Hugh Martin" The Boy Next Door" (and much more) The name Hugh Martin doesn't echo very loudly in the minds of devotees of the Great American Songbook. But " Have yourself a merry little Christmas" The Trolley Song" " You'd Better Love Me ( While you May) are some of the songs written with lyricist Ralph Blane . Martin largely wrote for Hollywood Musicals and as a fine pianist, he was the accompanist for Judy Garland when she first played the Palace Theatre. Perhaps, his finest ballad was " The Boy Next Door" also frommthe 1944 MGM musical " Meet Me In St. Louis." Alec Wilder describes it as "A very intense and personal song, written , it is obvious, with great love and infinite care."
The first version is by Stacy Kent, a fine cabaret stylist who has amassed a major catalogue of songs from The Songbook. She is accompanied just by a piano and bass. I have always made a point of expressing how the contribution of gifted arrangers can make great songs and singers even more welcoming. However, sometimes just a voice and a sensitive piano acompaniment can expose the very essence of the song just as the composer may have intended. This is especially true if there is a great rapport between singer and musician
LINK http://youtu.be/Zwz3HZmy3TU
For those who have wonderful memories of Judy Garland singing so wistfully in " Meet me in St. Louis", I have included her version , this time with a full sound track orchestra with an arrangement by Conrad Salinger, the most accomplished of MGM's musical arrangers.
Link http://youtu.be/QQ224PLpY9o
POSTSCRIPT A great song is capable of a variety of interpretations as these two examples prove.
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Saturday, 26 January 2013
"THERE'S A LULL IN MY LIFE" A SONG THAT SHOULD BE BETTER KNOWN
There's A Lull in My Life" A Song That Should be Better Known. . In addition to the composers most associated with The Great American Songbook ( Gershwin, Berlin, Porter, Rodgers etc) there is quite a roster of composers who are not well known . They have written quite a number of excellent songs that do not pale in comparison with those of the Masters. Take Harry Revel, for example. He emigrated to the US from England and worked on Broadway before moving to Hollywood in the 1930's and wrote film music and songs such as " Did You Ever See A dream Walking" " With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming" and " Stay As Sweet As You Are." However, " There's A Lull In My Life" is a much superior composition with lyrics by Mack Gordon. It was introduced by Alice Faye in the the 1937 Twentieth Century Fox movie " Wake Up And Live." In the release or bridge, Revel repeats one note twelve times under a shifting harmonic structure that is anything but boring because of the tension that is created by this clever device.
Nat King Cole and George Shearing had an excellent version in the 1960's. Natalie Cole paid tribute to her father's memory with a remarkable performance made even more effective by an outstanding arrangement. I need to offer a strong opinion of mine that is based on the observation that a good song may stand on its own; a singer may equally do justice to the intrinsic merits of the song but if an imaginative arrangement and orchestration is added to the mix, then you have a very special presentation. One need only to think of Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Axel Stordahl, Johnny Mandel or Claus Ogerman and how they have added lustre to Sinatra, Bennett, Fitzgerald and Krall recordings.
The string writing in this version is particularly impressive.
LINK: http://youtu.be/VAAOLArqxw4
Nat King Cole and George Shearing had an excellent version in the 1960's. Natalie Cole paid tribute to her father's memory with a remarkable performance made even more effective by an outstanding arrangement. I need to offer a strong opinion of mine that is based on the observation that a good song may stand on its own; a singer may equally do justice to the intrinsic merits of the song but if an imaginative arrangement and orchestration is added to the mix, then you have a very special presentation. One need only to think of Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Axel Stordahl, Johnny Mandel or Claus Ogerman and how they have added lustre to Sinatra, Bennett, Fitzgerald and Krall recordings.
The string writing in this version is particularly impressive.
LINK: http://youtu.be/VAAOLArqxw4
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
EXQUISITE ARLEN SONG " I NEVER HAS SEEN SNOW
Exquisite Arlen Song" I Never Has Seen Snow". By now, you realize the high regard I have for the creations of Harold Arlen. He is most often thought of as a " Blues" composer of " Blues in the Night" "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues" or smouldering torch songs like " The Man That Got Away" " Stormy Weather" One For My Baby" or up tempo swingers like " Accentuate The Positive" " That Old Black Magic" Hooray for Love" and " Down with Love."
The diversity and scope of his music is remarkable. But Arlen also has produced some of the most emotionally intense art songs . They transcend the boundaries that we normally associate with the American popular song. They are more technically challenging and demand greater concentration in preparation and performance. Songs like " It Was Written In The Stars" " I Wonder What Became Of Me" Last Night When We Were Young" and " A Sleeping Bee" take the American song tradition to a higher level and also require the listener to place closer attention and greater involvement in the performance itself.
A marvellous example of such an exquisite ballad/aria is " I Never Has Seen Snow" from the1954 musical " House of Flowers". The lyrics are credited to Truman Capote who provided the backgound of the story based on his time spent in Haiti. In fact, Arlen did much of the lyric writing but took no official credit for his contributions.
It is song by a young woman in love with her " Near to me boy ". Although she never has seen snow, she believes that " Snow c'aint be as beautiful as my love is." It is a women entranced with the strength of her love and sung with a purity of expression that is compelling.
The version you will hear is by Vanessa Williams singing with the Boston Pops and accompanied on stage by a cellist playing a lovely obligato that is almost like another human voice.
It is a fairly long selection but well worth careful and attentive listening.
Link http://youtu.be/SYqfL6kygRc
'
The diversity and scope of his music is remarkable. But Arlen also has produced some of the most emotionally intense art songs . They transcend the boundaries that we normally associate with the American popular song. They are more technically challenging and demand greater concentration in preparation and performance. Songs like " It Was Written In The Stars" " I Wonder What Became Of Me" Last Night When We Were Young" and " A Sleeping Bee" take the American song tradition to a higher level and also require the listener to place closer attention and greater involvement in the performance itself.
A marvellous example of such an exquisite ballad/aria is " I Never Has Seen Snow" from the1954 musical " House of Flowers". The lyrics are credited to Truman Capote who provided the backgound of the story based on his time spent in Haiti. In fact, Arlen did much of the lyric writing but took no official credit for his contributions.
It is song by a young woman in love with her " Near to me boy ". Although she never has seen snow, she believes that " Snow c'aint be as beautiful as my love is." It is a women entranced with the strength of her love and sung with a purity of expression that is compelling.
The version you will hear is by Vanessa Williams singing with the Boston Pops and accompanied on stage by a cellist playing a lovely obligato that is almost like another human voice.
It is a fairly long selection but well worth careful and attentive listening.
Link http://youtu.be/SYqfL6kygRc
'
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
DUKE ELLINGTON-A GIANT OF AMERICAN MUSIC
Duke Ellington-A Giant of American Music: Duke Ellington enjoys a unique position in American musical history. Unlike the composers who are celebrated in the blog. he had his own orchestra which he led for over forty years. As Alec Wilder relates his band " Has been the medium of expression as much as canvas is to a painter or paper to a writer. More, in fact, as the band has also been his paint and his palette." He certainly earned his title as The Duke due to his stagerring output of so diversified a body of work. Extended concert pieces, Sacred music, jazz classics and individual songs, all of which were written with specific orchestra players in mind, his response to their unique styles and capabilities. Many of his band members like Harry Carney,Johnny Hodges, Barney Bigard and others helped contribute to the essence of the Ellington sound which is immediately recognized within a few short bars, Billy Strayhorn, as arranger and composer had a unique role to play as Duke's amenuensis or shadow inspiration.
Ellington did not have a lengthy and extended relationship with lyricist partners since some of his songs were originally written as instrumental pieces with had lyrics added after the fact. The absence of a lyricist with whom he could collaborate in fruitful partnerships like Rodgers & Hart, Lerner and Loewe, Kern and Hammerstein, or George and Ira Gershwin probably limited what he might have been able to accomplish in the popular song field. It is such intense collaboration between composers and lyricists that has produced so many of the best songs in the Great American Songbook. On the other hand, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Frank Loesser and Stephan Sondheim all wrote both music and lyrics. Presumably, as collaborators. they were able to communicate internally and resolve any inner disputes.
To demonstrate just one dimension of the Ellington creativity, listen to " Come Sunday". It is a magnificent, solemn declaration of fundamental spirituality relevant for any religious observance .It demonstrates Ellington's own deep spiritual nature which srangely enough is not at odds with his great personal elegance, sophistication and urbanity. This version features the soprano Kathleen Battle and Branford Marsalis combining Ellington's music and words with jazz improvisations on a lyrical tenor saxophone. It is a remarkable fusion of sacred intent , vocal elegance with jazz improvisation and a discrete orchestral background. There is a serenity that is simply spellbinding as Duke asks the Lord " To see my people through." Coming one day after Martin Luther King day, this song has a unique and compelling meaning.
Note: Future posts, will showcase his succesful popular song output.
http://youtu.be/kmfPiEoFHm0
LINK
Ellington did not have a lengthy and extended relationship with lyricist partners since some of his songs were originally written as instrumental pieces with had lyrics added after the fact. The absence of a lyricist with whom he could collaborate in fruitful partnerships like Rodgers & Hart, Lerner and Loewe, Kern and Hammerstein, or George and Ira Gershwin probably limited what he might have been able to accomplish in the popular song field. It is such intense collaboration between composers and lyricists that has produced so many of the best songs in the Great American Songbook. On the other hand, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Frank Loesser and Stephan Sondheim all wrote both music and lyrics. Presumably, as collaborators. they were able to communicate internally and resolve any inner disputes.
To demonstrate just one dimension of the Ellington creativity, listen to " Come Sunday". It is a magnificent, solemn declaration of fundamental spirituality relevant for any religious observance .It demonstrates Ellington's own deep spiritual nature which srangely enough is not at odds with his great personal elegance, sophistication and urbanity. This version features the soprano Kathleen Battle and Branford Marsalis combining Ellington's music and words with jazz improvisations on a lyrical tenor saxophone. It is a remarkable fusion of sacred intent , vocal elegance with jazz improvisation and a discrete orchestral background. There is a serenity that is simply spellbinding as Duke asks the Lord " To see my people through." Coming one day after Martin Luther King day, this song has a unique and compelling meaning.
Note: Future posts, will showcase his succesful popular song output.
http://youtu.be/kmfPiEoFHm0
LINK
Friday, 18 January 2013
HOAGY & jOHNNY- 2 COUNTRY BOYS AND " SKYLARK"'
Hoagy& Johnny-2 Country boys and " Skylark" Hoagy Carmichael from Bloomington ,Indiana and Johnny Mercer from Savannah, Georgia were country boys at heart. They let Gershwin, Arlen, Brlin and especially Cole Porter write about big city matters. They loved ,in an almost nostalgic way, the small town feel of bare foot boys going fishing or playing hooky. Their songs used quaint colloquial phrases like " everything is peacefully dandy" or " Couson Amanda making a bluebbery pie as the neighbours walk by." Inhabitants of Park Avenue would not use such countrified prose.
Even some of Carmichael's song titles such as " Lazybones" Georgia on my Mind" Baltimore Oriole" and " Up the Lazy River." reflect a langorous , easy going quality in so many of his tunes. .This is also true of the way Carmichael sings and plays ,often with a toothpick in his mouth.
In " Skylark" , Mercer asks the bird , in his lonely flight, to find out where his loved one can be.
There is a story about the writing of Sylark that, if true, is a remarkable tribute to Mercer. It is said that Hoagy played an unmamed melody a number of times for Mercer who said nothing. Almost a year went by until Mercer returned with the finished lyric you will now hear sung first by Cleo Laine and James Galway, the famous flutist who portrays the sound of that lovely bird while in flight.
Link: http://youtu.be/itk0FddtlbM
Don't Go Away: Please listen to Hoagy himself sing his own song. You never would guess that he started life as a lawyer but soon succumbed to the lure of Jazz both as a composer and performer in many movies and on records. Listen as he adds jazzy licks in the middle of the song, a man always comfortable with a laid back approach to a lengthy and notable career.
Link: http://youtu.be/j7HsGBJjilQ
Even some of Carmichael's song titles such as " Lazybones" Georgia on my Mind" Baltimore Oriole" and " Up the Lazy River." reflect a langorous , easy going quality in so many of his tunes. .This is also true of the way Carmichael sings and plays ,often with a toothpick in his mouth.
In " Skylark" , Mercer asks the bird , in his lonely flight, to find out where his loved one can be.
There is a story about the writing of Sylark that, if true, is a remarkable tribute to Mercer. It is said that Hoagy played an unmamed melody a number of times for Mercer who said nothing. Almost a year went by until Mercer returned with the finished lyric you will now hear sung first by Cleo Laine and James Galway, the famous flutist who portrays the sound of that lovely bird while in flight.
Link: http://youtu.be/itk0FddtlbM
Don't Go Away: Please listen to Hoagy himself sing his own song. You never would guess that he started life as a lawyer but soon succumbed to the lure of Jazz both as a composer and performer in many movies and on records. Listen as he adds jazzy licks in the middle of the song, a man always comfortable with a laid back approach to a lengthy and notable career.
Link: http://youtu.be/j7HsGBJjilQ
Thursday, 17 January 2013
ROGERS & HART DO BELIEVE IN ROMANCE
Rodgers & Hart do believe in romance: Despite the fact that Lorenz Hart did write some wonder,ful but sad songs that reflected his own unlucky love life, I had promised to demonstrate the morE epositive side of loves labour not lost but won. For example , "Isn't it Romantic" lists a number of the more rhapsodic elements that occur as people conjure up thoughts of future mating possibilities such as " " I hear breezes playing in the trees above" or Sweet symbols in the moonlight, Do you mean I'll fall in love, perchance, Isn't it romantic ? Hardly prosaic utterances from star-crossed lovers !
Rod Stewart's version has been used in the film " Sabrina" to underscore Audreys Hepburn's pursuit of William Holden, a dashing playboy. But Humphrey Bogart eventually steals her heart and he abandons his business tycoon pursuits to take Audrey back to Paris. This may be a fairy tale escapade but it wins the heart of audiences who will always have a soft spot for a Happy Ending.
A more balanced view of the object of one's affection can be found in Lorenz Hart's lyrics for " My Funny Valentine." The singer asks " Is Your Figure Less Than Greek?" " Is Your Mouth a Little Weak.?" When you open it to speak are you smart?". These are characterizations that are not paricularly flattering but realistic appraisals which do not lessen the affection felt by the singer who then says, by the way, " Don't Change a Hair For Me, Not if you care for me".
Billy Joel, a more contemporary songwriter, said it more clearly " I love you just the way you are ."
LINK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCOYiaeVdlA
Rod Stewart's version has been used in the film " Sabrina" to underscore Audreys Hepburn's pursuit of William Holden, a dashing playboy. But Humphrey Bogart eventually steals her heart and he abandons his business tycoon pursuits to take Audrey back to Paris. This may be a fairy tale escapade but it wins the heart of audiences who will always have a soft spot for a Happy Ending.
A more balanced view of the object of one's affection can be found in Lorenz Hart's lyrics for " My Funny Valentine." The singer asks " Is Your Figure Less Than Greek?" " Is Your Mouth a Little Weak.?" When you open it to speak are you smart?". These are characterizations that are not paricularly flattering but realistic appraisals which do not lessen the affection felt by the singer who then says, by the way, " Don't Change a Hair For Me, Not if you care for me".
Billy Joel, a more contemporary songwriter, said it more clearly " I love you just the way you are ."
LINK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCOYiaeVdlA
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
RODGERS & HART- CANT SEPARATE THEM AT ALL
Rodgers & Hart-Can't Separate them At All: In starting this blog, I would headline the composer and sometimes mention the lyric writer. But there can't really be a song without words-all you have is a musical composition. Henceforth, equal billing with be given to the tunesmith and the wordsmith.
Rodgers, as we have noted, is a master of melodic writing, the notes that soar and engage the listener. Lorenz Hart, a small, pixieish lyricist wrote so touchingly about all aspects of love ( as a Cole Porter wrote in" Love For Sale" " Old Love, New Love, Every kind but True Love."
In the song " Why Can't I" Rodgers & Hart combine in a rueful speculation of a woman who has not found the one, the one she longs for. Her loneliness is captured by one line " Only my book in bed, knows how I look in bed, only my pillow nearby" . The lady is willing to explore conjugal bliss but there seem to be no takers for the moment.
The issues at hand are ones that everyone has faced, is facing or will face and so the song has universal meaning for both men and woman. Sometimes a mere 32 bar song can convey meaning and insight in a mere 3 minutes or less.
This is a lovely duet between two reigning Broadway and concert singers, Dawn Upshaw and Audra Macdonald who take turns lamenting their lonely status concluding in the line " Everybody has someone, why can't I ?"
Fortunately, Rodgers & Hart wrote more positive and almost ecstatic songs about love and romance which we will offer in future posts.
http://youtu.be/2ETAqjoiQMQ
Link:
Rodgers, as we have noted, is a master of melodic writing, the notes that soar and engage the listener. Lorenz Hart, a small, pixieish lyricist wrote so touchingly about all aspects of love ( as a Cole Porter wrote in" Love For Sale" " Old Love, New Love, Every kind but True Love."
In the song " Why Can't I" Rodgers & Hart combine in a rueful speculation of a woman who has not found the one, the one she longs for. Her loneliness is captured by one line " Only my book in bed, knows how I look in bed, only my pillow nearby" . The lady is willing to explore conjugal bliss but there seem to be no takers for the moment.
The issues at hand are ones that everyone has faced, is facing or will face and so the song has universal meaning for both men and woman. Sometimes a mere 32 bar song can convey meaning and insight in a mere 3 minutes or less.
This is a lovely duet between two reigning Broadway and concert singers, Dawn Upshaw and Audra Macdonald who take turns lamenting their lonely status concluding in the line " Everybody has someone, why can't I ?"
Fortunately, Rodgers & Hart wrote more positive and almost ecstatic songs about love and romance which we will offer in future posts.
http://youtu.be/2ETAqjoiQMQ
Link:
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