FRANK SINATRA & DAWN UPSHAW SING 2 DISTINCTIVE VERSIONS OF RODGERS& HART'S " IT NEVER ENTERED MY MIND:

Frank Sinatra & Dawn Upshaw sing 2 distinctive versions of Rodger's & Hart's " It Never Entered My Mind."

For the 1940 show " Higher & Higher", Richard Rodgers provided a very lovely melodic line to which Lorenz Hart evoked such tender reflections like " You have what I Lack myself" immediately followed by the more colloquial verse " And now I have to scratch my back myself !" Such wordplay highlights Hart's unique ability to juxtapose the sentimental with the sardonic and yet strangely make them work with Rodgers melodic instincts. Alec Wilder, the inveterate archivist and avatar of The Great American Songbook stated that Hart's more energetic and unpredictable writing style eclipsed Oscar Hammerstein's more prosaic " And comfortable armchair philosophy" as found in " Climb Every Mountain" or You'll Never Walk Alone." As for Rodgers. Wilder said that " Rodgers songs have revealed a higher degree of consistent excellence, inventiveness and sophistication than those of any other writers I have studied" including Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin and Cole Porter. Fine praise indeed.
Dawn Upshaw, a classically  trained singer has mastered the nuances and naturalness inherent in the American popular song idiom and accompanied only by a piano, she delivers all of the plangent qualities of the song.
Frank Sinatra, accompanied by an orchestra arranged and led by Nelson Riddle, gives an equally somber and expressive performance proving that good song material is capable of a myriad of interpretations while still retaining the essential elements embedded in the song itself.

Upshaw version;
https://youtu.be/tE9qF9MBzs8?list=PLCvqEw1Hw0l1b5fCl73jbua4PsETpGiyg


Sinatra version
https://youtu.be/1fleh1LBFGA

RUSSIAN LULLABY -ELLA FITZGERALD SINGS IRVING BERLIN

" Russian Lullaby "--Ella Fitzgerald sings Irving Berlin.  Irving Berlin was born in Russia but emigrated to America as a young boy. This is a tender song that evokes his earliest memory of the country of his birth and it is sung very tenderly by Ella Fitzgerald.
Since Russian followers of the Great American Songbook make up the largest group of my blog subscribers, I wanted to show my appreciation for their interest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_1nagBrG54

"LET'S FALL IN LOVE"-UPBEAT SINATRA VERSION

"Let's Fall In Love"-  Upbeat Sinatra Version.

Arlen and lyricist Ted Koehler were commissioned by Columbia Pictures to write songs for a movie to be called " Let's Fall In Love."   On the train heading west to Hollywood, the songwriters. The porter on the train was using a set of chimes to call patrons to dinner. Since there was no piano on board, Arlen borrowed the chimes so he could play around with a tune he had been developing.

By the time they had arrived in Los Angeles, the title tune was almost finished. It is a positive affirmation of the desirability of falling in love and Frank Sinatra captures the youthful exuberance often needed by moviegoers living out the depression era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=061kkZU8gPY

ILL WIND -DRAMATIC COTTON CLUB NUMBER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaShvVW1w5U

" Ill  Wind"-Dramatic Cotton Club Number.   Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler created calssic songs for Harlem's Cotton Club Revues in the 1930's.
Celebrated black performers like Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, The Nicholas Brothers, Maxine Sullivan plus band leadersl like Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway. Black artists could perform there but were not accepted as patrons. It was an exotic venue quite different from downtown night spots andwas frequented by all number of celebrities, politicians and gangsters who owned the club.
A paramount movie called " The Cotton Club" captured the excitement and danger of the times and LOnette McKee provides a sensual and compelling performance of the ill wind that often blew through and outside the Cotton Club.