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GREAT MELODY, GREAT LYRIC, GREAT RENDITION


Mark Blackburn

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Old films about old folks - a note from my friend Sam

My best friend in Wisconsin (I may never get to meet) is my favorite Amazon reviewer. My Dad authored a best-selling (by Canadian standards) WWII 'Trilogy' (The Guns of Normandy cf) reviewed by Samuel Chell -- the only American friend to send flowers to my father's funeral. Anyway, my friend Sam just responded a moment ago to my "Downton" review. [Sam writes:]

That's one of the films in a list of approximately 50 movies recommended on a site for and about seniors. Movies about lonely old people, the separation of couples married for a half century or more, the clashes between parents and their frequently heedless children, the inhumanity of many nursing homes and assisted care facilities--most of those films are "box office poison" and therefore avoided by cinema production companies and distributors. "Downtown Abbey" was apparently a glaring exception: not only did it manage to get produced but it became a virtual blockbuster if not a social phenomenon. The site is Gentle Transitions and the list is "Movies About Seniors." About "Downtown Abbey" the description is brief: "The continuing story of the Crawley family, wealthy owners of a large estate in the English countryside in the early twentieth century." Your response to the film / series is far more likely to get me to view it, if only. to discover why the film was such a success.

I might add that "Downton Abbey" was inspired by one of Robert Altman's last films, "Gosford Park" (2001). The movie was written by Julian Fellowes, who was also the primary writer of "Downton Abbey." (Altman's "Nashville" (1975) is probably my favorite film. I went back to the theater 3 times for repeat viewings.)

Re: the list of movies for seniors. As comprehensive as it is, at least 3 of the very best films about issues facing seniors are omitted from the list:

1. "Make Way for Tomorrow." Orson Welles said: "That movie could make a stone cry." I defy anyone not to turn into a stone while viewing this 1937 Leo McCarey film. (Peter Bogdonovich talks about it on YouTube.)

2. "Tokyo Story" (1950 Japanese film by Ozu). In some respects that is an artful, subtle, less melodramatic version of "Make Way for Tomorrow." The film frequently appears at the top of lists polling critics about the best films ever made.
3. "I Never Sang for My Father" (1970) Powerful, unforgettable television production starring Gene Hackman (as the son) and Melvyn Douglas (once the romantic lead in a 1930s Garbo film) as the problematic aging parent.

[I responded]

Re "I Never Sang for My Father" -- I watched it in the theater ("This is where I came in!") and, like you, I was in my mid-twenties and remember thinking THIS is the sort of movie I've been waiting for. THIS is my favorite film! Coincidentally or not (Mom would say "not!") I just re-watched it for the first time in 40 years, not even one week ago. We are in sync, Sir.
 
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How about YOU and embraceable too

It's quarter to two there's no one in the place except me and you . . .

Siriusly Sinatra has just played two consecutive songs, with “YOU” (the word we most want to hear) in their titles -- and they were made to segue into one another! Sarah Vaughn with EMBRACEABLE YOU and – I couldn't spot the singer, and confess I thought at first it was a woman's character voice, doing a fine jazz rendition of HOW ABOUT YOU. “Joe Pesci” says the scroll – so call it a young boy voice, but his vocal athleticism is superb! This IS the actor, right? And the musicians in his band are virtuosos! Both these songs are “new favorite versions” and are they at YouTube? Yes!

Ladies first – “Sassy” at her best. Somewhere I have a CD (an inside-cover insert from the Charles Pignone Sinatra Treasures book) in which Sinatra, in live performance in Vegas, tells his audience to go see Sarah, playing that night at another hotel. He spoke of her greatness and that Ms Vaughn is someone you owe it to yourself to see” (words to that effect). Singing the Gershwin's EMBRACEABLE YOU.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzq-LyibcUk

And the inimitable ('don't mess with me') Mr. Pesci and HOW ABOUT YOU. A bebop sax solo by someone great. Wonder who?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7iDeZQFoiw
 
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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From my favorite Joni Mitchell album (James Taylor's too?)

Years before his first-ever concert here in Winnipeg, a city of 700,000, I would try to reach James Taylor with the message: Why not us? You've visited Saskatoon! – a much smaller city in neighboring Saskatchewan (“the endless prairie, where the buffalo used to roam” as Randy Newman sang on his FAUST album with James singing harmonies! (Bet you DIDN'T know that.)

Saskatoon is the birthplace of Joni Mitchell; and just as Bob Dylan visited a neighborhood here in Winnipeg, just to see the house where Neil Young grew up (invited inside by the friendly folks who were the current tenants), similarly, Mr. Taylor 'took in the sights' of Saskatoon, including, no doubt, “Aden Bowman High School” where Joni was initially inspired to leave and see the world.

Thought of Joni and her love for James as I listened again to my favorite song from what James called her “orchestral” album (with 70-piece orchestra arranged by Vince Mendoza) – the CD from which, James selected for his world-wide BBC online show, ANSWER ME MY LOVE.

Coincidentally (or not) I'd awakened this day humming my all-time favorite pop ballad by my second-favorite composer, Harry (Salvatore Guaragna) Warren – AT LAST. I never knew my hero wrote it, until a couple of decades ago, driving into work in the cold pre-dawn of a winter day like this one. Had that 'gotta-pull-the-car-over' to the side of the road moment, and turned up the AM radio volume: A great female singer -- I couldn't immediately identify -- in the company of a huge (70 piece?) orchestra was re-introducing me to AT LAST.  What makes this arrangement so good? It blends a deceptively simple complexity, with a disarmingly simple riff, of repeated notes -- the 'chink-chink-chink' piano accompaniment heard in so many of those early, mostly-forgotten 50's pop tunes that tried so hard to compete for our attention on early rock 'n' roll radio. Really, isn't she lovely?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPDa2sa9mMU[/url]

She did it 'live' on Letterman!  Who knew? Not me!

 

 

 

 

Edited by Mark Blackburn
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IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT (second favorite version)

It's nearing midnight and time for bed and I was hoping that maybe I would hear Siriusly Sinatra play something by "my favorite living singer" and . . . answer to a prayer! Right this minute, it is Calabria Foti's gorgeous, ultra-slow rendition of IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT. At a fast clip, Sinatra owns this one of course. But I bet he would have loved to hear Calabria's 'rubato' take -- from her album of all- Cole Porter songs: It takes my breath away.

It's not to be found at Spotify; a snippet can be heard at YouTube, near the close of a promotional video, featuring words of praise from clarinet genius Eddie Daniels, plus a few informed words from her trombone virtuoso hubby, Bob McChesney.

If you are in a hurry, slide it over to around 2:41 as Calabria introduces that little taste of what channel 71 just played -- IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT. Time for bed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5SAot5vpUo
After she clicked on the Calabria Foti link (above) a friend in Louisiana "Judy K" said "they tried to charge me . . ." My best friend in Wisconsin (retired English professor and professional jazz pianist SAMUEL CHELL replied: "One solution is Apple Music or Amazon Music or Spotify--$10 a month for a subscription. Another is YouTube (free, in many cases). Whatever, real musicians are impoverished or close to it, eternal panhandlers forever in search of the next gig. They deserve every dime just to make ends meet."
 
 
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Grandfathers are, as Barbra sang, the “luckiest people in the world”

“Hello, Dad” my son Aaron (father of four) said on the phone a moment ago. “Just checking on how you and Mom are doing.” His two youngest were hovering nearby. “We miss you,” said Aaron. “Do you want to say Hi to Grumpa?” The littlest angel, Adeline said, Hello Grumpa (twice) while asking her Dad something. A doll's dress strap needed attending-to, and I was 'on hold' for a few seconds, till Adeline's gentle four-year-old voice said, “I love you,” and her six year old sister Kaitlyn added a “love you and miss you” too.

I told Aaron to thank their Mom, Robyn, who was the reason Irene and I got to Rome for our fortieth anniversary, four summers ago. “Robyn said to check on you and Mom every day now – see if you need milk or anything from the store.”

An American friend (who like me would be at daily Mass if such were permitted) shared her “Top 10 list of Catholic movies” to see at this moment when another friend says we are “self-isolated socially distant quarantined curfewed sheltered-in-place, People.”

Some of these films I confess I have heard-of but have yet to see. So now to search for these three:

WE WERE SOLDIERS – Although violent, the battle scenes are accurate portrayals of the events that changed the course of the Vietnam War. The movie, starring by Mel Gibson, shows the men who dedicated and sacrificed their lives for God, country and their brothers.

THE MISSION – Robert De Niro stars in this movie about a Jesuit missionary evangelizing the native people of 18th-century South America. It was nominated for seven Oscars and won the Palm d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival.

MICHAEL COLLINS: First he played Holocaust hero Oskar Schindler. Then he played Irish hero Michael Collins. Liam Neeson stars in this biopic about the Irish revolutionary, soldier and politician who struggled for Ireland’s independence from the United Kingdom in the early 20th century. It was nominated for two Academy Awards (cinematography and score), and Neeson and the film won top prizes at the Venice Film Festival.

You've seen these before, right? And you agree?  they're 'first rate'? (and “not just for Catholics” as another friend reminds me!)

Now, concerning that song Barbra forever made her own: It was co-written -- with Sinatra's great composer friend Jule Styne -- by the same fellow who wrote “Honeycomb” for Jimmy Rogers, “How Much is That Doggie in the Window” for Patti Page, and -- “for 'Her Nibbs, Georgia Gibbs'” – "If I knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked a cake." The lyricist for PEOPLE was (the other) Robert Merrill (not the opera star) and he and Jule would concur (as Churchill once said of matters more important: THIS was their finest hour!

“Live in Central Park – 1968” (finally shared to YouTube just three years ago!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxgEEAa2bB4 \
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JAMES TAYLOR - Together at Home

I went to bed last night thinking of two 'iconic' James Taylor songs. After a good day's work – and before turning off the fireplace and 'turning in' for the night (as my English-born Grandpa used to say) I'd been thinking about my two favorites: the one, biographical -- “Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” – and the other, more 'universal' in nature – “The Secret of Life.”

Sometime during the night James Taylor's Facebook page shared my “new favorite” 'nature & truth' song -- with a lovely ebb and flow melody only James could have written and performed: with artless chords that sound .... well, as easy as rolling off a log (except they never are!) creating harmonies that 'segue' in ways both familiar and new. I listened to this with goosebumps – trying to make out all the words of refrain and . . . to coin a song title or two: it seemed to me I'd heard this song before …. if only in my dreams:

Up in my cabin, over the valley, under the blankets with you . . .
Over the oceans from here . . . Over the mountains from there.

Who can imagine the [skill?] of the forces
that pushed this old mountain range up in the sky?
To come of creation, erosion [mutation?]
– something to pleasure God's eye. [ ! ]

Coincidentally or not (I hear my late Mom saying “There ARE no coincidences!”) I'd been recalling a Biblical passage about taking things “one day at a time” – the exact words, in olde English (Mtt 6:34)

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Lo and behold! James Taylor singing as if to me personally:

“Enough for the day' – the demands of the moment
The thing 'on my mind' is the work of my hands:
Wood for the wood stove, and water for coffee
something I still understand.”

https://www.facebook.com/JamesTaylor...9427307238367/
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=239427307238367
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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My favorite version of I GET ALONG WITHOUT YOU VERY WELL

Jane Brown Thompson – does the name ring a bell? Probably not unless you are the sort of kindred spirit who cares to ask, “Who wrote that song?” A widow who wrote a poem that Hoagy (Stardust) Carmichael turned, with only slight modifications, into the most poignant song of its kind.

Mr. Carmichael always wrote the music, not the words – and waited years to get around to composing the lyric himself: Then he tried to track down Jane Brown Thompson to alert her to “listen in” the night it had its introduction on radio in 1939). The story goes she died the night before.

The Wikipedia entry for this one (below) is short on info, but long on “Notable Recordings.” The first and most important, was included on Nancy's favorite of her Dad's albums – “In The Wee Small Hours” (1955). The list of 50 other versions by important singers takes us up to “Kristin Chenoweth – Art of Elegance (2016).

Best ever “live” version? The one Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio played earlier this hour. The Voice sounding strong and warm – assured, in the presence of a large and adoring audience: This version can be tracked down by Wise Men because it ends with the singer making an implicit joke about the orchestra collecting dirty money and making a quick exit. A timely, 'wash-your-hands' moment as Frank says these words over the applause:

“Isn't that nice? Such a pretty song . . . let's have the string section stand up and take a bow!” [and as they do] “Now, get your money, wash up, and get outta here!”

Until the real thing comes along, with a proper graphic, first offering this day at YouTube is . . . oh my! Surely the best video version. Listen to the breath control, beginning around the 1:30 mark. Unless you are a singer – any kind of singer – you may not appreciate those 13-and-one-half seconds of phrasing – the sort that all the other singers say Frank did best. Meantime …. s'cuse me, I have something in my eye.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcRZ2i_C6zo

[Wiki entry in its entirety]

"I Get Along Without You Very Well" is a popular song composed by Hoagy Carmichael in 1939, with lyrics based on a poem written by Jane Brown Thompson, and the main melodic theme on the Fantaisie-Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op 66, by Frédéric Chopin.[1] Thompson's identity as the author of the poem was for many years unknown; she died the night before the song was introduced on radio by Dick Powell.[1] The biggest-selling version was a 1939 recording by Red Norvo and his orchestra (vocal by Terry Allen). Carmichael and Jane Russell performed the song in the 1952 film noir The Las Vegas Story.[1]
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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Die, die, die . . . coronavirus

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the 79-year-old infectious disease expert heading the White House Corona Virus team of experts, took time out to brighten our day: Dr. Tony impersonating Tom Jones in a parody of "Delilah" (for those too young to remember either cultural milestone).

Who was it that said (other than 'Reader's Digest' 70 years ago) “Laughter is the best medicine”? This works for me, you too? Favorite lines (uttered by millions of us, this very day):

I gotta make sure I'm not touching the nob on my door . . .

Damn . . . . social distance!

I keep running out of Purell, I sure hope they make more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmSasG_vRh8
 
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BELLE OF THE BALL -- my favorite waltz since I was two!

"Nigel Fowler Sutton" (with a name like that you KNOW that he is English) posted the most beautiful slide show consisting of great paintings, none of which I'd ever seen, of fancy dress balls of centuries past. Set to my favorite waltz, by my favorite composer when I was two years old. Always envied those who grew up around Boston and who might have met the composer Leroy Anderson, the patron saint of their "Pops" orchestra. I wrote a note about this one seven months ago; we need more visual and sonic beauty combined like this, you may agree? [my note of seven months ago] My favorite composer Richard Rodgers, by my calculation, composed 16 of the 20 best waltzes of the 20th century; the short list of others includes Leroy Anderson's “Belle of the Ball” (and Frank Loesser's best: “Wonderful Copenhagen").

When I was two years old, my favorite composer was Leroy Anderson (The Typewriter Song, Bugler's Holiday, Syncopated Clock, The Waltzing Cat). It would be years later that I realized my musical hero composed "Belle of the Ball" I think my favorite waltz containing as it does umpteen musical bridges providing symphonic variations. Imagine my delight to find a kindred soul, Nigel Fowler Sutton, has kindly uploaded this rendition (with London symphony musicians) -- with the most wonderful slide show of beautiful women in gowns preparing to waltz!

p.s. Just as an aside for any painters out there: At 2:17 there is a picture of girls, seated, in satin gowns; the PINK satin fabric! It's only there to see -- a quick zoom-in -- for 3 seconds: an artistic achievement that would have been appreciated by giants like Rembrandt and Vermeer -- Masters of light and shade who lived before pink satin fabric existed. I'm a painter and would dearly love to know who that artist is! Yes, an achievement in "mere pigment" every bit as remarkable as the Dutch masters depicting gold, reflected in candle light. You look -- and ask: HOW did they achieve that!
 
 
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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Street of Dreams – Frank Sinatra

 
Love laughs at a king,  kings don't mean a thing, on the street of dreams . . .  Poor? There ain't nobody poor, long as Love is sure, on the street of dreams . . . 
There are certain songs that Sinatra just owns and we cannot imagine anyone else singing. One such he included on his historic “At The Sands” album, and for many of us, it's actually our favorite track. Easy to forget it's there, until you hear it again, and think: “What a song!” And what an arrangement by Quincy Jones – the chorus of saxophones and brass in the opening bars give me goosebumps, every time!

One of Frank's good friends Victor (Stella By Starlight) Young composed the gorgeous tune. I always forget the lyricist's name. The tiniest possible entry at Wikipedia reminds us of its obscurity.

"Street of Dreams" is a song and foxtrot composed in 1932 by Victor Young, with lyrics by Sam M. Lewis. There were three successful recordings of the song in 1933 by Guy Lombardo, Ben Selvin and Bing Crosby.[1]

Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio just played it . . . at quarter to five, doing what it can, to keep it alive (sorry).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOQzRwUNS2g

Comments from kindred souls (below the video) in a chorus of agreement:
contactnoxcuse  (4 years ago)
One of my favorite Sinatra songs, and not well known..
Richard Condon  (2 years ago)
Think about it children, you are hearing this at a level never to be matched.
Murp H.  (4 years ago)
The greatest there ever was --- no one -- no one reached the heights he established --- his music was and is forever -- Rip Frank --- we still listed
dan fiore (4 years ago)
MASTERPIECE - For me this is Sinatra's best album; with the power and punch of Basie's superb band and Jones' arranging it is just supreme.
dennis guerrerio  (2 years ago)
When Frank finished the song, he even acknowledged the song was written by the late Victor Young. What class!
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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But now the days are short, I'm in the Autumn of the year . . .

. . . and now I think of my life as vintage wine, from fine old kegs . . . from the brim to the dregs, it poured sweet and clear, it was a VERY good year!

Awoke this day to a reminder from a Facebook friend, an American Mom and fellow grandparent, “Kelly N.” She'd posted a link to IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR (one I played on guitar for my Mom, when I was 17 (all together now) I'd sung it, and finger picked the chords on my 61 year old GUILD brand 'Slim Jim' acoustic-electric -- which I recently paid 1500 Canadian dollars to our city's best guitar builder and luthier to make better than new -- as a gift to my grandson Thomas -- a very good musician (with perfect pitch) who agrees that it is "the best guitar" (neck) either of us has ever played. MUCH better than it was coming out of the Hoboken New Jersey factory in 1959. (Spell check hasn't heard of "Hoboken" where someone famous grew up.

Kelly wrote just four words: “My all time favorite.” [I responded]

When the composer asked Frank why he didn't include the "hey nonny nonny" olde English style doggerel at the start of the opening verse, the way folk groups did, our favorite singer said, "Because I would have sung doo-doo-doo, bee- doo" (instead).

I agree, Kelly: IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR (arranged by my Mom's favorite Gordon Jenkins from his "September of My Years" album) is right there in my own "Top Five". Thanks so much for including the link to this. I needed it – right now!

 

Edited by Mark Blackburn
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But now the days are short, I'm in the Autumn of the year . . .

. . . and now I think of my life as vintage wine, from fine old kegs . . . from the brim to the dregs, it poured sweet and clear, it was a VERY good year!

Awoke this day to a reminder from a Facebook friend, an American Mom and fellow grandparent, “Kelly N.” She'd posted a link to IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR (one I played on guitar for my Mom, when I was 17 (all together now) I'd sung it, and finger picked the chords on my 61 year old GUILD brand 'Slim Jim' acoustic-electric -- which I recently paid 1500 Canadian dollars to our city's best guitar builder and luthier to make better than new -- as a gift to my grandson Thomas -- a very good musician (with perfect pitch) who agrees that it is "the best guitar" (neck) either of us has ever played. MUCH better than it was coming out of the Hoboken New Jersey factory in 1959. (Spell check hasn't heard of "Hoboken" where someone famous grew up.

Kelly wrote just four words: “My all time favorite.” [I responded]

When the composer asked Frank why he didn't include the "hey nonny nonny" olde English style doggerel at the start of the opening verse, the way folk groups did, our favorite singer said, "Because I would have sung doo-bee -doo-bee- doo" (instead).

I agree, Kelly: IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR (arranged by my Mom's favorite Gordon Jenkins from his "September of My Years" album) is right there in my own "Top Five". Thanks so much for including the link to this. I needed it – right now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeDf...9h8SZaB-63lSKg
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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BILL EVANS -- Cole Porter's Ev'rything I Love

Another 'best friend I may never get to meet' -- Samuel Chell, retired English prof and professional jazz pianist in Wisconsin just asked me on Facebook, Did Sinatra ever do this one? (Cole Porter's EV'RYTHING I LOVE). I said, No, he never did.: It is my single most favorite recording by Bill Evans and I never heard anyone else perform it! There's a moment when he does that slide down from black keys onto the whites below and to the right, (pick it up at the 2:49 mark) a tip of the hat to Floyd Cramer. You know the moment, Sam.

Yes, the haunting chord progressions are my favorite by Bill Evans. And no one in the place except me and you Sam. . . ever heard of it. Here we go. Learn this please, and play it at my funeral. Make that my wake. I'm Catholic and they won't let you slip this in, even on organ.
 
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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Rita meets the Brothers-Gibb

One of the things I love most about YouTube: Ordinary souls with special talents can add graphics to songs – to brilliant effect. Case in point. I know, I know, you've seen this before. You and 9,447,559 other viewers, as of this date (3/29/2020).

My wife's a dancer – me? not so much. But doesn't this make you want to do more than sit there smile? Each time I watch this masterpiece, I spot something I didn't see before! You too?
 


[Wikipedia says]

Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987) was an American actress and dancer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined the term "The Love Goddess" to describe Hayworth after she had become the most glamorous screen idol of the 1940s. She was the top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II.[1]

Hayworth is perhaps best known for her performance in the 1946 film noir, Gilda, opposite Glenn Ford, in which she played the femme fatale in her first major dramatic role. Fred Astaire, with whom she made two films, called her his favorite dance partner. Her greatest success was in the Technicolor musical Cover Girl (1944), with Gene Kelly. She is listed as one of the top 25 female motion picture stars of all time in the American Film Institute's survey, AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars.

In 1980, Hayworth was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, which contributed to her death at age 68. The public disclosure and discussion of her illness drew attention to Alzheimer's, which was largely unknown by most people at the time, and helped to increase public and private funding for Alzheimer's research.
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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EVERYDAY – Love's a little stronger . . .

It's midnight, and I just watched the greatest 'live' performance I could ever even imagine, of a Buddy Holly song – by “my favorite living singer/composer” – and sent my way by the not-so-random, shuffle play miracle that is YouTube circa 2020.

Yes, one of my two favorite songs by Buddy Holly. My other favorite of Buddy's? Oh, permit me an aside: That would be the one composed (words and music) by a then 18 year old from my hometown of Ottawa Canada – Paul Anka: He was on a tour bus with Buddy, who shared that he (Buddy) wanted to record something soon, “with a string orchestra.” Paul Anka, who two years earlier sold nine million copies of a song he wrote about his baby sitter, DIANA (arranged by a young Don Costa) – Anka was inspired to gift Buddy with IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE. Recorded in NYC with the “Dick Jacobs Orchestra” plucking fiddle strings up tempo; the last thing Buddy Holly recorded before his death in a North Dakota private plane crash – “the day the music died” as Don McLean put it more famously.

Yes, if I didn't know better I'd say: 'What a coincidence!' Like a guardian angel awaking me just before midnight to say, “I think you're going to like this one.” – James Taylor with a stellar road band, including my all-time favorite studio guitarist Bob Mann playing celestial lines and chords on an old Fender Telecaster (James' own instrument?)

A personal aside: Bob Mann is a brilliant arranger who has worked (like drummer Steve Gadd) with so many top artists: For Linda Ronstadt's early 80's “You Go to My Head” (with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra on a trio of albums that sold 6 million copies) Bob Mann played (what I declared then-and-now) “the best jazz solo" musical bridge by any virtuoso, EVER. (Check it out, please.)

Yet, I never saw my hero 'on the road' with James Taylor until right this minute: From beginning to end, you can hear the subtle, artless magic of Bob Mann's rhythm and lead lines. You get to hear them throughout the first 1:41 before James begins to sing the best rendition . . . well, as we used to say in movie theaters: “But this is where I came in.”

p.s. I believe that's the late Don Grolnick playing electric piano. “If you could bring back someone from the (musical) past, who would you choose?” a viewer asked Mr. Taylor on his live feed from Montana this week: The immediate reply: “Don Grolnick, who died in 1996.”  I'm getting goosebumps again. You too?
 
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE -- James Taylor

Almost like hearing it for the first time! James Taylor's new version playing this hour on Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio -- my new all-time favorite rendition of ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE -- best ballad from “Brigadoon” a Broadway show that opened one year before Mr. Taylor was born (March 1947).

A lyric of brilliant simplicity penned by Alan Jay Lerner, set to a magic melody from Frederick “Fritz” Loewe. The genius pair would enjoy their greatest-ever achievement at the 1956 opening of “My Fair Lady” whose own great ballad, I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face, James thoughtfully included as a bonus track on the Target stores edition of AMERICAN STANDARD. The novelty of hearing James Taylor singing great standards on Channel 71 will never wear off.

This time around, I really listened closely to the sax solo by Lou Marini – on the musical bridge as well as a closing coda just before the song 'fades to black.' The fade-out is best reserved for special purposes. I can't recall the last time James Taylor ended a song with a slow fade, but here it's simply perfect!

The dreamy sound of virtuoso Lou Marini on soprano sax – his two-chorus solo on the musical bridge -- is just so beautiful: both the notes that he selects with such great taste -- and the texture of his sound, so like the human voice – and so in keeping with the evocative doo-wop chorus.

Once more with feeling . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCZ8OZWXb1c

Mr. Marini's Wikipedia entry reminds us how much a part of the soundtrack of our lives he has been for almost half a century:

Louis William Marini Jr. (born May 13, 1945), known as "Blue Lou" Marini, is an American saxophonist, arranger, and composer. He is best known for his work in jazz, rock, blues, and soul music, as well as his association with The Blues Brothers.

From 1972-1974 he played in Blood, Sweat & Tears. From 1975–1983, he was a member of the Saturday Night Live house band. He was a member of The Blues Brothers band, appearing in The Blues Brothers movie and its sequel, Blues Brothers 2000, playing the part of "Blue Lou", a moniker given by Dan Aykroyd.

He played on Frank Zappa's 1977 album Zappa in New York, on Cindy Bullens' 1978 album Desire Wire, and has worked with Aerosmith, Deodato, Maureen McGovern, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Dionne Warwick, the Buddy Rich Big Band, and the Woody Herman Orchestra.
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Left a note on the above with Mr. Taylor's Facebook page

 
Concerning those two geniuses, a compatriot and favorite living musicologist Mark Steyn writes, as only he can, a paragraph that conveys so much about the private lives of these two very different men. ('Words that sing' as the poets say):
 
Born in 1918, [Alan Jay] Lerner was a generation younger, and not at all born under a wand'rin' star except where women were concerned: Seven divorces burned through the millions from Brigadoon, Gigi, Camelot My Fair Lady et al, and left him in hock not only to his exes but also to the fearsome Internal Revenue Service. [“Fritz”] Loewe was cannier: It took just the one wife to convince him married life was not for him, and thereafter he flitted through a cavalcade of increasingly younger passing fancies, under no illusion they were anything more. He thus retained his fortune, including the Palm Springs pad with the supersized bed that rotated to face the desert or the mountains or some appealing combination thereof, and the yacht anchored just off his favorite casino at Cannes - in contrast to Lerner, who was insufficiently liquid to pay his final medical bills at Sloane-Kettering. There is a famous story of Lerner and Loewe in London, stopping in at a Park Lane Rolls-Royce showroom after lunch with the impresario Binkie Beaumont. Each man picks out a Rolls. Alan reaches for his checkbook, but Fritz stays his hand. "I'll get these," says Loewe. "You paid for lunch." At the end of Lerner's life, Fritz Loewe could still have bought both cars, but it's not clear Alan could have bought both lunches.
 
 
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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BOBBY DARIN -- new favorite 'live' performance of My Funny Valentine

A new favorite 'live' performance of Rodgers & Hart's other most recorded song: Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio is playing Bobby Darin singing MY FUNNY VALENTINE. It's a live performance. I'm in the car, hands well-lubricated with Purell -- and hoping that when I pull up in the driveway at home in ten minutes time, it'll still be listed on the Sirius radio screen-scroll on my computer – a graphic of the album cover. Yes and no – there is a picture, but of a compilation album with print too small to read.

Is it at YouTube? Yes! “Live at the Flamingo Hotel” back when Chevy made my favorite Stingray Corvette – the one with the split-glass rear window, remember? Bet a couple or three of them were sitting in that hotel's parking lot when this was recorded. What is my point? Isn't this simply amazing?

Like Sinatra – his only rival as 'greatest living male singer' circa '63 (certainly among those who headlined in Vegas) – like Frank, Bobby took liberties with the lyrics, taking perfectly cadenced words – in this case Larry Hart's lyric for Richard Rodgers' gorgeous melody – and playfully knocking them out of kilter. And yet it works. He makes this one his own, don't you agree?

An official “2000 Digital Remaster” version. Missing all the fine comments from kindred spirits (not a one since this was uploaded almost five years ago).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGJ2_hRWvs8
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Sometimes a flat pick is best (especially for 'fiddle tunes')

Enjoying a conversation of guitarists at James Taylor's Facebook page this night – the pros and cons of 'finger nail reinforcement.'  Of the three best finger-pickers in the world today, two of my favorites use artificial nails -- go to a manicurist regularly for 'professional application.' As one guitarist here noted: Australia's Tommy Emmanuel does NOT, “but he does use a thumb pick.” That's true – but only half the story! 
 
There is no one in the history of steel-string acoustic guitar playing who can wield flat pick like Tommy Emmanuel: His shading, at blinding speed, is next to impossible -- never replicated by other virtuoso players.
 
Just as an aside, I helped arrange Mr. Emmanuel's two visits to Winnipeg Canada (he does 300 dates a year). As James Taylor can attest, I pestered him for years to include “the world's coldest major city” in his travels. “I had SUCH a good time,” he said at concert's end, “that I've already arranged to come back to Winnipeg same time next year!”
 
My gifted musician grandson Thomas and I (we'll be at James Taylor's re-scheduled concert) were among a dozen guitarists at a meet & greet before that first show: I asked Mr. Emmanuel (someone who radiates goodness) if he would include his own composition THE TALL FIDDLER on the set list. He smiled and nodded, as if to say “You like the tough ones!”
 
He performed this virtuoso piece – a 'fiddle tune' in every sense, but even better played as only he can – without mistakes. Just as here – a mid-day video he shared with the world after a good warm-up. As Sinatra said of Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers: “You can wait around forever but you'll never see the likes of this again.”
 
 
[ First comment below the video] "I tried to start writing out the TABS for this but the paper kept catching on fire."
 
 
His weapon of choice, since you ask, is a MATON – made in Australia. He's never played a concert with any other brand. “Why not a Gibson?” I asked him. “This plays better, feels and sounds better -- always has."
 
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Boogie till the cows come home . . .

“Actually,” as my favorite actress says in Trouble With The Curve, “That isn't his best pitch. Show him the curve.”

“The best guitarist I have ever seen!” declared Eric Clapton -- after watching in amazement as Australia's Tommy Emmanuel played boogie-woogie for ten minutes, without repeating himself: Just when you think he couldn't make it even more interesting, he doubles down, again and again.

Mr. Emmanuel shared this amazing quality video with his fans 5 years ago -- just another live performance: they are ALL this good.

Look at the faces in this crowd – the intelligence and the joy! You can tell half of them are guitarists! (We are like fishermen recognizing each other from afar.) For now, skip his opener, Classical Gas (best version you've ever heard) but skip ahead to 3:25.

[Note to self] Highlights of “better and better” at 6:45 and (funky) at 8:30, 10:45, and 12:45. Not just the speed, but the shading! That plus swing! If the late Oscar Peterson had played guitar, he might have sounded sort of exactly like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MCL...rt_radio=1&t=0
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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JAMES TAYLOR does Peter Pan

“It may be miles beyond the moon, or right there – where you stand
Just keep an open mind, then suddenly you'll find – Never Neverland.”

Siriusly Sinatra is playing James Taylor's new version of a song from Peter Pan -- a 1954 Broadway show that almost never was. The show's producers, facing time constraints, needed a strong ballad to insert near the start of the show and sought outside help from the Masters – composer Jule Styne and the lyricist team of Betty Comden & Adolph Green – the threesome who gave us BELLS ARE RINGING. In 'short order' as they say in kitchens, the trio delivered “Neverland” (its original title).

Until its inclusion as a bonus track on AMERICAN STANDARD, I'd only ever heard one latter-day recording of this almost forgotten gem – a live performance by Livingston Taylor (a talented family!)

Siriusly Sinatra's programmer, Jersey Lou Simon, especially enjoys the bonus tracks on the Target edition of AMERICAN STANDARD (the other is “I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face” from My Fair Lady). Chords and harmonies that James Taylor alone could employ to “make this one his own.” You'll never hear a better version.

To my ears (I'm a big fan of Richard Rodgers) James Taylor writes the strongest bridges – those middle parts where the melody takes off in a fresh new direction, taking our heart along for the flight. The brief musical bridge on this one is so beautiful – to borrow from the lyric, “the place where dreams are born.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIGwZz3G-NM
 
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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I dreamed last night of tugboats that could sing!

I dreamed last night I was on a boat to heaven
Surrounded by some tugboats that could sing!
I heard their voice, yet could not see their faces
I knew not one . . . except the Tug named Ping.

----

Awoke at 3, thinking of the opening stanza to the Frank (Guys & Dolls) Loesser song, SIT DOWN YOU'RE ROCKING THE BOAT which James sings on his new album American Standard. He also has a Pug named Ting . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smbNWKYqv_4
 
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Bucky Pizzarelli - John's Dad

I awoke today to a dozen tiny birds in my backyard. It snowed overnight and I'd spread some birdseed on the green grass yesterday. The 12 quickly became 20, then 30 . . . now more. I said to my wife: "Someone we love must have died." It's a coincidence that this only happens -- a dramatic number of birds instead of only one or two -- at the death of someone dear to us. My best friend's Mom, our parish priest. "Let me just check online." Last night I'd shared a note with Australia's greatest living guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. And first thing there this day: "Rest in Peace Bucky Pizzarelli.
Thank you for all the music, your service in the War, your friendship and encouragement, and your divine love of playing the Guitar! Have fun with Django and Les! love Tommy x"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFi_...6IJBTLLceka5Io
Back in 2012 when he was "only 86" and still doing up to 200 dates a year (he'd just played on Paul McCartney's album of standards and should-have-been standards ("Kisses on the Bottom") Bucky Pizzarelli performed with his good friend Tommy Emmanuel. (If you have to ask, you don't play guitar!) Video shared this day. Love Tommy kissing his ring. Yes, I saw the great man once -- a solo performance here in Winnipeg Canada two dozen years ago. He brought down the house -- standing ovation. Watching this I remember why.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER0AMsz94rc
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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A "traditional" song sung by Jerry Reed: still my favorite 50 years on . . .

Australian guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel just shared a Spotify list of a dozen of his favorite Jerry Reed songs. I responded:

VERY good list. When I spotted "Explores Guitar Country" I thought -- good, he's going to include Wayfaring Stranger. I understand completely your selecting the state song of Georgia -- I love Jerry's deep baritone reading as much as the retire-the-trophy version by Ray Charles. But you are the only major guitarist who knows WAYFARING STRANGER -- can play it and sing it. It is my favorite Jerry Reed recording half a century on.

Not one of his own compositions but Jerry's take on a 'traditional' tune that Burl Ives almost rescued from obscurity. That's Jerry self-accompanying on nylon (gut-string) guitar -- always his favorite weapon-of-choice for the effortless feel of the fingerboard.

Which brings up the assertion that the "finest nylon-string electrics" bear the name KIRK SAND. Who says they are the best? Jerry Reed and his mentor Chet Atkins. Plus the fellow both called "the greatest guitarist in the world -- Winnipeg's Lenny Breau. Oh yes and Tennessee's Doyle Dykes. Chet was asked, late-in-life, if there was anyone he would pay money to see. Mr. Guitar responded: "Oh, someone like Doyle Dykes."

Always wanted to meet Jerry Reed and say, 'Guess what is my favorite song that you performed (once) but didn't write?' He'd smile with appreciation I think. You too? Still gives me goosebumps every time. Music for the soul.
 
 
Edited by Mark Blackburn
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