Pearl Bailey sings " Don't Like Goodbyes" from " House of Flowers ." As Pearl Bailey did in an earlier Arlen/Jonny Mercer musical " St. Louis Woman," she also portrayed a somewhat domineering presence on stage. Playing the Madame of a bordello in Haiti, the character had a financial interest in her " Flowers" as well as a certain rough-hewn affection for the girls that worked for her.as demonstrated in the song " Don't Like Goodbyes." Originally written for Ottilie, the young love interest in the show, Bailey made a fuss and appropriated the song for herself and intimidated young Diahann Carroll in the process.
This is a gentle goodbye song that uses everyday speech patterns. Jenness and Velsey have stated that " The song has the familiar upward glide on words that convey yearning like the last syllables of " Don't Like godbyes, tears or sighs----- and employing repeated notes on, first the lowered 7th interval, then the pure 7th interval beforing ending on the octave note."
Bailey manages to convey genuine regret at Ottilie leaving her " House." It is an affecting and memorable performance of a song that deserves to be a standard, especially since.saying goodbye is such a universal and poignant experience for everyone
NOTE: An earlier post from the film " Casbah" also deals with farewells. The post features Tony Martin singing " What's Good About Goodbye ?"
LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVM61ntxN90
Monday 30 December 2013
Friday 27 December 2013
" HOUSE OF FLOWERS" ARLEN & TRUMAN CAPOTE TRIUMPH
" House Of Flowers" Arlen & Truman Capote Triumph. In 1954, Arlen was asked if he would compose the music for a Broadway production of House of Flowers. It was to be based on Capote's 1950 short story " House of Flowers." The author had spent several months in Haiti where he spent considerable time visiting and befriending a bordello run by a bossy Madame Fleur. Arlen believed that the costumes, songs and colourful characters would make an entertaining show. Pear Bailey played the enterprising Madame Fleur who had a genuine affection for her charges. A then young Diahann Carroll was to play Ottilie, a young girl in love with Royal, a country boy with these two characters to portray the love interest in the show.
" House of Flowers", was so named because Madame Fleur gave horticultural names to her girls, names like Tulip, Gladiola, Pansy and Ottiliie. Ottile consults the Houngan or voodoo priest who recounts a folk tale .When a bee lies sleeping in the palm of your hand and stings you, and you don't feel it, then you have found your true love or so the folk tale maintains.
Diahann Caroll sings A Sleepin' Bee, a marvellous ballad that David Jenness and Don Velsey, authors of Classic American Popular Song, The Second Half Century, 1950-2000
have described as "One of the greatest ballads of the half-century and has an extraordinary glowing quality, achieved by the most minimal means, like raising by one step the highest tone of the voice line in the second four bars, as compared with the first four."
Rather than citing further technical analysis of the song's merits,, listen instead to Diahann Carroll sing the song in a live television performance. Her performance is heartfelt and totally captivating.
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu91wObYGBs
" House of Flowers", was so named because Madame Fleur gave horticultural names to her girls, names like Tulip, Gladiola, Pansy and Ottiliie. Ottile consults the Houngan or voodoo priest who recounts a folk tale .When a bee lies sleeping in the palm of your hand and stings you, and you don't feel it, then you have found your true love or so the folk tale maintains.
Diahann Caroll sings A Sleepin' Bee, a marvellous ballad that David Jenness and Don Velsey, authors of Classic American Popular Song, The Second Half Century, 1950-2000
have described as "One of the greatest ballads of the half-century and has an extraordinary glowing quality, achieved by the most minimal means, like raising by one step the highest tone of the voice line in the second four bars, as compared with the first four."
Rather than citing further technical analysis of the song's merits,, listen instead to Diahann Carroll sing the song in a live television performance. Her performance is heartfelt and totally captivating.
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu91wObYGBs
Friday 20 December 2013
" HERE'S WHAT I'M HERE FOR" ANOTHER "STAR IS BORN: NUMBER
" Here's What I'm Here For" Another "Star is Born " Number. Two previous posts demonstrated the excellent collaboration between Harold Arlen and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was a natural affinity since George Gershwin had declared that " He ( Arlen" is the most original of us all." while Ira has said " As one of the most individual of American show composers, he is distinctive in melodic line and unusual construction," Harold, for his part, idolized George Gershwin who offered great support to Arlen.
" Here's what I'm Here For" is introduced in the film as the relationship between Garland and James Mason deepens. He is in the recording studio as Judy performs the song which will be in a picture for which she ultimately receives the Academy Award.
It is a straight ahead and major key production number which Alec Wilder stated " Says nothing of great consequence but saying it well and cheerily. It sings easily, and my feeling is that the accompaniment should always be by a smoothly swinging band."
The song provides a welcome contrast from the emotionally drenched " The Man That Got Away" and " It's A New World", both of which underscore the ultimately tragic ending to the film. The first version is just the soundtrack recording
The second, for those interested, is a scene clip from the movie and demonstrates the love the principal characters have for each other. Screenwriter, Moss Hart, knew how to achieve dramatic intensity in his writing.
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acQLvf4Ud3g
LINK 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K26MNumr9po
" Here's what I'm Here For" is introduced in the film as the relationship between Garland and James Mason deepens. He is in the recording studio as Judy performs the song which will be in a picture for which she ultimately receives the Academy Award.
It is a straight ahead and major key production number which Alec Wilder stated " Says nothing of great consequence but saying it well and cheerily. It sings easily, and my feeling is that the accompaniment should always be by a smoothly swinging band."
The song provides a welcome contrast from the emotionally drenched " The Man That Got Away" and " It's A New World", both of which underscore the ultimately tragic ending to the film. The first version is just the soundtrack recording
The second, for those interested, is a scene clip from the movie and demonstrates the love the principal characters have for each other. Screenwriter, Moss Hart, knew how to achieve dramatic intensity in his writing.
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acQLvf4Ud3g
LINK 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K26MNumr9po
Thursday 19 December 2013
"IT'S A NEW WORLD" --WONDERFUL LYRICS AND MELODY
" It's A New World"--Wonderful lyrics and melody: Ira Gershwin was an accomplished and prolific lyricist, mainly with his brother George . However, when he teamed with Harold Arlen on a number of dramatic songs for Judy Garland In A Star is Born, he reached an even higher standard of expressiveness that matched the melodic brilliance of Harold Arlen. This was already quite evident in The Man That Got Away, the previous post on this blog.
That creative spark between Gershwin and Arlen continued with It's A New World. Authors Jenness and Velsey described this song as " A very beautiful example of Arlen's radiant major-key gift that kept from being simplistic by a yearning chromatic release," They also drew attention to Gershwin's lyrics for " A chaste song with an extraordinary verse, where Gershwin , using only common words, brings in a touch of early modern English poetry."
High praise indeed. It is an example of a song that is critical in explaining the relationship between Garland and James Mason who have just run away to get married and are in a tiny motel fleeing from reporters and the movie studio.
In the video excerpt, Garland gives a personal performance for her husband. It's a song that has already become a nation-wide hit song but she sings it a cappella for Mason.
It's a dramatic and compelling performance by a great singing actress.
LINK;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mf4sczAAak
That creative spark between Gershwin and Arlen continued with It's A New World. Authors Jenness and Velsey described this song as " A very beautiful example of Arlen's radiant major-key gift that kept from being simplistic by a yearning chromatic release," They also drew attention to Gershwin's lyrics for " A chaste song with an extraordinary verse, where Gershwin , using only common words, brings in a touch of early modern English poetry."
High praise indeed. It is an example of a song that is critical in explaining the relationship between Garland and James Mason who have just run away to get married and are in a tiny motel fleeing from reporters and the movie studio.
In the video excerpt, Garland gives a personal performance for her husband. It's a song that has already become a nation-wide hit song but she sings it a cappella for Mason.
It's a dramatic and compelling performance by a great singing actress.
LINK;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mf4sczAAak
Wednesday 18 December 2013
" THE MAN THAT GOT AWAY" ARLEN AND IRA GERSHWIN TRIUMPH
" The Man That Got Away"-Arlen and Ira Gershwin Triumph: The classic1954 movie, A Star Is Born, was a showcase for the singing and acting of Judy Garland. Ira Gershwin teamed with Harold Arlen to create a number of wonderful songs that enhanced the dramatic aspects of the story. " The Man That Got Away " is what Arlen would refer to as a " torch" a song of lamentation and love gone sour. In the movie, Garland is in an after hours musicians hangout and sings these simple but dramatic lyrics " Ever since this world began, there is nothing sadder than, a lost,lost loser, looking for the man that got away."
Although the song was written for a female character played by Garland, there is a version for a male singer " The Gal That Got Away." Frank Sinatra had a major hit with his version with a fine arrangement by Nelson Riddle.
Both Garland and Sinatra were performers who could invest great dramatic emphasis in their singing; poignant and believable and embodying the spirit and intent of the song's story.
Garland Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYoc8h75KVM
Sinatra Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5W0ZOHopE8
Several other songs from A STAR IS BORN will be featured in the following several posts.
Although the song was written for a female character played by Garland, there is a version for a male singer " The Gal That Got Away." Frank Sinatra had a major hit with his version with a fine arrangement by Nelson Riddle.
Both Garland and Sinatra were performers who could invest great dramatic emphasis in their singing; poignant and believable and embodying the spirit and intent of the song's story.
Garland Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYoc8h75KVM
Sinatra Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5W0ZOHopE8
Several other songs from A STAR IS BORN will be featured in the following several posts.
Thursday 12 December 2013
" FOR EVERYMAN THERE IS A WOMAN" Is that really true ?
" For Every Man There I s A Woman " Is that Really True ? There is a third Arlen//Leo Robin song from the movie Casbah. " For Every Man There Is A Woman" was described by Alec Wilder as a " moaner" in a minor key and many juicy harmonic changes.".Arlen himself described, as a "tapeworm" , any of his songs that exceeded the standard 32 bar format so entrenched in the popular song tradition. Wilder also felt that that "The song must be a singer's delight and surely an orchestrators."
In the 1948 film, while dancing with a lissome woman, Tony Martin provides a sensual interpretation of the song which is accompanied by an insinuating rhythmic pulse in the orchestration. This is quite fitting since the story is set in the exotic Casbah. Martin has a rich tenor voice unlike many of the current male Broadway leading men with their thin and reedy vocalizing. When you compare such current performers with leading theatre and movie singers like Howard Keele, John Raitt, Gordon McRae and Alfred Drake, somehow robust masculinity has gone missing and replaced by the new," sensitive" type male singer.
It's always interesting to see the dramatic context of a film or theatre song and, as you watch Martin , he is pitching some serious woo and actress Marta Toren is obviously seduced by Martin's persuasive interpretation and the romantic atmosphere of the nightclub.
Note: An earlier post described " It was Written In The Stars" as a song that pronounced the inevitability of fate in determining the human condition. " For Every Man There Is A Woman"
continues this theme of inevitability. However, we know that, as desirable as it would be for everyone to find that perfect mate, human experience does not guarantee such an optimistic outlook.
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43dqbN_IVN4
In the 1948 film, while dancing with a lissome woman, Tony Martin provides a sensual interpretation of the song which is accompanied by an insinuating rhythmic pulse in the orchestration. This is quite fitting since the story is set in the exotic Casbah. Martin has a rich tenor voice unlike many of the current male Broadway leading men with their thin and reedy vocalizing. When you compare such current performers with leading theatre and movie singers like Howard Keele, John Raitt, Gordon McRae and Alfred Drake, somehow robust masculinity has gone missing and replaced by the new," sensitive" type male singer.
It's always interesting to see the dramatic context of a film or theatre song and, as you watch Martin , he is pitching some serious woo and actress Marta Toren is obviously seduced by Martin's persuasive interpretation and the romantic atmosphere of the nightclub.
Note: An earlier post described " It was Written In The Stars" as a song that pronounced the inevitability of fate in determining the human condition. " For Every Man There Is A Woman"
continues this theme of inevitability. However, we know that, as desirable as it would be for everyone to find that perfect mate, human experience does not guarantee such an optimistic outlook.
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43dqbN_IVN4
Wednesday 11 December 2013
"WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT GOODBYE" THE TITLE SAYS IT ALL !
" What's Good About Goodbye?" The Title Says It All ! Another fine song from the 1948 movie Casbah is a sad reflection on the possible departure of a loved one. Of course, there are many fine songs that examine the unpredictable nature of a romance but Arlen and Leo Robin provide a subtle twist. Right at the beginning Robin wrote " What's good about goodbye ?/What's fair about farewell", a neat pairing of " fair" and " farewell."
Near the end of the song, there is a heartfelt plea stating " Say your mine forever, Say your mine but never say goodbye." ( The rhyming of "forever" with " never" is particularly adept.)
Edward Jablonski, Arlen's biographer described the song as " Typically Arlen in it's hopeful melancholy." As has been pointed out,, a number of Arlen's melodies begin in a minor and sober mood only to be suddenly positive at the beginning of the bridge or release. There is often a return to the original mood or tune in the final chorus but with an often different and surprising ending.
The version you will hear features Nancy LaMott, a perennial NYC cabaret favourite accompanied by a solo piano. She captures the hoped-for resolution at the end of the song. As a bonus, she then continues on the same theme with a more recent song by Allan and Marilyn Bergman, writers of romantic lyrics for Michel Legrand, Marvin Hamlisch and Johnny Mandel. "I'll Never Say Goodbye" is done with full orchestrate and is a more forceful and declarative promise that she " Will never say goodbye."
This pairing of two different songs, from two different eras, is tangible evidence that the Great American Songbook tradition of mature melodies and adult lyrics is still being honoured by contemporary writers.
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsfxd0wgCM
Near the end of the song, there is a heartfelt plea stating " Say your mine forever, Say your mine but never say goodbye." ( The rhyming of "forever" with " never" is particularly adept.)
Edward Jablonski, Arlen's biographer described the song as " Typically Arlen in it's hopeful melancholy." As has been pointed out,, a number of Arlen's melodies begin in a minor and sober mood only to be suddenly positive at the beginning of the bridge or release. There is often a return to the original mood or tune in the final chorus but with an often different and surprising ending.
The version you will hear features Nancy LaMott, a perennial NYC cabaret favourite accompanied by a solo piano. She captures the hoped-for resolution at the end of the song. As a bonus, she then continues on the same theme with a more recent song by Allan and Marilyn Bergman, writers of romantic lyrics for Michel Legrand, Marvin Hamlisch and Johnny Mandel. "I'll Never Say Goodbye" is done with full orchestrate and is a more forceful and declarative promise that she " Will never say goodbye."
This pairing of two different songs, from two different eras, is tangible evidence that the Great American Songbook tradition of mature melodies and adult lyrics is still being honoured by contemporary writers.
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsfxd0wgCM
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