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Post by tonyloco on Oct 31, 2017 12:06:38 GMT
By chance this morning, in a pupil's clarinet lesson, I taught two excellent waltzes: Charade (Mancini) Bluesette (Toots Thieleman) I confess my ignorance in that until right now all I knew about Toots Thieleman is that he played solo harmonica on the soundtrack of the French movies 'Jean de Florette' and 'Manon des Source' playing the melancholy tune from Verdi's 'La forza del destino' which was then taken up for the TV ads for Stella Artois. I see now that he is a versatile jazz musician and I found 'Bluesette' on YouTube. We live and learn, no matter how old we are! |
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Post by tmesis on Nov 17, 2017 19:07:07 GMT
I was teaching the song 'The Continental' the other day and. I had forgotten quite what a super song it is. That got me thinking - really in structure and 'feel' it's a lot like Berlin's Cheek to Cheek and therefore I assumed it was written by Con Conrad to cash in on it's success (for Astaire) but, written in 1934, and also a worthy oscar winner, it predates the Berlin masterpiece by a year!
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Post by tonyloco on Nov 17, 2017 23:32:58 GMT
I was teaching the song 'The Continental' the other day and. I had forgotten quite what a super song it is. That got me thinking - really in structure and 'feel' it's a lot like Berlin's Cheek to Cheek and therefore I assumed it was written by Con Conrad to cash in on it's success (for Astaire) but, written in 1934, and also a worthy oscar winner, it predates the Berlin masterpiece by a year! I had both of those songs in my cocktail repertoire but singing through 'The Continental' in my head just now I am a bit confused about how it ends. I seem to be trailing off with a coda of 'Heavenly music, beautiful music....' and I don't know where the printed music is. Can you help me tmesis? |
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Post by tmesis on Nov 18, 2017 7:32:35 GMT
Yes that's more or less it tonyloco. The song starts in E flat and ends in A flat trailing away with the phrase 'beautiful music, dangerous rhythm' and then the piano ends it with what a classical musician would call a cadential point. |
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Post by tonyloco on Nov 18, 2017 9:21:40 GMT
Thanks tmesis. Sounds like I hadn’t forgotten anything significant, except of course those evocative lyrics ‘dangerous rhythm’.
I expect we will be hearing a few dangerous rhythms tonight in Strictly from Blackpool but more likely in the wrong sense!
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Post by vabbian on Nov 19, 2017 6:19:57 GMT
The Trolley Song cured my acne
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Post by tonyloco on Nov 19, 2017 16:47:32 GMT
The Trolley Song cured my acne Would you care to expand on that? |
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Post by Mr Snow on Jan 15, 2018 6:23:58 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2018 21:11:38 GMT
Does ' How High the Moon' count? "How High the Moon" is a jazz standard with lyrics by Nancy Hamilton and music by Morgan Lewis. It was first featured in the 1940 Broadway revue Two for the Show, where it was sung by Alfred Drake and Frances Comstock.[1] In Two for the Show, this was a rare serious moment in an otherwise humorous revue.
Caught an interview with Les Paul by chance the other day and it grabbed my ear. |
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 27, 2018 0:08:45 GMT
Very definitely YES! The multi-guitar and multi vocal recordings of Les Paul and Mary Ford were one of the iconic pop sounds of the 1950s before Rock n Roll and Elvis Presley arrived in the middle of the decade: 'How High the Moon' was probably their most successful recording – deservedly! |
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Post by tonyloco on May 1, 2018 9:14:46 GMT
Today's date reminds me of the verse of one of the great Rodgers and Hart songs:
On the first of May, it is moving day
Spring is here so blow your job
Throw your job away.
Now's the time to trust
To your wanderlust
In the city's dust you wait, must you wait
Just you wait.
In a mountain greenery
Where God paints the scenery
etc
What a clever rhymer Larry Hart was.
I see the Bee Gees also have a song called 'First of May' but I don't know it.
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Post by Mr Snow on May 1, 2018 10:13:59 GMT
Sadly my mind is at a much lower place than yours. I awoke with this little ditty running through my head.
Hooray, Hooray, the first of May,
Outdoor sex, begins today.
Also as a party bore I can never hear September in the Rain on the radio, without reminding Mrs. Snow (or anyone else trapped in the car with me) that they are playing it in the wrong month.
“Now spring is here…”
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Post by tmesis on May 1, 2018 21:27:54 GMT
Today's date reminds me of the verse of one of the great Rodgers and Hart songs: On the first of May, it is moving day Spring is here so blow your job Throw your job away. Now's the time to trust To your wanderlust In the city's dust you wait, must you wait Just you wait. In a mountain greenery Where God paints the scenery etc What a clever rhymer Larry Hart was. I see the Bee Gees also have a song called 'First of May' but I don't know it. I so agree Tony. A great tune by Rodgers and one of Hart's wittiest lyrics. One of my favourite Hart rhymes is in Dancing on the Ceiling, where he has: I try to hide in vain Underneath my counterpane* - it wouldn't work today now we have duvets! * no one else has ever attempted to rhyme counterpane with anything. |
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Post by tonyloco on May 2, 2018 10:25:36 GMT
Today's date reminds me of the verse of one of the great Rodgers and Hart songs: On the first of May, it is moving day Spring is here so blow your job Throw your job away. Now's the time to trust To your wanderlust In the city's dust you wait, must you wait Just you wait. In a mountain greenery Where God paints the scenery etc What a clever rhymer Larry Hart was. I see the Bee Gees also have a song called 'First of May' but I don't know it. I so agree Tony. A great tune by Rodgers and one of Hart's wittiest lyrics. One of my favourite Hart rhymes is in Dancing on the Ceiling, where he has: I try to hide in vain Underneath my counterpane* - it wouldn't work today now we have duvets! * no one else has ever attempted to rhyme counterpane with anything. And, as you know, the amazing thing is that Hart preferred Rodgers to compose the music first and then he would add the lyrics afterwards. I guess that shows a super-clever brain at work. We are also told that once Hart had devised his lyrics it was difficult to persuade him to amend them, even when they were rather on the naughty side! Of course in 'Pal Joey' this is just what was needed and Hart provided naughty lyrics in spades! |
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Post by tmesis on Jan 5, 2020 20:41:06 GMT
I was playing a few standards the other day and was struck by how many are close to 100 years old.
Some are already there namely:
Berlin -
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1911)
A Pretty Girl (1919)
Gershwin -
Swanee (1919)
Kern -
Look for the silver lining (1919)
They didn't believe me (1914) - and I think the classiest of the lot amongst the really early songs
So, for those that care, all these songs are coming up for their centenary in the 2020's -
Irving Berlin:
Blue Skies
What'll I do
Puttin' on the Ritz
George Gershwin:
Fascinating Rhythm
Oh Lady be Good!
The half of it Dearie Blues
Clap Yo' Hands
Someone to watch over me
S'Wonderful
Strike up the band
The Man I love
Jerome Kern:
All the songs from 'Showboat '
Cole Porter:
Let's do it
You do Something to me
What is this thing called Love
Richard Rodgers:
Manhattan
Mountain Greenery
My Heart Stood Still
Harold Arlen:
Get Happy
Hoagy Carmichael:
Stardust
Vincent Youmans:
Tea for Two
I want to be happy
Without a song
In the 30's and 40's the absolute bulk of top-drawer songs were written but there's more than enough greats in that little list from the 1920's.
Feel free to add any glaring omissions from my list of Standards that will be 100 this decade ...
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Post by harrietcraig on Jan 5, 2020 21:44:18 GMT
It Had to Be You (1924) — music by Isham Jones, lyrics by Gus Kahn
Sweet Georgia Brown (1925) — music by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, lyrics by Kenneth Casey
Bye Bye Blackbird (1926) — music by Ray Henderson, lyrics by Mort Dixon
My Blue Heaven (1927) — music by Walter Donaldson, lyrics by George A. Whiting
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Post by tmesis on Jan 6, 2020 8:59:14 GMT
A few more...
Jimmy McHugh:
I can't give you anything but love, baby. (1929)
Fats Waller:
Honeysuckle Rose (1929)
Ain't Misbehavin' (1929)
Harry Ruby:
I wanna be loved by you (1928)
Who's Sorry now? (1928)
and one of my absolute favourites -
Carol Gibbons:
A Garden in the Rain (1928)
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 7, 2020 20:16:00 GMT
It Had to Be You (1924) — music by Isham Jones, lyrics by Gus Kahn Sweet Georgia Brown (1925) — music by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, lyrics by Kenneth Casey Bye Bye Blackbird (1926) — music by Ray Henderson, lyrics by Mort Dixon My Blue Heaven (1927) — music by Walter Donaldson, lyrics by George A. Whiting I invariably included all of those four wonderful songs on the many occasions I played for sing-along entertainment in the bar of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, before the show, during the interval and afterwards. When the bell rang announcing the end of the interval, I always launched into '(The bells are ringing) For Me and My Girl', which I am surprised to see was written in 1917, although, come to think of it, one of the most endurable songs of that kind – 'You Made me Love You' – dates from 1913. |
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 7, 2020 20:34:50 GMT
And happily watching that wonderful movie Some Like it Hot on TV a few days ago I particularly enjoyed the songs 'Running Wild' (1923), 'Down Among the Sheltering Palms' (1915), 'I'm Through With Love' (1932), 'By the Beautiful Sea' (1914), 'I Wanna Be Loved By You' (1928) and of course that quintessential tango 'La Cumparsita' (1916) – Strictly Come Dancing take note of the correct rhythm for the tango!
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Post by harrietcraig on Jan 7, 2020 21:30:40 GMT
It Had to Be You (1924) — music by Isham Jones, lyrics by Gus Kahn Sweet Georgia Brown (1925) — music by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, lyrics by Kenneth Casey Bye Bye Blackbird (1926) — music by Ray Henderson, lyrics by Mort Dixon My Blue Heaven (1927) — music by Walter Donaldson, lyrics by George A. Whiting I invariably included all of those four wonderful songs on the many occasions I played for sing-along entertainment in the bar of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, before the show, during the interval and afterwards. When the bell rang announcing the end of the interval, I always launched into '(The bells are ringing) For Me and My Girl', which I am surprised to see was written in 1917, although, come to think of it, one of the most endurable songs of that kind – 'You Made me Love You' – dates from 1913. Wish I could have heard that, tonyloco! |
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 8, 2020 10:55:23 GMT
'You Made me Love You' – dates from 1913. "You made me love you, you woke me up to do it, you woke me up to do it" may date a little later, perhaps? Yes, parodies of popular songs were also commonplace, some quite filthy. One of the clean ones was 'My Melancholy Baby': Come to me my alcoholic baby, Too much gin has made you blue, All your fears are foolish fancies, maybe. You know dear that grog's no good for you, etc and another cleanish one went: The Sultan rings his little bell Calls for his wife whose name is Nell She's only twenty but she knows plenty 'Bout makin' whoopee, etc The dirty ones I will leave to the Monkey to post, since that seems to be one of his special fields of knowledge....along with bananas and the rules of Mornington Crescent.
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Post by tonyloco on Jan 9, 2020 11:54:13 GMT
Actually, if anybody cares, I had misremembered the order of the stanzas in the parody of 'Makin' Whoopee'. I think the whole parody goes as follows, although it ends up rather weakly and I am not absolutely certain about all the words in the later part.
The Sultan rings his little bell,
Calls for his wife whose name is Nell.
Puts down his bourbon
Takes off his turban,
Starts makin' whoopee.
Next night he wants a change of scene.
Calls for his wife whose name's Irene.
She's only twenty
But she knows plenty
'Bout makin' whoopee.
Forty wives felt neglected,
They thought it wasn't fair.
But that's all been corrected,
And now they all get their share.
'Cos every night the Sultan's son,
Who also likes a bit of fun,
Runs through the harem
And tries to scare 'em
Makin' whoopee.
Not up to Larry Hart's standard of dirt although I particularly like the picture of the bourbon and the turban at the beginning. It was possibly written by the lyricist of the original song, Gus Kahn.
Does anybody else have parodies of classic songs to offer or is it just me and the Monkey who collect such things?
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Post by tmesis on Jan 9, 2020 12:59:37 GMT
I'm sure you don't need me to remind you Tony that the best example of this sort of thing is Noel Coward's rewriting of Let's do it. It's quite something to better the original when Cole Porter is involved but The Master spectacularly achieves this. It's too long to quote in full, and every line is brilliant, but a few lines:
He said the Belgians and Greeks do it
Nice young men who sell antiques do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Monkeys whenever you look do it
Aly Khan and King Farouk do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Louella Parsons can't quite do it
For she's so highly strung
Marlene might do it
But she looks far too young...
Our famous writers in swarms do it
Somerset and all the Maughans do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
The Brontes felt that they must do it
Ernest Hemingway could just do it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
E. Allen Poe ho! ho! ho! did it
But he did it in verse
H. Beecher Stowe did it
But she had to rehearse
Tennessee Williams self-taught does it
Kinsey with a deafening report does it
Let's do it, let's fall in love...
We're told every hormone does it
Victor Borge all alone does it
Let's do it, let's fall in love
Each tiny clam you consume does it
Even Liberace - we assume - does it
Let's do it, let's fall in love.
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Post by TallPaul on Jan 9, 2020 13:23:05 GMT
Until reminded just now, I'd forgotten that I still have, somewhere, Noel Coward's live recording of Let's Do It. My peers would be in HMV buying the latest LP from Duran Duran or Spandau Ballet; I'd be upstairs flicking through the racks of 'real' songs!
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Post by harrietcraig on Jan 9, 2020 22:44:53 GMT
I’m not sure who wrote this parody — it has apparently been attributed to both Lorenz Hart and Buddy De Sylva.
I’ll be loving you
Always
Both in very big and
Small ways.
With a love as grand
As Paul Whiteman’s band
And ‘twill weigh as much as
Paul weighs,
Always.
In saloons and drab
Hallways
You are what I’ll grab
Always.
See how I dispense
Rhymes that are immense,
But do they make sense?
Not always.
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