"IT WAS WRTTEN IN THE STARS" MAGNIFICENT BUT UNHERALDED ARLEN SONG

" It Was Written In The Stars"  Magnificent But Unheralded Arlen Song: Anyone who has read this blog and the 100 post blog " classicamericanpopularsong.blogspot.com "
knows how indebted and appreciative I have been and will always be to Alec Wilder for his ground breaking, comprehensive and enthusiastic tribute to classic American popular song. His influential book, American Popular Song  The Great Innovators - 1900 1950 ( Oxford University Press New York 1972.) is still the most comprehensive analysis of that period that saw worldwide acceptance of American musical forms. For me personally, for more than thirty years, he has provided insight, perspective and definite opinions on over 17,000 songs deposited for copyright in that 1900-1950 time period. His unabashed love of this unique American cultural tradition shines through on every page and surely enlightens both the casual reader and the avid student of American popular song.
 Wilder was a persistent and admiring advocate of Harold Arlen's unique compositional innovations  expressing the heretical view that Arlen was even more a purely native product of the blues, jazz and Big Band music than George Gershwin.  Gershwin was idolized by Arlen while Gershwin also flatly stated that " He ( Arlen) is the most original of us all."
 However, I must take  strong exception with Wilder's failure to include " It Was Written In The Stars" in the extensive and very positive analysis of Arlen's compositional output. 
  For the 1948 film " Casbah" starring Tony Martin, Arlen and lyricist Leo Robin wrote an evocative ballad with the self-descriptive title " It Was Written In The Stars",.  It expressed a fatalistic  view that whatever will be, must be. For The Harold Arlen Songbook featuring Ella Fitzgerald and arranger Billy May, Benny Green wrote liner notes that deftly pointed out the unique virtues of Arlen's songs and Ella's sensitive treatment of so many fine songs. Green stated that " Written In The Stars is one of those perfect marriages of words and music which happen far less often than people imagine."  Green went on to exclaim that when Ella sings
                                              Cloudy though the day be,
                                              Crazy though I may be,
                                              What the stars foretold shall be.
in her rendering of the phrase, she employs those lilting effects in her voice which imbue the whole with the qualities of a lullaby."
Since I was intrigued by Wilder's omitted commentary on this wonderful song, I went directly to the printed sheet music. In going over the piece again and again and listening repeatedly to the Fitzgerald performance, I stumbled upon one specific aspect of Arlen"s distinctive melodic approach.  The song starts out with  It Was written in the stars, What was written in the stars shall be. Normally, the usual pattern is to repeat the same phrase in the next section before introducing a different melodic line. Not so for Arlen. He starts out again with
It was written in the skies that the heart and not the eyes shall see. On the note for heart, Arlen raises the melody from the earlier G flat to A. That does not seem so remarkable but it strikes the ear which was anticipating a repeat of the earlier G flat.
It is just a small example of how Arlen can introduce a surprising and unexpected element in a song that sticks in the mind. Listen to the song and see if you agree that this slight introduction of an atypical avoidance of a repeated phrase does not somehow become a memorable moment. If not, listen to the rest of the song and Ella's gentle yet insistent probing of the influence of fate in human affairs concluding with " What the stars foretold shall be.-and so shall it be."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmeUYEk9CiI
LINK:    

" HOORAY FOR LOVE" ARLEN TEAMS WITH LEO ROBIN ON THE FILM" CASBAH"

" Hooray for Love" Arlen teams with Leo Robin on the film " Casbah"  In 1948, Universal Pictures produced a film based on an earlier French Film Pepe Le Moko.. It was a story about a romantic criminal who eventually sacrificed himself for the love of a woman. Pepe was played by Tony Martin, a fine singer with limited movie experience. Arlen found Leo Robin to be a sensitive and serious lyricist. The team produced several fine song for a movie that was not a box office hit with Hooray For Love being the best known song which is usually performed now as an up-tempo number.
Ella Fitzgerald completed a number of composer songbooks, including Jerome Kern , Gershwin, Cole Porter., Rodgers & Hart. Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington and this one featuring Harold Arlen's compositions.
Here Ella is backed by Billy May, master of the swinging big band sound and this is a bright affirmation on the joys of love, about which we should all shout " Hooray."
There is a tidy verse intro before the main chorus instantly shouts " Hooray, Hooray , Hooray for Love, Who was ever too blasé for love?"

LINK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZASr4ox8ac

" COME RAIN OR COME SHINE" - CLASSIC SONG FROM " ST. LOUIS WOMAN"

" Come Rain or Come Shine"- ClassIc  Song From " St. Louis Woman"

" Come Rain or Come Shine" is the most familiar song from the 1946 musical and the last to be featured from that show. According to legend, Arlen and Mercer met to talk about numbers to fit into the musical, Arlen left Mercer and went into his living room where he had a Steinway piano  on which he wanted to try a few ideas. He returned with a melody that contained some intriguing harmony and a conversational quality. Mercer thought for a second and came up with a first line " I'm gonna love like nobody's loved you...." to which Arlen added " Come Hell or high water,"  Mercer responded with what became the tiile of the song " Come rain or come shine." The song was completed that evening.
 Alec Wilder, perhaps the most persistent advocate for the songs of Harold Arlen, argued that " It is a superb ballad which could never be so great unless the device of repeated notes were the principle single element in the melody. "  In the second section, those repeated notes are left out introducing  an essential contrast. Wilder also adds that " The harmony, naturally is opulent throughout. But the song can sing itself quite independently."

 I am presenting two versions. The first is with singer Nora Jones performing with noted trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis and a small jazz combo. It is performed as a jazz piece the way it would be sung in an intimate club or cabaret setting, more conversational and less dramatic than the second version. That has Frank Sinatra showing his wonderful dramatic way of bringing a story to life and backed by the exquisite string arrangement of Don Costa. Sinatra is able to convince us that he is singing this song directly to the listener so convincing is his passionate conviction as he concludes " I'm with you always, I'm with you rain or shine. Listen to how he holds the note " deep" so lovingly in the passage " Deep -----as a river, Come Rain or come shine."

These are two quite different interpretations of the song. One loose and slightly improvised, vocally and instrumentally ;  the other, a dramatic reading , with minimal deviation from the written score. Both do justice to the Arlen/Mercer classic.

JONES/MARSALIS LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCj96k1A95g

SINATRA/DON COSTA LINK  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEhnbzReC3g

" I WONDER WHAT BECAME OF ME" -ART SONG FROM " ST.LOUIS WOMAN"

" I Wonder What Became of Me"-Art Song From " ST. Louis Woman"

In addition to " I Had Myself A True Love" there was another " art" song" written for St. Louis Woman, Lila's sad lament entitled " I Wonder What Became Of Me." Lila sang this number as she was taken away by police after shooting and killing Biglow Brown.
 Such songs can be described as another form of anaria, songs that require a trained voice and like concert songs, sung formally on stage as part of a recital. Despite the beauty of the song, it was cut from the original production because it sounded similar to " I Had Myself a True Love"  and who have also added more story complexity to an already cluttered libretto.

The song has continued to enjoy performances by a number of female singers including Audra McDonald who performed " I Had Myself A True Love" on an earlier post on this Arlen blog.
In contrast to McDonald's, formal concert style presentation, this version is by the sultry voiced jazz singer Chris Connor. It was recorded in a studio with large orchestral backing as opposed to just a piano accompaniment. Nonetheless, Connor conveys the inherent sadness and reflective tone of Mercer's lyrics. This presentation i further proof that a good song ( versus a " hit" song) is capable of providing a variety of performances, all of which must do appropriate justice to the music and lyrics.

Connor Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_UsZyjMUEk

PEARL BAILEY PROCLAIMS " IT'S A WOMANS PREROGATIVE ( TO CHANGE HER MIND")

Pearl Bailey Proclaims "  It's A Woman's Prerogative ( To Change Her Mind ")
 In the original 1946 version of Arlen and Mercer's " St. Louis Woman "  Pearl Bailey wowed the audience playing the role of Butterfly. The character was a saucy and strong-willed person who was involved with Barney Little Augie's consistently losing rival jockey. Earlier in the show, Butterfly confronted Barney demanding that he make their relationship permanent and suggesting she might be withholding future pleasures from Barney. " Legalize My Name" is a defiant woman's laying down the law to a man ignoring that dreaded " C" word called commitment. Bailey has the natural strength, confidence and ingratiating wit to really sell this song and its' emphatic message.
Bailey would later appear in Arlen and Truman Capote's  House of Flowers "  putting her strong personality on display as Madame Fleur, the Madam of a " house of pleasure."
Bailey is a very distinctive  personality and song stylist and that comes through in both songs she introduced in " St. Louis Woman."

LINK: PEARL BAILEY:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6n13f5BvC8

AUDRA McDONALD SINGS " I HAD MYSELF A TRUE LOVE" FROM " ST. LOUIS WOMAN"

Audra McDonald sings " I Had Myself A True Love" from " St. Louis Woman."  The musical has a number of love conflicts highlighted in songs like "Anyplace I hang My Hat is Home" , sung by Della Reese, who , for the moment, is attached to Biglow Brown, saloonkeeper who has discarded his former mistress Lila. She still wants to stay with Biglow despite his rejection. In the song " I Had Myself a True Love" Lila laments the loss of Brown's affection and his brutal and callous treatment. The song is long and is almost an art song or aria in its ability to juxtapose both sweet and tender sentiments as well as righteous anger. However, the song  never becomes excessively emotional and the performance is expressive but vocally controlled.

Audra McDonald, the star of " Ragtime" and a recent revival of " Porgy and Bess" conveys Lila's confused emotional state which, ultimately, causes her to shoot Biglow Brown, annact that causes other complications in the story. The song is performed in the style and with the accompaniment characteristic of a concert stage performance and is extremely moving.

LINK: McDonald: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VDR6IzRtdY

PEARL BAILEY SINGS " LEGALIZE MY NAME" FROM " ST. LOUIS WOMAN"

Pearl Bailey sings" Legalize My Name" from " St. Louis Woman"   Pearl Bailey plays the role of Butterfly, a caustic employee of Biglow Brown's salon. She has been involved with Barney,a jockey who always loses to Little Augie. Barney was played by Fayard Nicholas, the brother of Harold Nicholas playing Little Augie. (The Nicholas Brothers were a famous night club and film dance act known for their spectacular acrobatic routines.)
Butterfly is determined to have a more permanent relationship with Barney and withholds her more enticing favours until Barney comes through. " Legalize My Name" is a pointed demand delivered in the direct and comic style for which Peal Bailey had become famous. A veteran of vaudeville and night clubs, Bailey also had sung with the Count Basie Band  and was known for her  wit and timing in comedy numbers like " Legalize My name" .
Mercer's lyrics are steeped in the vernacular of the time and region and reflect his comfort with Afro American and southern colloquial expressions.

NOTE:  Pearl Bailey would also feature prominently in a subsequent Harold Arlen and Truman Capote musical " House of Flowers."

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nLI7CudZwA

" ANY PLACE I HANG MY HAT IS HOME" ANOTHER FINE SONG FROM "ST. LOUIS WOMAN"

 " Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home."  Another Fine Song from " St. Louis Woman"  Picking up the story, Della  Green is temporarily living with the violent saloon -keeper Bigelow Brown. Despite her current relationship, Dell is a independent spirit who eventually falls in love with Little Augie.. In thIs song, Della  explains her philosophy of life which is do whatever you like and move on " When the spirit moves me." The music and the lyrics capture the free and easy spirit of Della Green to act  as she proclaims" When the spirit moves me."
Audra McDonald, Broadway's current performing diva, brings the relaxed and confident personality of Della Greene to her performance. Audra will also be performing other songs from this show as she has a great love and affinity for both Arlen and Mercer's theatrical creations.
As is my custom, I also  like to present the creators singing their own songs .Here is Johnny Mercer, the Southern " savant" , singing in his inimitable relaxed style. Mercer was intimately familiar with how both black and white citizens in St. Louis fashioned their own unique colloquial vernacular like " Howdy do me, watch me smile"  Fare thee well me, after a while." .He creates an authentic regional atmosphere that permeates the entire score and as one lyric line states " Thank you kindly ( Johnny Mercer -your lyrics) suits me fine ! " 

NOTE: There was a 1998 revival of St. Louis Woman  by NYC City Center Encores ! that resulted in a fine recording on Mercury Records featuring Vanessa Williams as Della Green.


Audra Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2__AEcVZC0A

Mercer Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATqG9dOpAT0

TONY BENNETT & BILL EVANS-THE ULTIMATE COLLABORATION

Tony Bennett & Bill Evans--The Ultimate Collaboration: 
NOTE:  Although this blog is devoted to the life and career of Harold Arlen, I wanted to showcase what happens when two jazz artists, a singer and a great pianist combine to produce a stunning work of art. Arlen's own accompaniment of his singing some of his own songs also demonstrates the piano and voice  collaboration.

Tony Bennett has always been influenced by and supportive of jazz music collaborating with a number of jazz musicians and superb jazz composers and arrangers like Johnny Mandel.  In the 1970's, Bennett collaborated with the great Bill Evans, a major jazz pianist who has influenced many pianists attracted to his consummate lyricism, sensitivity and harmonic development.
They went into a studio and without any pre planning, Evans instantly developed different approaches to song standards that led to two complete CD's. Bennett was captivated by Evans creativity and his immaculate support of his own singing. Bennett has said that " Evans played like an ocean in a storm"  inspiring Bennett to even greater improvisational heights. The two artists became one in their performance and both felt that this was one of the supreme musical moments in their lengthy careers.
The song featured is Ray Noble's " The Touch of Your Lips" a song that Evans had always maintained in his repertoire. Evans spurs Bennett to even greater expressiveness achieving an intensity that is captivating and memorable.

I have repeatedly described the ability of a singer and a great accompanist to achieve almost an orchestral feeling with the singer delivering the melody and the pianist supplying the rhythmic and harmonic underpinning. This performance is yet another example of such supreme musical synergy.

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuDx1hwKuXA