 

 

An approved version at Youtube this night. Did I mention the arrangement? Gorgeous. Wonder who?

 

 

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]Willie -- on a foggy street in London Town[/h]

 

As I type this Willie Nelson is singing Gershwin & Gershwin's A FOGGY DAY IN LONDON TOWN. Dare I say? My new favorite version! A really tight band of top line studio musicians and a sparkling arrangement. More about the song itself in a moment

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lyricist, George Gershwin's older brother Ira recalled a transatlantic phone call with another great composer (Arthur Schwartz, I believe) who commiserated with Ira feeling down in London Town. "Why not write a song about it? You know caught in the fog but finding True Love?"

 

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]"I must say this couch is very comfortable." "It's not a couch -- it's a Love Seat"[/h]

 

It's quarter to two, there's no one in the place except me and you and Sirius played my favorite version of Frank (Guys & Dolls) Loesser's best-known seasonal song, BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE.

 

 

 

What makes this one my all-time favorite (James Taylor & Natalie Cole's version is a close second) – what makes this one the best is the female duet partner for Barry Manilow – Country singer K.T. Oslin. It's been so long since I heard this recording, I confess I was racking my brain to think of her name and . . . the answer to a prayer, this night on Siriusly Sinatra.

 

 

 

Their repartee is the wittiest of any pairing for this great song, composed in an afternoon (words & music) by Frank Loesser, and performed later that day with his wife, at a party. He was a heavy smoker, and that claimed his life at an early age. Did I mention that this song brought him his only “Best Original Song” Academy Award in an Esther Williams musical film, “Neptune's Daughter.” Well it did. Frank would have loved hearing this version. The orchestration is the very essence of 'warm' (and let's stay inside tonight):

 

 

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]How Deep is the Ocean (How odd is my dream)[/h]

 

Alan Jay Lerner, who composed the lyrics for his greatest musical, MY FAIR LADY told his young star Julie Andrews that Irving Berlin's lyric for HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN was Lerner's favorite “because every line is a question!”

 

 

 

I'd been thinking of that a moment ago while listening for the first time to Julie's late-in-life version – alone with a great pianist, Bob Florence, a lesser-known arranger / composer / bandleader who died in 2008 just five days shy of his 76th birthday.

 

 

 

Listen to what he accomplishes with Julie – an 'orchestral' arrangement that at first I mistook for my all-time favorite accompanist, composer/arranger Andre Previn. I had a dream about him last night. I never have dreams – or never remember them, from one decade to the next.

 

 

 

I never remember my dreams, but this one was so vivid. I awoke and related it to my Irene – knowing I'd forget it all details within a minute or two. First this recording which Julie intended as a gift to her husband, Blake Edwards – friends with the pianist, Bob Florence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

-----

 

 

 

I never remember my dreams but this one started off with the best of feelings: I'm walking along a marble arch passageway – like a palace of music in Vienna or someplace close to mountains (I'll soon be in a neighboring ski resort) and walking towards me is Andre Previn. I put up my hands to get him to stop. I want to tell him that he's the greatest accompanist I've ever heard (which would be the most meager compliment for a person of Andre's musical stature) and he stops and smiles at me and almost immediately asks me to hold a soft leather pouch – very large, and buttery soft yet thick leather.

 

 

 

Andre indicates he has to go down the hall to attend to something. He leaves me holding the bag, literally. He doesn't return. I have to be going. Suddenly I'm off at a ski resort in summer. I'm full of anxiety: I can't put down Andre Previn's big leather pouch for fear someone will steal it when I'm not looking.

 

 

 

Flash forward to dream's end: I'm walking up a street to my hotel; a young boy leans over a balcony and asks my name. “The police are here to see you,” he says. I'm close to tears. Upstairs some officials are waiting to interview me about my 'theft' of Andre's pouch. The contents include some theater memorabilia – a piece of fluffy fabric signed by the Hello Dolly lady, Carole Channing (who died last month!)

 

 

 

Still no sign of Andre Previn and . . . I wake up: filled with anxiety, and so glad it's just a dream!

 

 

 

I'm from the Scrooge School of thought when it comes to dreams – that they are 'undigested bits of beef and blots of mustard' passing through our brains. But just in case . . . let's check on the well-being of Andre Previn. I'll get back to you on that.

 

 

 

“Come see Bette Midler” says my Irene. The Divine Miss M – with just a piano accompanist on stage with her – is singing one of tonight's Oscar-nominated Best Songs (from Mary Poppins II perhaps?) with a refrain about “where the dreams go.” Seems to me the score was by Carly Simon's one time orchestra arranger, what's his name – Marc Shaiman!

 

 

 

According to Wiki

 

 

 

André George Previn, born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929)[1] is a German-American pianist, conductor, and composer. Previn is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings (and one more for his Lifetime Achievement).

 

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]EYDIE GORME – I'll Take Romance[/h]

 

Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio just played my favorite version of I'LL TAKE ROMANCE. I was ten years old on the summer day I first heard this version. And here I am thinking the same thought on the coldest day of winter. [indulge me in an aside while I warm up.]

 

 

 

It's 40 below windchill here in the “world's coldest major city” (that's according to the U.S. Consular Service) and it's been like this for umpteen weeks: “Minus 40” or “40 below” – down where the two temperature scales meet – “be it Fahrenheit or Centigrade” as Peggy sang 'Fever-ishly.' But to coin a phrase, I've got my love (Siriusly!) to keep me warm.

 

 

 

I was pulling up in my laneway a moment ago and a lovely familiar voice is singing “I'll Take Romance” – a song I always mean to mention as one of the four (of 20) great waltzes of the 20th century NOT composed by my hero Richard Rodgers. I'd been thinking of it just yesterday when Nancy, on her wonderful Mostly Richard Rodgers program (No. 450) reminded us that the great Oscar Hammerstein worked with other composers (she listed a couple) before Richard Rodgers, and before Jerome (Old Man River) Kern.

 

 

 

Hammerstein wrote the words to I'LL TAKE ROMANCE – as a favor to a composer friend who never had another hit – “Ben Oakland” who was my age (71) when he died in Hollywood 20 years ago.

 

 

 

If you Google for the song title the first name that appears this day is Eydie Gorme – whose version Siriusly Sinatra played this morning. She and her husband both had wonderful voices that we may take for granted. But as if to say 'Anything you can do, I can do better!' Eydie concludes by hitting higher and higher octave notes that rival any Diva of today. Song first, then a Wiki note.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve and Eydie is the name of an American pop vocal duet, consisting of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé. They were a husband and wife team from their wedding in 1957 until Eydie's death in 2013. Both have also had separate careers as solo singers. The performer name on their duet releases was denoted as "Steve and Eydie", without the last names. Eydie was born as Edith Gormezano, while Steve's birth name was Sidney Leibowitz.

 

 

 

Gormé was born in the Bronx to Sephardic Jewish parents. Her father was born in Sicily, her mother in Turkey. They spoke several languages at home, including Ladino, which is rooted in Spanish. After graduating from William Howard Taft High School, which she attended with Stanley Kubrick, Gormé found a job as a translator. At night she studied at City College . . .

 

 

 

Gormé died on August 10, 2013, six days before her 85th birthday, at Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center in Las Vegas after a brief, undisclosed illness. She was interred at Hillside Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

 

Lawrence issued a statement: "Eydie has been my partner on stage and in my life for more than 55 years. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and even more the first time I heard her sing. While my personal loss is unimaginable, the world has lost one of the greatest pop vocalists of all time."

 

[Mark Blackburn]

ANDRE PREVIN -- Over The Rainbow (without the melting lemon drops)

 

 

Andre Previn is more than a jazz pianist. He's what I call a 'spontaneous arranger' on piano -- able to summon up the most wonderful 'orchestral' arrangements when playing solo -- like this, the most beautiful rendition I ever heard of Harold Arlen's best-loved melody.

 

 

 

Listen to the lovely, almost discordant harmonies he 'invents' at around the 1:55 mark. Like very few other pianist/composer/arrangers (Dave Grusin springs to mind as his equal) Andre Previn provides us with an 'aural feast' -- a fountain of harmonic invention, simultaneously complex, yet deceptively simple! (You think: 'Heck I could play those chords!' Oh no, you can't!)

 

 

 

His first solo album -- never available on CD -- had liner notes by Leonard Feather who was present at the recording (which took only a couple of hours) and was amazed to see Mr. Previn, with a stack of sheet music -- Great Songbook standards beside him on the piano bench; Previn proceeded, at random, to begin playing the song at the top of the stack -- recording each melody at one take. If anything went wrong, Andre put that sheet music aside and went straight to the next song. Imagine. That entire album was this good!

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

Sammy & Laurindo -- two Masters, alone together - "Here's That Rainy Day"

 

 

Yesterday listening to Nancy Sinatra's wonderful 'Mostly Richard Rodgers' 3-hour show ( No.450) I praised Sammy Davis Jr. He'd opted to perform "one of the strongest message songs EVER," as Nancy described it, YOU'VE GOT TO BE CAREFULLY TAUGHT. It was Sammy alone together with a guitarist, playing 'unplugged' - an unamplified archtop jazz guitar.

 

 

 

It reminded me, I said, of an album of Broadway songs that Sammy recorded with Laurindo Almeida -- a giant on the instrument from Brazil. (It's Laurindo Almeida playing throughout Sinatra's version of the Cahn/Van Heusen classic, "I Only Miss Her When I Think of Her.")

 

 

 

Just for me, Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio this day played Sammy & Laurindo's "Here's That Rainy Day." The human voice -- alone with an unamplfied nylon string guitar -- never sounded better.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]Here's That Rainy Day (on the Bonneville Salt Flats)[/h]

 

Getting goosebumps listening (for the third time in a row) to trumpet giant Jack Sheldon playing and singing "Here's That Rainy Day" at 400 mph.

 

 

 

For decades my favorite trumpeter was Clifford Brown – killed in a car crash the summer of 1956, at age 25 – a decade before I discovered jazz. Clifford's tone was what lit up my ears. Then, a few years ago Siriusly Sinatra introduced me to my all-time favorite trumpet player – Jack Sheldon.

 

 

 

Earlier this hour Siriusly Sinatra played (just for me?) Jack Sheldon with jazz legend -- drummer Shelly Manne – Jack singing and playing My Fair Lady's humorously misogonistic masterpiece sung by Professor Higgins: “I'm An Ordinary Man” ( “. . . BUT! Let a woman in your life! and your serenity is THROUGH!)

 

 

 

There's a great DVD I cherish about Jack Sheldon's life in which current trumpet giant Chris Botti pays tribute to Jack's influence on his own approach to the trumpet. You can hear the influence.

 

 

 

“I'm an Ordinary Man” by Jack Sheldon does not exist at YouTube. And since we just celebrated the slow ballad “Here's That Rainy Day” – let's hear this amazing orchestration, arranged for the tightest of jazz bands by Sheldon himself. The vocal is only a little faster than normal – but the frenetic band is charging along in 8/4 time. Well you have to hear it to believe it. Especially the solo that begins a minute in. No one has ever played trumpet with such effortless virtuosity. Jack Sheldon is a comedian as well – and you hear the laughter and sheer joy in his playing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wikipedia entry:

 

 

 

Jack Sheldon (born November 30, 1931) is an American bebop and West Coast jazztrumpeter, singer, and actor. He is a trumpet player and was the music director on The Merv Griffin Show, as well as the voice heard on several episodes of the educational music television series Schoolhouse Rock!

 

 

 

Sheldon is the subject of a documentary, Trying to Get Good: the Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon (2008). Produced by Doug McIntyre and Penny Peyser, the film features interviews with Clint Eastwood, Billy Crystal, Merv Griffin, Chris Botti, Dave Frishberg, Johnny Mandel, Tierney Sutton, as well as never before seen concert footage of Sheldon playing, singing and joking. Trying to Get Good won Jury Prizes at the 2008 Kansas City Film Makers Jubilee and Newport Beach Film Festival, as well as Audience Prizes at Newport Beach and the Indianapolis International Film Festival.

 

[Mark Blackburn]

[h=2]And the smile on my face isn't really a smile at all[/h]

 

So I go at a maddening pace – and pretend that it's taking her place

 

but what else can you do? . . . at the end of a love affair.

 

 

 

Where I grew up (in Ottawa Canada) we never heard of Johnny Hartman. At least he didn't get any airplay on AM radio – certainly not his obscure 1956 black vinyl LP, “Songs from the Heart” – which included a song Siriusly Sinatra played again this afternoon.

 

 

 

A song without a Wiki entry – written “in the early 50s” by “Edward Redding.” Google Mr. Redding and Wikipedia informs “The page "Edward Redding" does not exist.

 

 

 

So, another really good song we would never have heard of without the 'life-support' given to it three years later by our favorite singer. (It was included on Sinatra's 1959 CLOSE TO YOU album.)

 

 

 

Sirius from time to time plays this version by Johnny Hartman that Clint Eastwood loves – enough to include in the soundtrack of a couple of his movies, including (my favorite) The Bridges of Madison County.

 

 

 

Mr. Hartman left us 36 years ago. It's nice that the programmer at Siriusly Sinatra plays his version from time to time because . . . well, it's one of his very best. In fact, whenever I think of the tune, in my mind's ear, I hear Johnny's distinctive voice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wiki entry:

 

 

 

John Maurice Hartman (July 3, 1923 – September 15, 1983)[1] was an American jazz singer who specialized in ballads and earned critical acclaim, though he was never widely known. He recorded a well-known collaboration with the saxophonist John Coltrane in 1963 called John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman, was briefly a member of Dizzy Gillespie's group and recorded with Erroll Garner. Most of Hartman's career was spent recording solo albums . . .

 

Memorials

 

In the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, the traffic triangle formed by Amsterdam Avenue, Hamilton Place, and West 143rd Street was designated by the New York City Council in 1984 as Johnny Hartman Plaza.[6]

 

[Mark Blackburn]

THANK HEAVEN FOR LITTLE GIRLS -- Perry's perfect performance!

 

 

There are three songs titled YOU WERE MEANT FOR ME. The one Perry Como included in the middle of a medley, just played tonight on Siriusly Sinatra is this one: "You Were Meant for Me" (1929 song), a pop standard written by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown.

 

 

 

The medley opened with the charming ballad, THANK HEAVEN FOR LITTLE GIRLS -- from Lerner & Loewe's 1958 film musical GiGi – sung in the film by Maurice Chevalier (to music arranged and conducted by Andre Previn). Perry's is almost the only version I can recall hearing – and it's only thanks to Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio playing it -- as part of a three song medley. As it did, minutes ago this night.

 

 

 

The third song in the medley is A FELLA NEEDS A GIRL – from an unsuccessful Rodgers & Hammstein musical (there were such things!) that opened on Broadway in October of 1947 (a very good year) and closed “without making money.” But it did produce the lovely song Perry included here.

 

 

 

Finally, two years ago, when I wasn't looking, someone posted an authorized version at Youtube. Thank heaven!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And . . . according to Wiki: "Frank Sinatra took 'A Fellow Needs a Girl' to Number 24 in 1947."